Jidava (castra)

Jidava (or Jidova) was a fort (also called Campulung Muscel fort) in the Roman province of Dacia 4 km southwest of the town of Campulung, Romania. It was built around 190–211 AD as part of the frontier system of the Limes Transalutanus located approximately 20 km south of the Rucăr-Bran pass.

Jidava
Panoramic view from porta principalis sinistra: praetorium in front and then principia.
Location within Romania
Alternative name(s)	Jidova, Sidova
Known also as	Câmpulung fort
Founded during the reign of	Commodus or Septimius
Founded	190 – 211 AD
Previous fortification	Dacian
Place in the Roman world
Province	Dacia
Administrative unit	Dacia Malvensis
Administrative unit	Dacia Inferior
Limes	Transalutanus
Directly connected to	(Purcăreni) (Voinești)
Structure
— Stone[1] structure —
Size and area	100 m × 132 m (1.3 ha)
Stationed military units
— Cohorts —
I Flavia Commagenorum
Location
Coordinates	45°13′14.69″N 25°00′44.95″E
Place name	Apa sărată
Town	Câmpulung
County	Argeș
Country	Romania
Reference
RO-LMI	AG-I-m-A-13357.02
Site notes
Recognition	National Historical Monument
Discovery year	1876
Condition	Partially reconstructed
Excavation dates	1876 1962
Archaeologists	Dimitrie Butculescu

It has been excavated and can be seen today.

Limes Alutanus + Transalutanus

The site is administered by the Argeș County Museum.^[2]

The first wooden buildings were destroyed by a fire dated by coins of Geta and Severus Alexander (222). The stone buildings built afterwards were again destroyed by fire dated by a coin of Philip II (246), the latest coin discovered on the limes.^[3]

Small thermal baths were at the NE end of the praetorium, built of brick after the stone praetorium, and overlapping the via sagularis and part of the agger.^[4]

Campulung Muscel II

A smaller fort or castellum (Campulung Muscel II) was about 300m to the south at Biserica Jidovilor. Inside, a two-roomed building equipped with a heating system (hypocaust) and traces of wooden barracks have been identified. A date of beginning of the 2nd century is likely.

Gallery

• 
  The plan of the castrum
• 
  The front of reconstructed wall and tower
• 
  The back of reconstructed wall and tower
• 
  Praetorium
• 
  Hypocaust room of Praetorium

See also

• List of castra

Notes

1. TRUPE FARA CASTRE, CASTRE FARA TRUPE ÎN DACIA, Dan Matei^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. (in Romanian) Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului - M Archived 2014-08-30 at the Wayback Machine, at the University of Pitești Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului site Archived 2016-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, p. 123
3. Frontiera romană din Dacia Inferior. O trecere în revistă și o actualizare. LIMES / Nr. 11 / 2022 Proceedings of the Limes Congress XXV, Nijmegen 21-27 August 2022
4. Petolescu, C.C., Matei-Popescu, F., Dumitrescu, I. și Piţigoi, A. Cronica Cercetărilor Arheologice, 68-76, nr. 11 2020

External links

• Media related to Castra Jidava at Wikimedia Commons
• Roman castra from Romania - Google Maps / Earth Archived 2012-01-17 at the Wayback Machine