Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains

Deep in the Orăştie Mountains lie the ruins of six fortresses that formed the core of the Dacian Kingdom — Sarmizegetusa Regia among them — blending Iron Age tradition with military and religious ideas borrowed from the classical Mediterranean. Raised in the 1st centuries BCE and CE, they fell to Trajan's legions early in the 2nd century, yet their walls and sanctuaries survive in wild, forested surroundings. UNESCO granted World Heritage status in 1999.