Dacian fortress Sarmizegetusa Regia reopened on Monday for visitors, after no less than 80 old and sick trees were removed from the historical site in the past four weeks, as they could have collapsed and damaged the UNESCO monument.
“The operations ended a week earlier. In the past week, there were carried out many sanitation works which can be done during the winter. They will also continue when the weather becomes warmer,” Vice President of the Hunedoara County Council Sorin Vasilescu told AGERPRES.
The Sarmizegetusa Regia fortress was closed for tourists on January 22, after the management received the necessary approvals to cut and remove from the area a number of 103 sick trees. For the monument’s safety, 80 trees were removed from the fortress, a quarter of which were already down because of the storms of the past years.
Historians and the managers of the Dacian fortress, Sarmizegetusa Regia, argue that tree cuts did not affect the integrity of the UNESCO monument, as the works were carried out under strict archaeological surveillance.
The Dacian fortress Sarmizegetusa Regia has been in the administration of the Hunedoara County Council since 2013. Since then, the authorities have also monitored the condition of the trees on the UNESCO site’s perimeter.
According to the county authorities, over the years, with every stronger storm the trees have fallen down, which has endangered the integrity of the monument, but also the people’s life.
More than 70,000 tourists visited the Dacian fortress Sarmizegetusa Regia last year, the number of those who arrived in the former capital of Dacia being 16 pct higher than in 2016.
