Masa Craiului means the King's Table, and the name is borrowed here for a hill or a flat rock near Zalău, but it brings to mind the great limestone ridge of Piatra Craiului far to the south, the King's Rock, where the idea of a royal table in the mountains started. Lângă Masa Craiului, beside the King's Table, is the sort of name that must once have pointed to a flat boulder or a table-topped crag.
What I can tell you is what the Romans left. Just north of Zalău, on a ridge above the village of Moigrad, lie the ruins of Porolissum, the frontier town of Roman Dacia. Founded after the conquest of Dacia in the early second century, it grew into a customs station and a garrison town of some importance, with forts on the neighbouring hills, a forum, temples, an amphitheatre and the remains of a wall that ran along the ridge. Soldiers from across the empire served here, and the inscriptions they left include dedications to the gods of far-off homelands. The setting, on a long wooded ridge looking out to the pass, is remarkable, and the site museum explains the layout.
The ride from Zalău to Moigrad is short and pleasant, with a road that winds up through the villages and then through beech woods to the ridge. Bends are tight, surfaces are decent in most places, and traffic is light, apart from the occasional bus or farm vehicle. On the site itself, the tracks are gravel and grassy, so leave the bike at the car park and walk. Wear sturdy shoes, since the hill is steep and the stones are uneven. In the rain, the clay path becomes slippery.
Zalău is a city of more than sixty thousand, with several fuel stations and many places to eat. There are also a few simple cafés near the ruins, and local families sell honey and plum brandy from stalls at weekends.
Go on a clear spring day, when the grass is green and the view reaches far over the plain.