Turda Salt Mine

    The tomb of Michael the Brave is located 3 km south of the center of Turda. This is where Michael the Brave's body was buried. Michael the Brave's body is buried in the area known as the Turzii Plain. "Here the great voivode Michael the Brave was killed on August 9, 1601." Initially, at this location, his wife (Lady Stanca), with the permission of the Transylvanian prince Gabriel Báthory, managed to build a Byzantine-style chapel, later deliberately destroyed by Hungarian nationalist fanatics. The chapel was built in the form of a cross, as depicted in a watercolor made in 1820, purchased by the Turda historian István Téglás (1853-1915), then by the count József Kemény (1795-1855) from Luncani. In 1923, a wooden cross was built at the site of the former chapel by the Romanian Women's Committee of Turda, at the recommendation and request of King Ferdinand I, expressed during his visit with Queen Maria to Turda in 1919. The creation of the Cross was made possible with the support of the "Historical Monuments Society" from Bucharest. The wooden cross, currently displayed at the Turda History Museum (since 1977), is crafted in a folk style. It has engraved the inscription: "Here the great voivode Michael the Brave was killed on August 9, 1601". The new monument (obelisk) was inaugurated on May 8, 1977, in place of the wooden cross erected in 1923 by the Romanian Women's Society of Turda, on the occasion of the celebration of a century since the declaration of state independence of Romania. Measuring 1601 cm high, the Monument is the work of sculptor Marius Butunoiu. It is made of reinforced concrete, covered with Ruschita travertine, on a rectangular volcanic tuff base. It has three sides symbolizing the three Romanian principalities united under Michael the Brave in 1601. At the base of each side are the coats of arms of the three Romanian principalities, made of white marble from Simeria, as well as the tombstone, by the Cluj artist Vasile Rus Batin. The old wooden cross is located at the Turda History Museum.    After the glorious victory on August 3, 1601 at Goraslau against the noble troops commanded by Sigismund Bathory, Michael headed to Cluj, where he arrived on August 11. From there, he set off for Turda, near which he set up camp and then sent most of his troops to Făgăraș, where his imprisoned family was. On August 16, at the head of the imperial troops, he arrived on the Turzii Plain and his bitter enemy, General Basta, whose presence was not expected there according to the campaign plan, arrived. For this reason, it is said that disagreements took place between the two commanders, during which, according to the chronicler Szamoskozy, one of Michael's nobles said, "We lost Transylvania on the Turda Plain, and here I will regain it." Regardless of how things happened, it is certain that Basta had the imperial mandate and the express intention of suppressing the voivode. After Michael decided to separate his army from Basta's, on August 18, on the eve of the voivode's departure to Wallachia, the general convened the council of commanders from his camp and discussed the summoning and arrest of Michael. The killing of the great voivode was decided when Basta realized that through his claims and personality, Michael was against the interests of the Austrian imperials. A imposing monument stands on the spot where the glorious voivode was sacrificed by the House of Austria and reminds us that Michael's sacrifice was not a futile loss, but a call, a battle cry passed from generation to generation, whose fate will be fulfilled only in 1918, when at Alba Iulia, the capital of the three countries united under his scepter, a people who have fought with exemplary perseverance for centuries, will regain the act by which the Romanians find themselves within the borders of a reunited country. In 2005, the Michael the Brave Monastery was built near the monument, a copy of the Michael the Brave Church built in Bucharest by Michael the Brave.   

  The Roman Castle of Potaissa is the most important historical and archaeological monument in the area. With great value for the national heritage, the castle belonged to the Fifth Macedonian Legion, built in 168 AD during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The castle has long sides (north and south) of 573 m and short sides (east and west) of 408 m, and its rectangular shape covers an area of 23.37 ha. Its orientation and position meet the main requirements of military technicians of that time, with the decuman gate facing the higher area (west) and the plateau built on is protected from floods and streams while still close to a water source. The plateau has a dominant position over the ancient city and the surrounding territories, allowing for good visibility from the castle to considerable distances. In terms of size, the castle had the capacity to accommodate around 5,000 soldiers. The castle walls were constructed using rocks extracted from several nearby quarries, with thicknesses between 1.7-2 m. The castle ruins survived until late in the Middle Ages, with the dressed stones used to build many churches and other buildings in the center of Turzii. Several ancient objects - architectural elements, sculptures, mosaics, stone inscriptions, coins, small items - have been found in the castle and are now in various collections and museums in the country, such as the Turda History Museum, or abroad, mostly in Budapest and Vienna. It is the only legionary castle in Dacia that is not affected by construction and where archaeological excavations can be made, having the status of an archaeological reserve. A strong incursion into history, a living connection to the past.    Archaeological Research The earliest mentions of the castle ruins were recorded by foreign scholars passing through Turda in the 16th century, and the uncovering of some ancient pieces during the "excavations" in the Middle Ages on the "Dealul Cetății" plateau predates the discoveries within the systematic archaeological research of the V Macedonica legion's castle. At the end of the 19th century, the accidental discoveries in the castle were followed with interest and recorded in the journals of teacher and school inspector Istvan Teglas. The archaeological research in the castle began in 1958 with the survey carried out by the Cluj archaeologist Ion Horatiu Crișan, on the occasion of the construction of some houses in the southeast corner of the castle, but was abandoned after a single campaign. Only in 1971, on the occasion of the construction of water reservoirs, the archaeological research on the north side would be resumed, where in 1950-1952 the remains of a large building (later identified as the horrea complex) were discovered, and would continue in annual campaigns without interruption. Initially, these researches were carried out under the coordination of Constantin Daicoviciu (1971-1972), and from 1973 to 2013 under the supervision of Professor Mihai Bărbulescu. Since 2014 and until present, the systematic research is coordinated by Sorin Nemeti from the same Cluj University. Thus, the successive campaigns have led to the unveiling of several archaeological sites: between 1971-1974, the barracks and the horrea complex from the sinistrum latus praetorii were studied, between 1975-1977 the barracks, the bastion from the northwestern corner and the decuman gate; between 1978-1986 the command building (principia), between 1987-1992 the milliary cohort's barracks from the dextrum latus praetorii. Several archaeological campaigns from 1993, 1995-2008 aimed at researching the castle's baths (thermae), palestra, building ABCD and other adjacent constructions. In 1994 and the years 2008-2011, the research of the command building continued, revealing the porticos, respectively the court of this building. Between 2012-2016, the complex of centuriae from the sinistra praetentura was studied.    Results of the Research The Turda archaeological site has been a learning site for numerous generations of archaeology and history students. The results of the archaeological research have been presented in reports and a large number of works, and the archaeological materials (antefixes, building materials, lamps, stamped ceramics, terracotta statuettes, fibulae, military equipment pieces, coins, sculptures, inscriptions, materials from the post-Aurelian period, etc.) have been published in studies and articles in Romania and abroad. In the last three decades, nine volumes have been published, six of which have the main subject of the fortress and the discoveries inside it, and three volumes about the Roman fortress and city of Potaissa. Bibliographic sources: M. Bărbulescu, Potaissa. Monographic Study, Turda, 1994; M. Bărbulescu, From the military history of Roman Dacia. The 5th Macedonian Legion and the fortress at Potaissa, Cluj-Napoca, 1987; M. Bărbulescu (coord.), The thermal baths from the legionary fortress at Potaissa, ed. Mega, Cluj-Napoca, 2019.