Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, Sarmizegetusa, Hunedoara

1. City

The city walls surrounded an almost rectangular area, with an area of about 33 ha. They were built of hewn stone blocks, which were mortared and provided with battlements at the top.

There was a gate on each side. The gates on the parallel sides were connected by two main streets (cardo and decumanus), which criss-crossed the citadel from one side to the other.

Outside the fortress walls, on another 80 ha, the Romans erected numerous monuments, private buildings and other constructions. Outside the inhabited area, the city had a "territory", where those with money retired in the summer in a kind of "villa rustica" farms, such as those in Hobita or Santamaria Orlea, but also lower-ranking settlements such as Aquae (Calan Bai) or Germisara (Geoagiu Bai), where since ancient times there were thermal baths. Emperor Trajan founded a single city, Colonia Dacica, in the province of Dacia, and his descendants built another 10 settlements with the rank of city.

The territory of the metropolis stretched from the castles of Tibiscum (Jupa), Micia (Vetel) and Bumbesti, to the entrance of the Ji in the gorge. Through Ulpia Traiana passed the imperial road that came from the Danube and connected with the north of the province at Porolissum (Moigrad).

This road, also called the Roman road, has been preserved until today, and the portion between Sacel - Barasti and Santamaria Orlea is the straightest road you have ever seen, stretching over a length of 6 km, now fully paved (the authorities say that to be better preserved?!). So be it!

History also records the erection in 118 of a monument dedicated to Emperor Hadrian, in 172 another to Marcus Auraelius, and in 250 a bronze statue in honor of Traianus Daecius was erected. In the 3rd century, Auraelian Emperor Auraelius ordered the withdrawal of the Roman army from Dacia (271). Most of the population remained in the area. The life of the city did not end with the invasion of the Huns and other migratory peoples, the Roman amphitheatre being used for centuries (4th-6th centuries) as a fortress against their attacks by barricading its gates.

In the Middle Ages as well as in the following historical periods, in the Sarmizegetusa area a lot of stone from Roman ruins was used as building material. This is found in several churches in the area such as Densus, Ostrov, Pesteana, Santamarie Orlea.

2. Forum

The Roman ruins have been of interest since the 18th century. Closer to our days the archaeological site of Sarmizegetusa was coordinated by C. Daicoviciu.

Daicoviciu called his archaeological discoveries the "Augustalian Palace", which later turned out to be Dacian Colony Forum. In the center of the Forum were the two main roads cardo and decumanus. The entrance to the Forum courtyard was through a monumental gate with four columns ("tetrapilum") with a double triumphal arch, on the frontispiece of which is the inscription attesting to its foundation.

The Forum courtyard is full of marble blocks, with bronze or marble statues in the center and on the sides. The city's forums were also home to markets (cattle, fish and oil markets).

3. Basilica

From the Forum you can enter Basilica, the dominant building of the fortress ensemble at that time.

In the 20th century, ceramic materials, gold, silver, bronze, iron, bone, silver, bronze, iron, bone objects were unearthed; glass workshops, necropolis temples and many other constructions were discovered. On either side of the Imperial Road, two necropolis were unearthed. One of the most remarkable finds is the central heating installation (hypocaust) which can be seen in quite good condition in a restoration in the museum and as a ruin on the site.

4. Domus Procuratoris

Excavations after the 1980s uncovered Domus Procuratoristhe palace of the provincial procurator (the one with the gifts). The excavations in the Forum area, the center of the ancient city, are also expanding.

5. Amphitheater

The most impressive construction remains Amphitheater, oval in shape (88 m large diameter, 69 m small), is what today we would call a stadium. Gladiatorial battles, performances and sports competitions were held here. The amphitheatre is also crisscrossed by a canal through which the water used to wash the arena after the fights flowed. In the tribunes arranged on three levels (marble, stone and wood) there were about 5000 spectators, their seating was organized according to the rank they held. The plebeians of course had the furthest seats.

6. Temples

In front of the Amphitheater lies a sacred area, still incompletely excavated, where Temple of Aesculapius and Hygeia, several inscriptions in stone as well as the columns discovered certify this fact.

Close to the city walls there was Great Temple, dedicated to several deities.

Next to the Amphitheater Temple of the goddess Nemesis.

You can also visit the Temple of the gods Domnus and Domna, the Temple of Liber Pater and Temple of the god Silvanus.