Breaza () is a town in

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third mos ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The town center consists of at least two former villages, ''Podu Vadului'' and ''Breaza de Sus'', which were later merged. Today, ten villages are administratively part of the town: Breaza de Jos, Breaza de Sus, Frăsinet, Gura Beliei, Irimești, Nistorești, Podu Corbului, Podu Vadului, Surdești, and Valea Târsei.

History

The town's name is derived from a Slavic word, '' breza'', meaning "

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

tree". The town was first documented in an act of 1503, mentioning a certain trader of Breaza called "Neagoe". In 1622 the land of Breaza was divided between four

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

s and in 1717, the new ruler of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, Nicolae Mavrocordat gave the Breaza estate to boyar Iordache Crețulescu. The land was divided by the agrarian reform of 1921 and in 1935 it was declared a spa.

Economy

One of the main occupations is farming, and traditional needlework, but many inhabitants also commute to work in the neighboring towns of

Comarnic Comarnic () is a town in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 13,500. Four villages are administered by the town: Ghioșești, Podu Lung, Poiana and Posada. The town is situated along the Prahova River, in the main on the lef ...

and

Câmpina Câmpina () is a city in Prahova County, Romania, north of the county seat Ploiești, located on the main route between Wallachia and Transylvania. Its existence is first attested in a document of 1503. It is situated in the historical region of Mu ...

. Tourism is also important for the local economy, and many locals rent out rooms in the summer months. Due to its naturally beautiful surroundings, being located among rolling hills, the town has long been popular with inhabitants of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, who tend to have vacation homes here. Among the people who had second residences in Breaza were

Adrian Păunescu Adrian Păunescu (; 20 July 1943 – 5 November 2010) was a Romanian writer, publisher, cultural promoter, translator, and politician. A profoundly charismatic personality, a controversial and complex figure, the artist and the man are almost im ...

. It is also the site of a folk art museum and a .

Natives

Ion Cavași Ion Cavași (born 5 November 1953) is a Romanian alpine skier. He competed in three events at the 1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: ...

Constantin Dăscălescu Constantin Dăscălescu (; 2 July 1923 – 15 May 2003) was a Romanian communist politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania (21 May 1982 – 22 December 1989) during the communist rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu until the Romanian Revol ...

Rareș Dogaru Rareș Ștefan Dogaru (born 11 December 2003) is a Romanian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, ...

Florian Enache Florian Enache (born 9 April 1971) is a Romanian bobsledder. He competed at the 1994, 1998 and the 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico ...

Dumitru Focșeneanu Dumitru Focşneanu (8 November 1935 - 20 June 2019) was a Romanian bobsledder who had his best results as a brakeman with Ion Panțuru. Together they won two medals in the two-man event at the FIBT World Championships with a silver in 1969 and ...

Nicolae Pescaru Nicolae Pescaru (27 March 1943 – 25 May 2019) was a Romanian footballer and manager, who worked mostly for Steagul Roșu Brașov. Club career Nicolae Pescaru was born on 27 March 1943 in Breaza, Prahova County, Romania. He started to play fo ...

Climate

Breaza has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Cfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

References

{{Authority control Towns in Romania Populated places in Prahova County Localities in Muntenia Place names of Slavic origin in Romania