Râșnov (; german: Rosenau; hu, Barcarozsnyó; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Ruusenåå''; Latin: ''Rosnovia'') is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 15,022. It is located at about from the city of Brașov and about the same distance from Bran, on

DN73 DN73 ( ro, Drumul Național 73) is a Roads in Romania, national road in Romania which links Pitești with Brașov. It is a high-traffic road and the preferred route for trucks. Near Câmpulung the road crosses the Southern Carpathians along the D ...

, a road that links Wallachia and Transylvania.

History

The

Roman fort In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

Cumidava Cumidava (also Comidava, Komidava, grc, Κομίδαυα) was originally a Dacian settlement, and later a Roman military camp on the site of the modern city of Râşnov (15 km from Braşov) in Romania. Etymology After the Roman conquest ...

was discovered in 1856 near the town. The

Râșnov Fortress Râșnov Fortress ( ro, Cetatea Râșnov , german: Rosenauer Burg, hu, Barcarozsnyó vára) is a medieval ''Refuge castle, Fliehburg''-type fortress, which offered refuge for townspeople and villagers from the area in times of war. It is situated ...

was first built as a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

by the Teutonic Knights in the years 1211–1225. Râșnov was mentioned for the first time in 1331 as ''Rosnou'' and again in 1388 as ''villa Rosarum''. While the village was razed many times in its history by Tatars, Turks, and Wallachians, the fortress was conquered only once, in 1612, by

Gabriel Báthory Gabriel Báthory ( hu, Báthory Gábor; 15 August 1589 – 27 October 1613) was Prince of Transylvania from 1608 to 1613. Born to the Roman Catholic branch of the Báthory family, he was closely related to four rulers of the Principality of T ...

Legend of the fortress well

There is a legend attached to

. During a particularly long siege of the fortress, the citizens of Râșnov were concerned about the lack of available fresh drinking water. Two Turkish soldiers, having been captured earlier, were put to the task of digging a well in the centre of the fortress. These two men were assured that they would be given their freedom once the well was completed. According to local legend, it took them 17 years to finish the well, but they were still killed afterwards. This famous well still sits in the centre of Râșnov Fortress, and is 143 metres deep.

Climate

Râșnov has a warm-summer humid continental climate (''Dfb'' in the Köppen climate classification).

Culture

Music

As of August 2013, Râșnov became the host of the first

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

festival in Romania, known as Rockstadt Extreme Fest, which was held at the foot of the fortress hill. The festival featured bands such as Decapitated,

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

Gojira Gojira (ゴジラ) is the original Japanese name for Godzilla, a giant monster at the center of a media franchise. It may also refer to: Films * ''Godzilla'' franchise, known as ''ゴジラ'' (''Gojira'') in Japan ** ''Godzilla'' (1954 film), rele ...

, Carach Angren, Septicflesh,

Primordial Primordial may refer to: * Primordial era, an era after the Big Bang. See Chronology of the universe * Primordial sea (a.k.a. primordial ocean, ooze or soup). See Abiogenesis * Primordial nuclide, nuclides, a few radioactive, that formed before ...

among many others and it continues to this day.

Film

The American film '' Cold Mountain'' (2002) was shot to a large degree in the area around Râșnov.

Sports

Râșnov Sports Complex was built just outside the town in Cărbunării Valley, for

2013 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival The 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was an international multi-sport event held between 17 and 22 February 2013, in Braşov, Romania, with some of the events also held in Râșnov, Predeal and Fundata. It was the 11th edition of the ...

, which was hosted in the nearby city of Brașov. Two ski jumping events took place in Râșnov, as part of the Women's Ski Jumping World Cup 2013/2014 competition. The events were scheduled for March 2014, on the "Valea Cărbunării" slope. During the 2019–20 World Cup, both women and men had events in Râșnov..

References

External links

The Râșnov Fortress

Photos from Râșnov

Fortress History

Rockstadt Extreme Fest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasnov Populated places in Brașov County Localities in Transylvania Castles of the Teutonic Knights Towns in Romania Place names of Slavic origin in Romania Monotowns in Romania Burzenland