Fortress of Deva

The Fortress of Deva (Romanian: Cetatea Devei, Hungarian: Déva vára) is a fortress located in the city of Deva, Hunedoara County, Romania, on top of a volcanic hill.

The fortress is located atop a volcano in the Poiana Ruscă Mountain Range within the Western Carpathian Mountains of Romania. From the foot of the hill, the city of Deva spreads out, beginning with Magna Curia and the public park. Nearby are most of the buildings of the administrative institutions of the city: the Court House, the Prefecture, the County Hall, the Finance Administration, the old police headquarters, the City Hall and two of the oldest schools in Deva: the Decebal National College and the Pedagogic Lyceum. The fortress is connected with the foot of the hill by an inclined lift which allows tourists to reach the fortress.

The Roman conquerors strengthened the walls and defended this fortification, the trade road that connected with the rest of the empire, also called the salt road, passed right at the foot of the Hill. And the Mures basin experienced maximum economic prosperity at the time.

In the great year 1269, Deva Fortress is mentioned in a deed of donation of the young Hungarian king Stefan, son of Bela IV, who makes a donation to a Wallachian count for the bravery shown in the battle fought under the walls of Deva Fortress. Then, in 1444, Hungarian John Hunyadi took possession of the Deva Fortress with all its riches: 56 villages and gold mines. Also during his time is mentioned for the first time in a written document the fair of Deva, a settlement at the base of the hill. The Hungarian Corvin family took control of the fortress and domain of Deva in 1504.

The first evidence of the medieval Deva Fortress dates back to the second half of the 13th century; in 1269, Stephen V, King of Hungary and Duke of Transylvania, mentioned "the royal castle of Deva" in a privilege-grant for the Count Chyl of Kelling.

The first records regarding a military operation involving the fortress dates from 1273. Under its walls, the Cumans were defeated by Peter I Csák, Palatine of Hungary (Latin: Magister Petrus de genere Chak), who was rewarded for his victory by Ladislaus IV, King of Hungary. In his letter, Ladislaus IV mentioned the facts with the words sub castro Dewa contra Cumanorum exercitur viriliter dimicavit, "fought bravely against the Cumans under the Castle of Deva".

Text adapted from “Fortress of Deva” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fortress of Deva ranks #1,354 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #14 of the 115 mapped in Romania. Founded 1242, it is older than 73% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,033 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sibiu, 98 km away. It is one of the 75 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Transylvania. See how Romania compares in the castle statistics.

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