Sarmizegetusa Regia

Sarmizegetusa Regia

Romania · Hunedoara

Ancient cityExcavation ongoingUNESCO · 1999
Approximate period100 BCE — 106 CELate Iron Age; approximate main period of the Dacian capital See on the map ↓

In brief

Sarmizegetusa Regia was the political and religious centre of the Dacian Kingdom before the Roman conquest. Excavations document sanctuaries, workshops and the settlement on terraces alongside defensive structures.

What was found?

  • 1Stone fortifications

    These are fortress walls built using the murus Dacicus technique and adapted to the terrain. They can be compared with the fortifications expanded along a different course after the Roman conquest.

  • 2Circular and rectangular sacred buildings

    These are sanctuary remains built of limestone and andesite. They document the monumental religious architecture of the Dacian capital.

  • 3Smithing workshop

    It is a production area investigated on the terraces of the civilian settlement. It shows that metalworking was carried out in the capital.

  • 4Water collection and distribution facilities

    These are installations supplying drinking water in the civilian settlement. They reveal the infrastructure solutions of the settlement in its mountainous location.

  • 5Vessel stamped DECEBALUS PER SCORILO

    It is a ceramic vessel bearing this stamp, found in a dwelling. It is a tangible example among the settlement's inscribed finds.

What does it point to?

Sarmizegetusa Regia was an organized capital with a fortress, a sanctuary, and extensive civilian quarters. Workshops, storage buildings, and water facilities show that production and everyday needs were planned alongside defense and worship.

What did it teach us?

  1. It revealed that the Dacian capital consisted of military, religious, and civilian sections.
  2. It showed that an extensive settlement was established in mountainous terrain using terraces and water facilities.
  3. It documented that the fortress's boundaries and construction technique were changed after the Roman conquest.

Images

Sarmizegetusa temples
FDominec · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Dacian
Coordinates
45.6219°, 23.3093°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. cimec.ro
  3. en.wikipedia.org

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