Potaissa was a castra in the Roman province of Dacia, located in today's Turda, Romania.
History
The Dacians established a town that Ptolemy in his Geography calls Patreuissa, which is probably a corruption of Patavissa or Potaissa, the latter being more common. It was conquered by the Romans, who kept the name Potaissa, between AD 101 and 106, during the rule of Trajan, together with parts of Decebal's Dacia.
The name Potaissa is first recorded on a Roman milliarium discovered in 1758 in the nearby Aiton commune.
Milliarium of Aiton is an ancient Roman milestone dating from 108 AD, shortly after the Roman conquest of Dacia, and showing the construction of the road from Potaissa to Napoca, by demand of the Emperor Trajan. It indicates the distance of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) (P.M.X.) to Potaissa. This is the first epigraphical attestation of the settlements of Potaissa and Napoca in Roman Dacia.
The complete inscription is: "Imp(erator)/ Caesar Nerva/ Traianus Aug(ustus)/ Germ(anicus) Dacicus/ pontif(ex) maxim(us)/ (sic) pot(estate) XII co(n)s(ul) V/ imp(erator) VI p(ater) p(atriae) fecit/ per coh(ortem) I Fl(aviam) Vlp(iam)/ Hisp(anam) mil(liariam) c(ivium) R(omanorum) eq(uitatam)/ a Potaissa Napo/cam / m(ilia) p(assuum) X". It was recorded in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vol. III, the 1627, Berlin, 1863.
This milliarium is an attestation of the road known to be built by Cohors I Hispanorum miliaria.
The castrum established was named Potaissa too and became a municipium, then a colonia. Potaissa was the basecamp of the Legio V Macedonica from 166 to 274.
The Potaissa salt mines were worked in the area since prehistoric times.

Potaissa

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This medieval building located in Uioara de Sus (village under Ocna Mures administration) was built at the turn of the 13th century under orders received from hungarian royalty in order to protect the nearby salt mine. It is certified by historical documents since 1290, appearing under the name "Castrum Novum" ("The New Castle"), suggesting previous existence of another fortification on the same spot that is believed to be dated in 10th or 11th century.
Beginning with the 15th century the castle and the annexes had many owners, till the year 1649 when they were donated fo Mikes family. In 1742 the residence was rebuilt in baroque style. The only source of information on how the building would look in the eighteenth century is a painting by Joseph Neuhauser in 1791, that is found today at the National Art Museum in Cluj. The building appears as a compact volume with two levels and a high roof, to which are attached a gate tower and a hexagonal corner tower. The facade is treated unit with specific transylvania baroque plaster decorations.
During the 1848 revolution the building was almost completely destroyed by fire. It was bought in 1854 by the count Miko Imre - governor of Transylvania and founder of the Transylvania Museum Society. After the pass of Miko family the castle gets in the Teleki family possession.
Inside the courtyard there is a wine cellar and a chapel, which was originally equipped with an organ. At the initiative of the Teleki family, around the castle was built a park with walkways and trees, including naturalized species, some arboretum rarities.
Old folks in the village talk about the legend of a ghost haunting the local Teleki castle. The story took place in the period of the Second World War. A few Russians entered the castle cellar wich was filled with barrels of wine, where they got drunk. Wasted drunk, they began firing weapons at the huge barrels, so thousands of liters of wine were poured in the basement of the castle and the russians drowned. People say that all this happened because of the ghots in the cellar.
Today the building is in an advanced state of decay and is in the process of restitution to Teleki family.
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Teleki Castle in Uioara de Sus

Trascau Fortress (also called Coltesti Fortress) is located 50 km away from Alba Iulia and was built at the end of the XIII th century by the Count Thoroczkay of Trascau as home and shelter for the whole community in times of war. It was intentionally built on the top of a limestone hill, following the Tartar invasion of 1241, when many damages were done to the towns Rimetea and Coltesti.
On the north tower, which is 20 meters high, it was found an inscription attesting that the Thoroczkay family built this fortress in the XIIIth century. In 1470 the nobles lost the fortress to the king of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus. As a punishment for the Thoroczkays` disobedience, the king donated it to the voivode of Transylvania. For many years to follow, they tried to regain the castle from the Hungarian Crown, but their requests were each time denied.
Decades later, sick of the abusive high taxes and laws, the transylvanian peasants lead by Gheorghe Doja started a revolt against the nobility. The Colțești Fortress was attacked and set on fire. That`s how the Thoroczkays took it over again even if it was damaged by the rage of the peasants.
Because they opposed to the annexation of Transylvania by the Austrian House of Habsburg, the Thoroczkays were removed from the stage of history and their fortress met its end in 1713. Centuries have passed since its devastation but some of the walls and two standing towers are incredibly well preserved and still can be seen.
A such beautiful place gave rise to some popular legends that talk about a secret tunnel under the hills, or a hidden cellar full of noble wine barrels, or about Enikö, the daughter of Count Thoroczkay, who was desperate because did not receive any news from his father during a siege and she crossed the secret tunnel to the surface where came across the attackers who had occupied the fortress. Frustrated by the thought that his father was murdered and the fortress invaded, Enikö threw herself from the wall, rolled up into the valley, where she struck against the rocks and died. The legend talks also about the strange appearance of Enikö's ghost, which, thirsty for revenge, tries even nowadays to take the lives of those who climb the hill.
But besides stories and legends, Colțești Fortress is definitely a spectacular ruin in the panoramic landscape of Trascăului Mountains and almost like a natural extension of the rock it was built on,  seems determined to resist the passage of time.
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