Dacian Fortress of Piatra Craivii

Piatra Craivii is a 1,083 m limestone height on the eastern edge of the Trascău Mountains, above the village of Craiva (Cricău commune), about 14 km north of Alba Iulia. On the plateau and on the artificial terraces below the summit lie the remains of a Dacian fortress and settlement. The fortress dates from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD and had a polygonal stone enclosure (murus dacicus), sanctuaries and inhabited terraces covering about 2,400 square metres. Some archaeologists identify it with Apoulon, the centre of the Dacian Apuli tribe, mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography. The name was taken over by the Roman town of Apulum, built on the banks of the Mureș, where Alba Iulia stands today. In the Middle Ages the area also had a royal castle, Castrum Kechkes ("the Goat's Castle"), recorded around 1250 and last mentioned in 1667. The site is visited on foot, on paths climbing to the crag from the Craiva area. From the top there is a view over the Mureș Valley towards Alba Iulia. A viewpoint is marked near the crag, and an information panel presents the fortress. Fragments of the fortress wall and finds from the site are displayed at the National Museum of the Union in Alba Iulia. The fortress is a listed historic monument (LMI code AB-I-s-A-00028, "Dacian fortress Apoulon or Ranistorum") and lies within the Trascău Mountains area. Did you know that the name of the Roman town of Apulum, the forerunner of Alba Iulia, is linked by several researchers to Apoulon, the Dacian fortress on Piatra Craivii? The Romans used the form Apulum for their new town on the banks of the Mureș.