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 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, traditional ...

word ''

brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

'', "

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 The Crișul Alb (Romanian language, Romanian), (Hungarian language, Hungarian: Fehér-Körös) is a river in western Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, and in south-eastern Hungary (Békés County). Its source is in the southern ...

and its tributaries,

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

and

Luncoiu The Luncoiu is a left tributary of the river Crișul Alb in 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 ...

. 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 The Brad railway station is a railway station located in Brad, Romania. The station was inaugurated on December 6, 1896, at the end of a line that began in Sântana. It went into decline after the Romanian Revolution, with the line to Deva bein ...

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 Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

, 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 Cătălin Bălescu (born January 6, 1962) is a Romanian visual artist and a university professor at the Department of Painting of The National University of Arts in Bucharest. Bălescu is the rector of The National University of Arts in Buchares ...

(born 1962), visual artist and academic *

Gavril Blajek Gavril Blajek (born 23 July 1939) is a Romanian water polo player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome ...

(born 1939), water polo player *

Gheorghe Falcă Gheorghe Falcă (born 22 January 1967 in Brad, Hunedoara County) is a Romanian politician and engineer. He was the mayor of Arad from the summer of 2004 up until 2019. He is currently warranted as a MEP on behalf of Romania in the European Parliam ...

(born 1967), politician and engineer *

Ilarion Felea Ilarion V. Felea (March 21, 1903 – September 18, 1961) was a priest and theologian of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Felea was born in Valea Bradului, a village that today is incorporated into Brad city in Hunedoara County. His father was a ...

(1903–1961), priest and theologian of the Romanian Orthodox Church *

Florin Maxim Florin Sandu Maxim (born 2 March 1981) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who played as a left-back, currently in charge of Liga II club Corvinul Hunedoara. Career Steaua București Maxim started to play football in ...

(born 1981), footballer and manager *

Teodor Meleșcanu Teodor Viorel Meleșcanu (; born 10 March 1941) is a Romanian politician, diplomat, and jurist. He served as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Romania (SIE) between 2012 and 2014. He was a three times senator on behalf of the Na ...

(born 1941), politician, diplomat, and jurist *

László Pataky László Pataky (24 December 1857, Brad, Hunedoara, Brád - 4 March 1912, Vințu de Jos, Alvinc) was a painter from Austria-Hungary who specialized in rural Genre art, genre scenes. Life and work He initially studied at the arts and crafts sch ...

(1857–1912), painter *

Ileana Stana-Ionescu Ileana Stana-Ionescu (14 September 1936 – 30 June 2024) was a Romanian actress and politician. She was born in Brad, Hunedoara and made her debut in theatre in 1955. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2000 to 2004, representing t ...

(born 1936), actress and politician

References

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