Valul lui Traian

What you see

A rampart is not a wall. What you find here is a long, overgrown earthen bank one and a half to three metres high, with a ditch on one side. The first 34 kilometres of the Lower Wall, between Vadul lui Isac and Tabacu near Lake Ialpug, were built with the most care, with a flat berm between rampart and ditch; this is the best-preserved part. Further east, between the lakes Ialpug, Catlabuga and Sasîc, the construction is simpler. In total the Lower Wall runs for about 126 kilometres to near Tatarbunary in Ukraine. A road running parallel to it is damaging the monument.

According to the sources, the Upper Wall is 120 to 138 kilometres long and runs from Leova through Cimișlia district, past villages such as Grădiște and Coștangalia, to Copanca near Chițcani on the Dniester.

History

The ramparts bear the name of the Roman Emperor Trajan, who conquered Dacia in the early 2nd century, but that link was probably only made in the 19th century. In medieval Moldavian documents they are called 'Troian'; the first mention dates from 13 March 1489. There is no consensus on who built them. A common theory attributes the Upper Wall to Gothic tribes in the 4th century, as a defence against the Huns, and the Lower Wall to the Gothic leader Athanaric. Other researchers believe that only the Romans had the know-how and manpower for such an undertaking.

Recent research has shed more light. During excavations on the Upper Wall in the autumn of 2024, on the boundary between Ecaterinovca and Ialpugeni, archaeologists uncovered a ditch 6.1 metres wide and almost three metres deep. Pottery of the Sântana de Mureș-Cerneahov culture indicates that the rampart and ditch were built at the latest in the second half of the 3rd century or in the 4th century. The southern wine region of Valul lui Traian bears the same name.

Tips for your visit

Start at Vadul lui Isac, some 17 kilometres south of Cahul, in the valley of the Lower Prut. Do not count on facilities or signposted paths: a map or GPS app helps you pick out the rampart in the landscape. Combine the visit with the Prutul de Jos reserve and Lake Beleu further downstream, or with an overnight stay in Cahul. Go in spring or autumn: in summer the open plain is hot and offers no shade.