Deva fortress reopens for visitors

The Deva fortress, one of the most important medieval fortifications in Transylvania, is set to reopen in April, after three-year long restoration works.

The fortress was closed between 2007 and 2012. Refurbishment works restarted in 2013 at two of its precincts, according to local media reports. These are the first restoration works conducted at the fortress since 1849, when the site’s ammunition deposits exploded, destroying the eastern side of the monument. The works were financed with funding coming from the European Fund for Regional Development and the Deva city hall.

The Deva fortress was erected during the 13th century but living traces on site date back to the Neolithic. Its first documentary mention is made in 1269, followed by another mention in 1444 when prince Iancu de Hunedoara receives the fortress ‘with all of its riches’, meaning 56 villages and gold mines. During the second half of the 17th century, prince Gabril Bethlen built here a bastion serving as prison and torture place. At the foot of the bastion he built the Magna Curia palace, a Renaissance-style building. In 1784 the fortress served as refuge place for the noblemen escaping the revolt led by Horea, Closca and Crisan. Around 1817, emperor Francis I of Austria had the place refurbished, with works on site lasting for 12 years.

The monument is accessible by foot but also with a cable car, running between 09:00 and 21:00 May through September and 08:00 to 20:00 October through April.

How to get there:

From Bucharest, you can take the E81, the DN1/E60 and DN1/E68 or the DN1/E68 as shown here. Once in the city, the fortress can be found behind Stadionului St., as shown here.

Photo source: cetateadeva.ro.