Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină and Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
300 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 21
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 300 km round trip from Forotic - roughly 6 h 21 in the saddle. On the way it passes Berzovia - Berzobis, Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie, Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe and Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
A hundred wells: that is the meaning of Centum Putea, the Latin name of a Roman fort in the hills of the Banat, near the village of Surducu Mare in Caraș-Severin county. It was one of the forts that guarded the road from the Danube to the heart of Roman Dacia after the emperor Trajan conquered the region in the early second century, and it is part of the line of sites listed by UNESCO as the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. Little survives above ground, just traces of earthworks in the fields, but the name alone conjures a picture of a well-watered camp on the road north.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină is where the day begins. Next is Berzovia - Berzobis.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berzovia - Berzobis comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.
3. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 79 km into the recorded legs you reach Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie. 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 / Satu Bătrân.
5. 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
The route ends here after 300 km.
Leg by leg
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină to Berzovia - Berzobis
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină → Berzovia - Berzobis is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Berzovia - Berzobis to Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Berzovia - Berzobis → Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 55 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 Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân
Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe → Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân to back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe
Iaz Tibiscum / Satu Bătrân → back through Zăvoi - Agnaviae / Balta Neagră-Fânețe is 31 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 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to back through Berzovia - Berzobis
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → back through Berzovia - Berzobis is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Berzovia - Berzobis to Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
back through Berzovia - Berzobis → Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.