Sarmizegetusa Regia - Layout

Layout

Sarmizegetusa Regia contained a citadel and living areas with dwellings and workshops, but it also contained a sacred zone.

• The fortress, a quadrilateral formed by massive stone blocks (murus dacicus), was constructed on five terraces, on an area of almost 30,000 m².

• The sacred zone — among the most important and largest circular and rectangular Dacian sanctuaries – includes a number of rectangular temples, the bases of their supporting columns still visible in regular arrays. Perhaps the most enigmatic construction at the site is the large circular sanctuary. It consisted of a “D” – shaped setting of timber posts, surrounded by a timber circle, which was surrounded by a low stone kerb. The layout of the timber settings bears a broad resemblance to the stone monument at the Stonehenge in England.

• The “Andesite Sun” from the site seems to have been used as a sundial. This idea is supported by known influences on Dacian culture from Hellenistic Greece, influences which may have included ideas about geometry and astronomy.

• The civilians lived down from the fortress, in settlements built on artificial terraces, such as the one at Feţele Albe. Dacian nobility had flowing water, brought through ceramic pipes, in their residences.

The archaeological inventory found at the site shows that Dacian society had a high standard of living.