Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; hu, Balázsfalva; german: Blasendorf;
Transylvanian Saxon
The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ...
: ''Blußendref'') is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. It has a population of 20,630 inhabitants.
The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the
Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic ( la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae; ro, Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the ...
in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
.
History
Blaj is first mentioned in 1271 as ''Villa Herbordi'', after the deed of a Count Herbod. In 1313, the domain passed to Herbod's son Blasius Cserei and the town was mentioned as ''Blasii''. Started as a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
for the twenty families of servants of the noble's court, it was awarded town status on May 19, 1737.
Blaj is the principal religious and cultural center of
Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
in Transylvania. At 27 October 1687 begins the history of the
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic ( la, Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae; ro, Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the ...
, history directly connected to the history of the town Blaj. It all started at the end of the treaty through which
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
was entering under the protection of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, renouncing the protection of the
Turkish Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
The first public school in
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
was established in Blaj in 1754. Blaj was the first place to have Romanian written with
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...
instead of Cyrillic in which it had traditionally been written. Blaj was also a center for the Romanian
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, being the founding site of the
Transylvanian School
The Transylvanian School ( ro, Școala Ardeleană) was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church (). The ...
that promoted the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
cultural heritage of the Romanians. Thus Blaj gained the nickname "The Little Rome", as Romania's national poet
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active memb ...
called it.
In 1848,
Câmpia Libertății
Câmpia Libertății (''The Field of Liberty'') is located in the city of Blaj, in Transylvania, Romania. It was the place where two national assemblies were held during the 1848 Revolution, the first one in May, and the second one in September. ...
in Blaj was where over 40,000 Romanians met to protest Transylvania becoming a part of Hungary, holding that the lands would be stolen from them.
Geography
Blaj lies at the confluence of the
Târnava Mare
The Târnava Mare ("Great Târnava"; hu, Nagy-Küküllő; german: Große Kokel) is a river in Romania. Its total length is and its basin size is . Its source is in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the sources of the Mureș and Olt in Har ...
and
Târnava Mică
The Târnava Mică ("Small Târnava"; hu, Kis-Küküllő; german: Kleine Kokel) is a river in Romania. Its total length is , and its drainage basin area is . Its source is in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, in Harghita County. It flows to the w ...
rivers,
where they form the
Târnava River
The Târnava (full name in ro, Râul Târnava; hu, Küküllő; german: Kokel; tr, Kokul or Kokulu) is a river in Romania. It is formed by the confluence of the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică in the town of Blaj. The Târnava flows into the ...
. It is located northeast of the county seat,
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historica ...
, in a renowned wine-growing region.
Climate
Blaj 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 ...
). The city has a continental temperate climate, characteristic for the
Transylvanian Plateau
The Transylvanian Plateau ( ro, Podișul Transilvaniei; hu, Erdélyi-medence) is a plateau in central Romania.
The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the East ...
Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...
- 16,779 (83.78%)
*
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
- 1,305 (6.51%)
*
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
Romanian Orthodox
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...
- 14,784 (71.19%)
*
Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
- 2,732 (13.24%)
*
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
- 408
*
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
- 220
Government
The city administers eight villages: Deleni-Obârșie (''Obursatanya''), Flitești, Izvoarele (until 1960 ''Ciufud''; ''Csufud''), Mănărade (''Monora''), Petrisat (''Magyarpéterfalva''), Spătac (''Szászpatak''), Tiur (''Tűr'') and Veza (''Véza'').
Bethlen
The House of Bethlen is the name of two Hungarian ancient noble families, ''Bethlen de Iktár'' and ''Bethlen de Bethlen''. Although they have similar coat of arms, those two families don't have proven mutual ancestry. Both can trace their noble li ...
dynasty is a popular tourist site near Blaj. Other sights worth visiting include the Metropolitan Palace, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the "''Buna Vestire''" Monastery, the Greeks' Church, the "Liberty Field", and Avram Iancu's oak.
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...
*
Recanati
Recanati () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, ...
Silviu Bindea
Silviu Bindea (24 October 1912 – 6 March 1992) was a Romanian football player and coach.
He represented Romania at the 1934 and 1938 World Cups as a forward, scoring twice in a first-round game in 1938.
Honours Player
;Ripensia Timișoara
*L ...
Daniel Lupașcu
Daniel Ștefan Lupașcu (born 17 August 1981) is a Romanian former football player who played as a striker for teams such as CSM Reșița, Apulum Alba Iulia, Bihor Oradea or Arieșul Turda, among others. He played briefly in the Romanian Li ...
(born 1981), footballer
* Ioan Simu (1875–1948), Greek-Catholic priest and politician
*
Ioan Suciu
Ioan Suciu (December 4, 1907 – June 27, 1953) was a Romanian bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church, born into a clerical family in Blaj.
He studied in Rome, Italy first at Sant'Atanasio and then at the ''Pontificium Institutum Internationale An ...
(1907–1953), bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church
* Daniel Tătar (born 1987), footballer
*
Samuil Vulcan
Samuil Vulcan (1 August 1758 – 25 December 1839) was the Bishop of the Diocese of Oradea Mare of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church from 1806 to 1839.
Life
Vulcan was born on 1 August 1758 in Veza, a former village which has since been in ...
Câmpia Libertății
Câmpia Libertății (''The Field of Liberty'') is located in the city of Blaj, in Transylvania, Romania. It was the place where two national assemblies were held during the 1848 Revolution, the first one in May, and the second one in September. ...
