Two thousand years ago, on a ridge in the Orastie Mountains, a king built a capital whose walls were a puzzle that Roman engineers had to solve with blood. The Dacians were a people of the Carpathians, farmers, shepherds and ironworkers, who under their king Burebista and later Decebalus built a powerful state that frightened Rome. To protect it, they built a ring of stone fortresses on hilltops in these mountains, using a technique called murus dacicus, a wall of dressed stone blocks with a core of rubble and timber ties, which could stand up to attack. The six fortresses, including Sarmizegetusa Regia at the heart, Costesti and Blidaru, Luncani-Piatra Rosie and others, were listed by UNESCO in 1999.
Sarmizegetusa Regia stands at about twelve hundred metres in a clearing in the beech forest, with big terraces, a ruined fortress and the sacred area, where circles of stone pillars and a large round platform of andesite suggest religious rites, perhaps astronomical ones. Emperor Trajan took two wars, in AD 101 to 102 and 105 to 106, to defeat Decebalus, who killed himself rather than be taken to Rome. The story is told in spiral on Trajan's Column in Rome, and the Romans blew up the capital and garrisoned it, but the stones remained.
The ride is a pleasure. From Orastie, a small town on the Mures valley with fuel and food, a narrow road climbs up the valley of the Gradiste river, through villages, past Costesti, and into the mountains, with forest on both sides and the road getting steeper and narrower toward the top. Surfaces vary, with potholes and gravel patches, and in winter the road can be closed by snow. The fortresses are in remote spots, so go prepared, with water, rain gear and a spare layer.
The forest has bears, wolves and lynx, though you are unlikely to meet them on the road. In summer, the meadows are full of flowers and the air smells of hay and pine.
The best months are May to October. Local cooking is simple and filling: mamaliga, polenta, with sheep cheese and smoked sausage, and a glass of plum brandy, tuica, for those not riding. Allow a full day, as the site is spread out and the scenery deserves time.