Gate of the Roman Fort of Apulum

The gate of the Roman fort of Apulum (Porta Principalis Dextra) stands inside the Alba Carolina Citadel in Alba Iulia, in the central part of the Vauban-type fortress. It is the southern gate of the fortress of the Thirteenth Legion Gemina and the only one of the fort's four gates still visible today. Legio XIII Gemina was brought to Apulum by Emperor Trajan after the conquest of Dacia; the fortress was built in 107-108, rebuilt in stone under Hadrian and Antoninus Pius and used until the 4th century. Apulum later became the seat of the governor of the three Dacias. The governor's palace (praetorium consularis) lies outside the fort, on Munteniei Street, and is not permanently open to the public; the site has only opened on special open days. Today visitors can see the walls of the gate, restored and partly reconstructed, with its two arches, and the visitor path inside the citadel. The restoration was criticised by a Ministry of Culture commission for reconstructions lacking sufficient scientific basis. The fortress of Legio XIII Gemina is a category A historic monument (LMI code AB-I-m-A-00001.01). Since 2024 the fortress and the governor's palace have been part of the Apulum component of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Dacia". Did you know that the National Museum of the Union in Alba Iulia displays a 2.60 m long model of the palace of the governors of the three Dacias, made in the early 20th century by Adalbert Cserni, the museum's first director, who uncovered the palace ruins between 1888 and 1908?