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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Berzovia - Berzobis and Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu · 259 km from Berzovia

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
259 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 13
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 259 km round trip from Berzovia - roughly 5 h 13 in the saddle. On the way it passes Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie, Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe, Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu and back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Berzovia - Berzobis

    Only a handful of sentences survive from the Emperor Trajan's own account of his wars against the Dacians, and one of them mentions this place. Quoted by a later grammarian, it reads, in Latin, that from there we advanced to Berzobis, then to Aizi. Berzobis is the village now called Berzovia, in the Banat hills of south-western Romania, and the site of the Roman fort here, where the Fourth Legion Flavia Felix was stationed after the conquest, is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing in Romania inscribed in 2024.

    Read the complete Berzovia - Berzobis write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Berzovia - Berzobis is where the day begins. Next is Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.

  2. 2. Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie

    Caput Bubali, the head of the buffalo, is a wonderfully odd Roman name, and it belongs to a station on the road that carried troops and supplies north from the Danube into the heart of Dacia after Trajan's conquest. The hill known as Cetățuie, near the villages of Brebu and Cornuțel in the Banat, holds the earthworks of a fort that guarded this route as it threaded through the hills towards Tibiscum, the important Roman centre near Caransebeș. It is part of the Dacian frontier group listed by UNESCO in 2024, and like much of it, it needs a little imagination and a good eye for ditches and banks.

    Read the complete Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe.

  3. 3. Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe

    Zăvoi lies in the valley of the Bistra, a river running east to west between the Poiana Ruscă mountains to the north and the Țarcu range to the south, and for most riders it is a waypoint on one of the best roads in western Romania: the old route from Caransebeș in the Banat over the Iron Gate of Transylvania to Hațeg and the Roman capital of Dacia at Sarmizegetusa. The Romans used this corridor too. The road between their fort at Tibiscum, near Caransebeș, and the colony of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa passed through the valley, and Agnaviae was a station along it, where travellers and couriers stopped to rest. Today little remains above ground, but the line of the valley is unchanged.

    Read the complete Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe. Next is Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu.

  4. 4. Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu

    After conquering Dacia in AD 106, the emperor Trajan founded a new capital for the province in the Hațeg basin, and named it Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, borrowing the name of the Dacian royal capital in the Orăștie mountains to the north-east. The city grew into a prosperous centre, with a forum, temples, baths, and an amphitheatre that could seat thousands, and its ruins, partly excavated, lie in fields beside the modern village of Sarmizegetusa. The site has a museum, and you can walk around the forum and the amphitheatre, imagining the gladiatorial games that once filled it.

    Read the complete Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu, about halfway. Next is back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe.

  5. 5. back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.

  6. 6. back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie comes up about 204 km into the recorded legs. Next is Berzovia - Berzobis.

  7. 7. Berzovia - Berzobis

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Berzovia - Berzobis write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Berzovia - Berzobis closes the day.

Leg by leg

Berzovia - Berzobis to Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie

Berzovia - Berzobis → Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe

Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe to Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu

Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe → Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu to back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe

Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu → back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe to back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie

back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe → back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to Berzovia - Berzobis

back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → Berzovia - Berzobis is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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