„Turnu Roşu - Verestorony”: a strategic point with outstanding visibility over the Braşov Depression

The archaeological point from “Turnu Roşu” ridge is known in the specialised literature only as a finding point for “many bricks and roman pottery fragments”. The ridge, found between Lisnău and Măgheruş localities, dominates entirely its surroundings, offering a direct visibility over quite a large part of the Braşov Depression: up until Breţcu, over the Negru [Black] River valley and as far as over the Olt River valley, on the lines of Bixad and Braşov Depressions. During a documentary visit taken with Radu Zăgreanu, currently working at the Bistriţa-Năsăud Museum Complex, we took a first step in determining the access points up the ridge and we examined the general situation at the site’s surface. We were able to establish that nowadays the site is quite accessible thanks to a paved road, that was probably arranged when a GSM antenna was built on the ridge. At the surface one can easily observe the traces of numerous trenches, probably dug during the 2nd World War. Due to unfavourable weather conditions during this visit we could only evaluate the possibilities of geophysical and geochemical investigations of the soil. We did not recover any archaeological materials as those mentioned in the archaeological repertory of Covasna County (“bricks and roman pottery fragments”), but the outstanding geographical position of this site encourages us to believe that here once stood an observation and signalling point of the roman army in Dacia.