Brad (; ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania, Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as , ...

in 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 ...

region of

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 ...

. Its name comes from the Romanian word '' brad'', "

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

Geography

The city is located in the northern part of the county, at the foot of the

Metaliferi Mountains Metaliferi Mountains (; ), meaning Ore Mountains, are in the Carpathian Mountain Range and are a division of the Apuseni Mountains. Peaks The highest peak is , with an elevation of . The range also includes the '' Detunatele'', a pair of basalt ...

. It lies in the valleys of the river Crișul Alb and its tributaries, Brad and Luncoiu. Five villages are administered by the city: Mesteacăn ("birch"; ''Mesztákon''), Potingani (''Pottingány''), Ruda-Brad (''Ruda''), Țărățel (''Cerecel'') and Valea Bradului ("the valley of the fir tree"; ''Vályabrád'').

History

A gold mine in the area began to be exploited in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

, and the town developed around it. The earliest documentary mention of Brad dates to 1445. Gold mining was active until 2006. There is a Gold Museum.

Buildings and monuments

The Brad railway station is listed as a historic monument. The central plaza of Brad features a copy of the

Capitoline Wolf The Capitoline Wolf (Italian language, Italian: ''Lupa Capitolina'') is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a She-wolf (Roman mythology), she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders ...

, near the Dacian Draco.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Brad had a population of 12,690. At the census from 2011, the population of the city was 14,495, of which 13,534 (97.3%) 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, ...

, 192 (1.38%) Romani, 127 (0.91%)

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 ...

, 19 (0.13%)

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 ...

, and 33 others.

Natives

* Cătălin Bălescu (born 1962), visual artist and academic * Gavril Blajek (born 1939), water polo player * Gheorghe Falcă (born 1967), politician and engineer * Ilarion Felea (1903–1961), priest and theologian of the Romanian Orthodox Church * Florin Maxim (born 1981), footballer and manager * Teodor Meleșcanu (born 1941), politician, diplomat, and jurist * László Pataky (1857–1912), painter * Ileana Stana-Ionescu (born 1936), actress and politician

References

Populated places in Hunedoara County Localities in Transylvania Cities in Romania Mining communities in Romania {{Hunedoara-geo-stub