Distance to the objective: 36.4 km (DJ705A)

The archaeological site Sarmizegetusa, on the hill “Dealul Grădiștii”, located in the village Grădiștea de Munte, Orțișoara de Sus place, is on the list of national history monuments and in UNESCO world patrimony.The entire site is built on natural terraces: the fortress was surounded by walls and was provided with monumental sanctuaries, successful workshops, residential units, drinkable water collecting and filtration system. The grandiose aspect of the site during the Roman conquest, as well as the economic functions emphasised by the archeological digging made the scientists deem the construction complex aligned on almost 6 km, as an urban site or a city.The archaeological digging emphasized 3 distinct  functional areas:
1. the fortress; 2. the sacral area; 3. the civilian site
1. The fortress. The walls of the fortress built according to the usual technique “murus Dacicus” surrounded a circular area of 1000 m, observing the site configuration. After the conquest, the Romans refurbished the fortress and enlarged it.

2. the sacral area was located East from the fortress, on two terraces. The access to the temples was done on calcareous boards and ended in a small square. In this area rectangular and circular sanctuaries were placed, some of them being built on calcareous stone, other on andesite.
3. the civilian site is the largest known habitat in the Dacian world, occupying tens of artificial terraces, only some of them being researched until today. Here were the residential units, workshops, storages, barns, water collection and distribution systems.The access roads were surveyed by towers with stone walls. In 1988, in the East side of the site was found a monetary workshop. During the conquest, the residence of the Dacian princes was the largest metallurgical center in the barbarian Europe. Most of the workshops found until today are metallurgical shops,but also ceramic and glass shops were discovered and researched.