Dacian Fortress of Căpâlna

The Dacian fortress of Căpâlna stands about 2 km south of the village of Căpâlna (Săsciori commune), on a 610 m hill called Dealul Cetății, on the left bank of the Sebeș River. It lies roughly 19 km south of the town of Sebeș and guarded the eastern flank of Sarmizegetusa Regia, about 40 km to the west. The fortress was built in the second half of the 1st century BC and guarded the route from the Sebeș Valley to the capital of the Dacian kingdom. It is thought to have been the residence of a Dacian chieftain. During the first Dacian War it was occupied by the Romans, and the partly destroyed wall was hastily rebuilt before the second war; the fortress was burned and destroyed by the Romans around AD 106. It was first described by Gábor Téglás (1892), and excavations were led by Mihail Macrea and Ion Berciu (1939, 1942, 1954) and later by Hadrian Daicoviciu (1965 to 1967, 1982 to 1983). Today visitors can see the remains of the murus dacicus wall, about 270 m long on an elliptical line, the two inner terraces, the site of the 9.5 x 9.5 m tower house next to the main gate and the remains of a Dacian sanctuary found during the 1982-1983 excavations. Near the bridge at Căpâlna, on the DN67C (Transalpina) road, a sign points to the fortress; the climb is on foot, along a steep gravel track of about 2 km. The fortress is a listed historic monument (LMI code AB-I-s-A-00020) and, since 1999, a component of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains. Did you know that the finds from the site include a gold necklace with pendants and two gold earrings, along with 29 Roman silver coins found in and around the tower house?