I had admired it from a distance on several occasions and I had
placed it on my list of cultural and historical Romanian sites that I
would absolutely have to explore one day and in October 2016 I
finally got the chance to visit the majestic fortress situated on top
of the volcanic hill which lies next to the city of Deva, the capital
of the Hunedoara county.
When you see the citadel from below it has an aura of mystery that
seems to draw you towards it like a magnet because you know that the
stone walls and fortifications which compose the citadel have been
the witnesses of a lot of historical events and managed to survive in
times of turmoil and fierce battles. If I had the time I would have
gladly made the journey to the hilltop, where the citadel lies at at
an altitude of 370 meters, on foot, but since I was participating in
an organized trip and time was limited, I chose the easy way up,
which is by funicular, and there I was, at the gates of the once
mighty citadel, in a matter of a minute or so.
Once I stepped within the fortress walls and I found myself inside
the main yard I have to say that the sights I experienced were quite
close to what I had anticipated: a massive castle with huge stone
walls which give an appearance of stability and impregnability. Those
walls speak for themselves, they are the best testimony of the impressive strength of this citadel mentioned for the first time in
the second half of the 13th century, which has been besieged on many
occasions, but never fully conquered and destroyed, throughout the
centuries in which it was a military and administrative center of
the whole area.
Unfortunately, I had the misfortune of reaching the Deva citadel on a
cold, windy Saturday afternoon, so due to the bad weather I had to
shorten my visit and do the tour of the citadel at a very alert pace,
but still, I could notice the ruined portions of the castle which
were caused by an accidental explosion of the ammunition storage
belonging to the Austrian forces which are said to take place during
the Hungarian revolutionary uprising of 1848-49. That explosion might
have represented the nail in the coffin for the citadel, but
thankfully it was only partially destroyed, and the restoration
works recently made a guarantee that the fortress will be admired by
its visitors for many years to come.
Another interesting aspect I noticed in the short time I spend at the citadel was the spectacular view of the city of Deva and the
surrounding areas. I could picture myself as a soldier looking down
on the valley below and get ready to unleash the firepower on
the enemies who dared to venture up on the hill; thankfully, those
troubled times are probably gone forever and instead of invading
troops the view I could see from the highest points of the citadel
was that of a modern, beautiful Romanian city.
At the end of my short, but intense visit at the Deva fortress I had
a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment because I had added
another site to my collection of visited Romanian treasures, which is
far from complete, and I also said to myself that I would be back to
the Deva citadel one day. I was tempted to do it again by climbing up
the hill this time(after all it's not that high) but after reading on
the Internet that one of the inhabitants of that hill, which is also
a natural reserve, is the dreaded horned adder, a venomous snake, I
think I will choose the funicular again! Anyway, regardless of the method you choose to reach it, the Deva fortress is a landmark of
Transylvanian history which is worth visiting!
