Rupea Fortress
Rupea Fortress is located on one of the oldest archaeological sites in Romania, with the first signs of human settlement
human settlements dating back to the Palaeolithic and Early Neolithic (5500 BC – 3500 BC). Archaeological investigations
have unearthed artefacts from this period, bearing witness to the settlements in the region: stone tools
stone tools, pottery, funerary urns, etc.
During the Dacian era, the dava known as Rumidava or Ramidava (according to various
historical sources); conquered by the Romans, Rumidava became the Roman fortress
Rupes (in Latin, rupes means ‘rock’ or ‘stone’). The Roman fortress of Rupes was part of the Rupes Roman
the belt of Roman fortifications that defended the commercial area and the routes linking the Târnava Valley with the Olt Valley
Olt Valley, Râșnov and Hoghiz.
According to Romanian archaeologists, the current fortress was built on the ruins of a
a former Dacian defence fort, based on shards of Dacian pottery discovered on the site.
The first written mention of the fortress dates back to 1324, under the name of castrum Kuholm, when
Saxons rebelling against King Charles I of Hungary took refuge inside the fortress. In the 14th century
it played a key strategic role as the main link between
Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia. Between 1432 and 1437 the fortress was attacked and sacked
by the Turks, and finally abandoned in 1643 after a devastating fire turned it into ruins. At the end
same century, the Saxons returned to the fortress to seek refuge. This time, the fortress was surrendered
to the Habsburg armies without armed resistance.
From the 13th to the 17th century, the fortress expanded due to population growth, which
leading to the final outline comprising three baileys. [1]
During the plague of 1716, the fortress was used as a refuge for those unaffected by the disease,
and in 1788 as a refuge against the Turkish invasion. The fortress was finally abandoned in 1790 after a
storm that destroyed its roof.
After that the fortress was left in ruins, although in the inter-war period Rupea became an important Saxon cultural centre.
During the communist regime, the authorities planned to demolish the fortress to
to exploit the basalt forming the hill. The last attempt to restore the fortress dates back to
1954, but the idea was abandoned. By the early 1990s, the fortress was in a pitiful state, and eventually
only one of the fortified towers remained standing. Between 2010 and 2013, the fortress underwent
comprehensive restoration process, with all four towers and the houses of the Saxon families of
Reps (Rupea), who used the fortress as a place of refuge, being restored.
The fortress is listed as a historical monument in Brasov County.
