Unprecedented archeological find in Romania: prehistoric fortress, four times the size of Troy, unearthed in Arad

Unprecedented archeological find in Arad county, also unique  in Romania and Eastern Europe: a huge fortification stretching on almost 90 hectares, erected 3,400 years ago in the Bronze Age, has been uncovered in the area of Santana town, according to Aradon.ro.

The Old Fortress, as the archaeologists called it, dates back in the 14th century before Christ. The first excavations started in 2009, but in the past two years, a mixed Romanian-German team has enhanced researches and unearthed major finds.

Now, archaeologists want to study more the circumstances of such a major construction.

Professor Florin Gogâltan, from the Romanian Academy’s Institute of Archaeology and History in Cluj-Napoca revealed the Old Fortress discovered in Arad is much larger than the famous Troy Fortress. „Troy had an area of 29 hectares, the Fortress from Santana has no less than 89 hectares. The buildings of Troy were made of stone. In Santana, constructions were made of wood and clay, a sign that the civilisation was more developed. The fortress was encircled by moats four meters deep, but also by land veils of over 20 meters. We are dealing with one of the largest and most impressive fortresses in Europe,” he told Digi 24.

The local authorities plan to have the ruins open for tourists, while archaeologists are struggling to decipher its mysteries and to find out who were its inhabitants and what happened to the fortress.