SOUTH GATE OF THE ROMAN CASTRUM

Via Principalis
October 23, 2017
THE STATUE OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE
October 23, 2017

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The most visible trace of the Apulum Castrum is the gate on the southern side named Porta principalis dextra. It is the only one of the four gates of the rectangular castrum that was preserved until nowadays.

The monument, of a great importance for the ancient history of the Romanian space, is highlighted inside the Three Fortifications Tour, arranged in the southern and south-eastern side of the Alba Carolina Citadel.

The vestiges present us only a small part of the former aspect of the gate and about a third of its 1880 years elevation. Nevertheless, it is a living testimony of the Roman civilization in this area and is about a flourishing period of the ancient Apulum.

Porta Principalis Dextra belongs to the double gates category and in the past it was limited by two over massive towers of 8 meters in height. The walls on each side of the gate were about 7 meters in height and 2 meters thick.

What was beyond the south gate of the castrum? The civil settlement began here. As a proof we have the traces of the constructions from those times brought to light by the archaeologists.

In order to offer the Romanian and foreign visitors an image of the gate as coherent as possible, the restoration team recomposed elegantly a wall using stone blocks from almost two millennia ago and new ones, easy to identify because of their much whiter color. In other words, they brought in front of the visitors a palpable testimony of the settlement in Apulum built by the 13th Legion Gemina that remained in Dacia during the entire period of the Roman occupation.

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