Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu and Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
243 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 02
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.
A 243 km round trip from Sarmizegetusa - roughly 6 h 02 in the saddle. On the way it passes Voislova - Gara CFR, Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân, Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe and Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu is where the day begins. Next is Voislova - Gara CFR.
2. Voislova - Gara CFR
The Bistra valley is a natural corridor, and armies have known it for millennia. Running east from Caransebeș toward the Iron Gate of Transylvania and the Hațeg basin, it was the route by which Trajan's legions advanced on the Dacian heartland in the wars of AD 101 to 106, and later the road that linked Roman forts and towns along the way. Near the village of Voislova, by the railway station, the remains of a Roman site have been identified as counted within the UNESCO serial site of the Dacian frontier, a reminder of how important this valley was to the Roman presence in the province.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Voislova - Gara CFR comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân.
3. Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân
Where the Bistra and Timiș rivers meet, the Romans built one of the more important towns in their province of Dacia. Tibiscum, near the village of Jupa, grew from a fort into a sizeable settlement, and the low foundations, streets and bath remains can still be walked today with a small museum alongside. Iaz and Satu Bătrân are the neighbouring places on the map, and the whole district sits in the Caransebeș basin, hemmed in by the Țarcu and Semenic mountains.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân. Next is Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe, about halfway. Next is Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb.
5. Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb
Tibiscum was a Roman town at the meeting point of two rivers in the Banat, in the west of today's Romania, and the Iaz Dâmb is one of its pieces: a low rise where archaeologists have traced buildings, defences and the signs of a busy settlement. The Romans founded a fort here after the conquest of Dacia in the early second century, and a civilian town grew around it, with workshops, houses, a bath and a temple. It stood on the route that linked the Danube with the heart of the new province, and it was important enough to be given the rank of a municipium.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 243 km.
Leg by leg
Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu to Voislova - Gara CFR
Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu → Voislova - Gara CFR is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voislova - Gara CFR to Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân
Voislova - Gara CFR → Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân to Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe
Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân → Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe to Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb
Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe → Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb to back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe
Iaz Tibiscum Dâmb → back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe to back through Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân
back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe → back through Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân to back through Voislova - Gara CFR
back through Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân → back through Voislova - Gara CFR is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voislova - Gara CFR to Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu
back through Voislova - Gara CFR → Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.