Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină and Pojejena - Șitarnița
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
566 km
Riding-time estimate
11 h 33
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 566 km round trip from Forotic - roughly 11 h 33 in the saddle. On the way it passes Izvoarele Nerei, Cheile Nerei-Beușnița, Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă and Pojejena - Șitarnița. It crosses from Romania into Serbia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. 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 Izvoarele Nerei.
2. Izvoarele Nerei
High in the Semenic mountains of south-western Romania, in the Banat region, the Nera river is born in a forest of ancient beech trees. The Izvoarele Nerei reserve, the springs of the Nera, protects one of the largest areas of virgin beech forest in Europe, with trees over thirty metres tall and centuries old, untouched by logging. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Izvoarele Nerei comes up 45 km in. Next is Cheile Nerei-Beușnița.
3. Cheile Nerei-Beușnița
The water at Ochiul Beiului, the Bey's Eye, is such an intense turquoise that it looks dyed, and the legend says it formed from the tears of a Turkish nobleman mourning a lost love. It is one of the jewels of the Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park, in the mountains of Banat in south-western Romania, where the Nera river has cut a deep gorge through limestone over about twenty kilometres. The park's ancient beech forests are part of the UNESCO listing of primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe, and the waterfalls, caves and karst springs make it one of the most beautiful corners of the country.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
89 km in you reach Cheile Nerei-Beușnița. Next is Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă.
4. Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă
Down in the southwestern corner of Romania, where the Banat plain gives way to the first hills of the Carpathians, the village of Vărădia sits on the edge of a gentle valley that opens toward Serbia. Here, at a place called Pustă, lie the remains of the Roman fort of Arcidava, one of the first stations on the road the Romans built from the Danube crossing at Lederata north into Dacia. Trajan's troops passed this way during the conquest, and the fort guarded the route for the century and a half that followed. Excavations have revealed the outline of the fortifications, and the site is now part of the UNESCO frontier listing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă, about halfway. Next is Pojejena - Șitarnița.
5. Pojejena - Șitarnița
The Danube here is wide and slow, and across the water you look straight into Serbia. Pojejena is a village on the Romanian bank in the Danube gorge region known as the Clisura Dunării, and nearby Şitarniţa is the site of a Roman fort, one of the stations that guarded the river frontier. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing in Romania, inscribed in 2024. The Danube was the backbone of Rome's northern defences for centuries, and forts like this one lined its banks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 566 km.
Leg by leg
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină to Izvoarele Nerei
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină → Izvoarele Nerei is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Izvoarele Nerei to Cheile Nerei-Beușnița
Izvoarele Nerei → Cheile Nerei-Beușnița is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cheile Nerei-Beușnița to Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă
Cheile Nerei-Beușnița → Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă to Pojejena - Șitarnița
Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă → Pojejena - Șitarnița is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pojejena - Șitarnița to back through Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă
Pojejena - Șitarnița → back through Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă to back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița
back through Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă → back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița to back through Izvoarele Nerei
back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița → back through Izvoarele Nerei is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Izvoarele Nerei to Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
back through Izvoarele Nerei → Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.