Capidava Roman Castrum

Capidava fortress stands on the right back of the Danube river, halfway between Harsova and Cernavoda the highway linking the two cities passing along the fortress walls. The fortification has a rectangular shape with thick walls over 2 meters and 5-6 meters tall, with 7 towers over 10 meters, from which three rectangular towers, two towers quarter-circle shape and two horseshoe-shaped towers, a wide gate located on the SE that connects with the rest of the territory and a strategic exit on the SW side of the tower from the Danube where the harbor was arranged.

The fortress occupied an important place in the Roman defensive system being part of a series of camps and fortifications built int he time of Trajan at the beginning of 2nd century as a measure of organization of the Danube limes.

The place was particularly suitable to the character of the building offering a vast area of surveillance: a massive cliff which rises between the foot of the slope and descends to NE and Danube. The massif presented an advantage from strategic point of view, namely a natural ditch which started from the Danube.

The strategic importance of the site led to the military installation and the development to a civilian center in the Roman era. The site, situated near a crossing was built by detachments of the Mecedonica V Legion and Claudia XI Legion. The Getic toponym of Capidava confirms a pre-Roman settlement, its geographic position explaining the importance of the settlement, allowing a communication between the Dacians in Dobrogea and whose in Wallachia.