Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa was founded during the reign of Trajan in the 2nd century AD. It was the largest city and the capital of the Roman Dacia. The city spanned on 30 ha and was the political, administrative and religious capita of Roman Dacia.

The city was built 8 km from Tapae (The Iron Gates of Transylvania) and was on the road which linked the Danube to Porolissum. Today it stands along DN68 which crosses Romania from west to south; it’s located in Sarmizegetusa and cannot really be missed. By the road you can clearly see the archeological remains.

Technically there’s an entrance fee (4.5 lei / adult , which is about 1 euro and a photo fee) but there wasn’t anyone requesting us to pay anything to visit.

The site is made up of what’s left of the city , including the Roman Forum (500 m from the entrance , on a marked road). The info is scarce on the site but everything is in English, too.

The site can be easily tackled by anyone but I’d advise to visit it during mornings , especially if you plan to come here in July or August.

The site contains: the Amphitheatre (to the right from the entrance, can be seen from the road), the Gladiator school, the Goddess Nemesis Temple, the Liber Pater Temple, the Gods Aesculapius and Hygieia Temple, the Temple Basilica (at the far end of the Forum), the Great Temple, the God Silvanus Temple, the Glass blowers’ workshops, the Horreum, the Financial procurator’s office, the Thermae and the Forum.

We visited the site on a Friday morning in March 2013 when it was all but deserted (I think I saw maybe 10 tourists entering the site in total before we went it and while we set down to try to check the emails). There is a gift shop by the site and there are also two places where you can eat. My mobile internet (the stick) didn’t work well at all ; I could barely check the email from my smartphone, though.

I do recommend using a GPS navigator on the way to the site because the signs are in good old Romanian style, meaning very confusing. Almost went on to Bucharest rather than making a left to go to Hateg and therefore to Sarmizegetusa.

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All photos by Cristina P. and may not be used without permission