Cetatea de Baltă (; ) is a commune in

Alba County Alba County () is a county (județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The commune is composed of four villages: Cetatea de Baltă, Crăciunelu de Sus (''Christendorf''; ''Felsőkarácsonyfalva''), Sântămărie (''Frauenkirch''; ''Boldogfalva''), and Tătârlaua (''Taterloch''; ''Felsőtatárlaka'').

Geography

The commune is located in the northeastern corner of the county, on the border with

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

and Mureș counties. It is traversed by county road DJ 117, which connects it to Târnăveni, to the northeast, and to Blaj, to the southeast; the county seat,

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

, is some past Blaj. To the east it borders with Adămuș commune from Mureș County and with Bazna commune from Sibiu County, to the south and west with Valea Lungă commune, and to the west and north with Jidvei commune. Cetatea de Baltă lies on the left bank of the river Târnava Mică. The river Balta which discharges into the Târnava Mică in the village of Sântămărie. The river Tătârlaua is a left tributary of the river Balta; it discharges into the Balta in the village of Tătârlaua.

Population

At the 2021 census, Cetatea de Baltă had a population of 2,792, of whom 41.26% were

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

, 38.04% Roma, and 14.46%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. At the 2011 census, the commune had 2,930 inhabitants, of whom 48.4% were Romanians, 33.3% Roma, 17.8% Hungarians, and 0.5%

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

. At the 2002 census, the villages of Cetatea de Baltă and Crăciunelu de Sus had an ethnic majority of Romanians, Săntămărie an ethnic majority of Hungarians, and Tătârlaua an ethnic majority of Roma.

Touristic sights

*The Bethlen Castle, built in the 16th century in the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

style and restored in the 17th-18th centuries in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. *A fortress (1st century BC-1st century AD), today only ruins. *The Reformed Church, a 13th-century building.

Economy

The most important economic resource is agriculture. Cetatea de Baltă is part of the Târnave Vineyard, making

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

an essential component of the local economy. The Cetatea de Baltă gas field is located on the territory of the commune.

Weblinks

Interview with the owners of Bethlen-Haller Castle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cetatea De Balta Communes in Alba County Localities in Transylvania