Afrimești - Urluieni and Vallum - Troian

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Afrimești - Urluieni

   Flat. That is the first impression of this part of southern Romania, in Argeș county, where the land stretches away towards the Danube in wide fields of maize and sunflowers, broken only by lines of trees and small villages. But across this plain, in the second century AD, the Romans built a frontier: the Limes Transalutanus, a line of earthworks and forts running north to south east of the Olt river, protecting the province of Dacia. At Urluieni, near the village of Afrimești, stood one of its forts.

   Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Afrimești - Urluieni is where the day begins. Next is Reșca - Romula / Cetate.

2. 2. Reșca - Romula / Cetate

   Romula was once among the more important towns in Roman Dacia, and the ground at Reșca, in Olt county, is where it stood. The settlement grew near the river Olt on the road between the Danube frontier and the interior, and it rose to the rank of a colony in the later empire; the later name, Romula Malvensis, ties it to the province of Dacia Malvensis that was formed in the third century. Today you see fields, a few low mounds, and the faint outline of an old fortification, with finds from the site kept in nearby museums rather than at the roadside.

   Read the complete Reșca - Romula / Cetate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Reșca - Romula / Cetate comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vallum - Troian.

3. 3. Vallum - Troian

   The Romanian word vallum is a Latin leftover, and it means a rampart. Across the plain north of the Danube, in Teleorman county, a line of low earthworks stretches over the fields, and local people call it Troianul, Trajan's ditch, though no one is sure whether Trajan had anything to do with it. Folk memory has also attached the name of Novac, a legendary hero, to the same banks, and archaeologists suggest the line may have formed part of a Roman or late Roman defence of the Wallachian Plain, though the dating remains debated. What you will find on the ground is subtle: a long, shallow hump in a wheat field, a line of poplars following an old ditch.

   Read the complete Vallum - Troian write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 147 km into the recorded legs you reach Vallum - Troian. Next is back through Reșca - Romula / Cetate.

4. 4. back through Reșca - Romula / Cetate

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Reșca - Romula / Cetate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Reșca - Romula / Cetate, late in the day. Next is Afrimești - Urluieni.

5. 5. Afrimești - Urluieni

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Afrimești - Urluieni. That is the ride.