Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății and Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății

   Turda sits on salt. Under the town, the Salina Turda, an old salt mine, has been converted into an extraordinary underground amusement park, with a Ferris wheel, a lake with rowing boats and a mini-golf course more than a hundred metres below the surface, inside vast chambers carved out over centuries. Above ground, on the hill called Dealul Cetății, the Romans built the camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, which moved here in the late second century to guard the heart of the province of Dacia. The legionary fortress of Potaissa, with its walls, gates and headquarters building, has been excavated, and it counts as one component of UNESCO's inscription of the Dacian frontier.

   Read the complete Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății is where the day begins. Next is Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP.

2. 2. Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP

   In the Mureș valley near Ocna Mureș, the village of Războieni-Cetate takes the second half of its name, cetate, fortress, from the Roman fort that once stood here, guarding the road and the river in central Dacia. The fort was a base for a cavalry unit, and its remains, close to the farm buildings of the communist era collective, the CAP, whose stables give the site its odd label, are part of the World Heritage listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. Little is visible above ground, but the outline of the fort can be traced in the fields.

   Read the complete Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici.

3. 3. Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici

   There is a hill above Ighiu called Măgulici, and from its slopes you look straight across the Mureș valley toward Alba Iulia, the old Roman Apulum. That view is the whole point. Apulum was the base of the Thirteenth Legion and the largest Roman centre in Dacia, and the hills around it were dotted with watch posts and small sites that kept an eye on the roads in and out. The frontier lists name a site on Dealul Măgulici, and while there is little to see on the ground beyond the lie of the land, standing there makes the Roman geography readable.

   Read the complete Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici. Next is back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP.

4. 4. back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP, late in the day. Next is Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății.

5. 5. Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății. That is the ride.