Comolau Castle

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Comolau Castle
Alternative name Comalau
Castle Reci Castle
limes Dacian Limes
section A / VIII / 41
Dating (occupancy) A) 2nd to 3rd century
B) 3rd to 4th century
Type A) Numerus
fort B) Post-Roman fortress
unit Vexillatio of the
Cohors I Hispanorum (?)
size pentagonal: 70 m / 70 m / 40 m / 50 m / 20 m = 0.2 ha
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation visible soil deformation
place Reci
Geographical location 45 ° 50 '39 "  N , 25 ° 54' 0.8"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 50 '39 "  N , 25 ° 54' 0.8"  E
height 530  m
Previous Boroșneu Mare Fort
(east, A / VIII / 40)
Subsequently Cumidava
(west-southwest, A / VIII / 42)
Backwards Fort Olteni
(north, A / VII / 38)
Reci Castle (2011)

Kastell Comolău (spelling also Comalău , sometimes also called Kastell Reci ) was a Roman auxiliary troop camp in the municipality of Reci , Covasna district in the Romanian region of Transylvania .

location

In today's settlement, the soil monument is on the northwestern edge of the village of Reci in the "Värhegy" corridor. It can still be seen well in the terrain due to a polygonal deformation of the ground, but was built over by a medieval fortification. Topographically, the former fort is located on a high plateau above the Piriul Negru stream, not far from where it flows into the Olt . In ancient times, the fort crew was responsible for monitoring the roads at a traffic junction.

Archaeological evidence

Archaeological excavations took place in the years 1909 to 1910 (by Vilmos Csutak and Ferenc László), and in 1942 under the direction of Zoltán Székely. During these investigations only a single stone construction phase could be proven with certainty, a further stone construction period is assumed with a probability bordering on certainty. The soundings with which the defense and its gates were cut yielded tangible results, while the investigations of the interior of the fort remained largely inconclusive.

The fort had an unusual and irregular, pentagonal floor plan with dimensions of 70 m, 70 m, 40 m, 50 m and 20 m, resulting in a total area of ​​only 0.2 hectares. According to Nicolae Gudea , it was surrounded by a 1.50 m to 2.00 m thick defensive wall using the technique of Opus incertum . At the north-west, south-west and south-east corners, rectangular, outwardly protruding corner towers with a floor plan of seven by nine meters were found. Two similarly large intermediate towers, also rectangular and protruding, were identified on the south and west sides. Kurt Horedt suspected a second construction phase in 1974 and - based on ceramic finds from the fourth century - post-Roman continued use of the small fortress.

The series of coins begins with a coinage of Vespasian (69 to 79) and ends with one of Philip Arabs (244 to 249). The only epigraphically relevant reference to a Roman unit stationed in Reci is a brick stamp with the inscription COHH . Zoltán Székely assigned this stamp to the Cohors I Hispanorum , which was stationed in the Brețcu fort and possibly manned the Comolău fort with a smaller vexillation . Felix Marcu suspects that this was only the case at a certain point in time and that the fort was vexilated by various garrisons in the region during the course of its existence.

Lost property and monument protection

The archaeological finds from the Comolău castle were given to the Muzeul Judetean Covasna ( District Museum Covasna ) in Sfântu Gheorghe , from which today's Muzeului Naţional Secuiesc (Székely National Museum) emerged.

The entire archaeological site and in particular the castle are protected as historical monuments according to Law No. 422/2001 passed in 2001 and are registered with the LMI code CV-IsA-13057 in the national list of historical monuments ( Lista Monumentelor Istorice ) . Responsible is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii şi Patrimoniului Naţional), in particular the General Directorate for National Cultural Heritage, the Department of Fine Arts and the National Commission for Historical Monuments and other institutions subordinate to the Ministry. Unauthorized excavations and the export of ancient objects are prohibited in Romania.

See also

literature

  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 64f., Digitized .
  • Felix Marcu: The Internal Planning of Roman Forts of Dacia . (= Bibliotheca Mvsei Napocensis XXX), Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2009, ISBN 978-606-543-058-7 , p. 200 and plate 29.

Web links

Commons : Castra of Reci  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ a b IDR-03-04, 00314 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 64f., Digitized .
  4. ^ A b Felix Marcu: The Internal Planning of Roman Forts of Dacia . (= Bibliotheca Mvsei Napocensis XXX), Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2009, ISBN 978-606-543-058-7 , p. 200.
  5. ^ Kurt Horedt: Interpretări arheologice V (Dacia amissa) . In: SCIV, 25/4 (1974), pp. 555-560.
  6. ↑ Zoltán Székely: A Kommolói eröditett Római tábor. Jelentés a Székely Nemzeti Múzeum 1942 . Évi ásatásáról, Kolozsvár 1943, pp. 27f.
  7. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage