The Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains were included on the World Heritage List in 1999, during the 23rd session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO that took place in Marrakesh, Morocco. The proposal came from the behalf of the Romanian state.
In order to support the nomination of the Dacian fortresses, a team of specialists and Romanian government functionaries filled a vast documentation arguing the importance and the universal value of the sites and monuments of this location, in the context of the universal history and civilisation. The work of the specialists was recognised and the Dacian fortresses took their well deserved place within world's heritage. The complex called "Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains" was a unique complex of fortifications and settlements having in its centre the religious, political and economical capital of the Dacian Kingdom - Sarmizegetusa Regia.
According to the UNESCO requirements, also endorsed by Romania, all the assets figuring in the World Heritage List must be adequately protected by the law. The responsible states must prove the establishment of an adequate protection that would insure the conservation as well as the valorisation of this patrimony belonging to the entire humanity. The mandatory measures refer to the legal, scientific, administrative and financial domains, according to complex management plans adjusted to each particular objective.