Mehadia Fortress

Romania, Romania

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Mehadia Fortress in Mehadia, Caraș-Severin County, Romania, encompasses layered Roman and medieval fortifications on Barcan Hill overlooking the Cerna Valley, beginning with the 2nd-century AD Castrum Praetorium—a rectangular stone-and-wood Roman fort (116x143 meters) housing legions like IV Flavia Felix as part of the Limes Dacicus defense system.

Evolving into a 12th-century medieval stronghold built by the Gutkeled family, it briefly hosted Teutonic Knights (1429-1435) under Sigismund of Luxembourg and was reinforced by John Hunyadi against Ottoman advances before falling to Turkish forces in the 16th century.

Featuring a hexagonal keep with 2.5-meter-thick walls over 16 meters high incorporating Roman spolia, its ruins today reflect Banat's strategic border role amid Trajan-era roads and Hadrianic baths nearby.