Lupșa (; ) is a commune located 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 ...

. It is composed of 23 villages: Bârdești, Bârzan, Curmătură, După Deal, Geamăna, Hădărău, Holobani, Lazuri, Lunca, Lupșa, Mănăstire, Mărgaia, Mușca, Pârâu-Cărbunări, Pițiga, Poșogani, Șasa, Trifești, Văi, Valea Holhorii, Valea Lupșii, Valea Șesii, and Vința. The commune is located in

Țara Moților Țara Moților (), also known as ''Țara de Piatră'' ("The Stone Land") is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the upper basin of the Arieș and Crișul Alb River rivers. It covers parts of the Alba, Arad, Bi ...

, on the slopes of Muntele Mare to the north and 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 ...

to the south. The area has a specific mountain relief developed on crystalline schists and metalliferous rocks. It ranges in height between in the meadows of the river

Arieș The Arieș () is a left tributary of the river Mureș in Transylvania, Romania. It discharges into the Mureș in Gura Arieșului, southwest of Luduș. Its total length (including its headwater Arieșul Mare) is , and its drainage basin area ...

(which traverses it for 19 km) to in Geamăna. Lupșa is on the

Turda Turda (; , ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the European route E81, and from nearby Câmpia ...

–

Câmpeni Câmpeni (German: ''Topesdorf''; Hungarian: ''Topánfalva'') is a town in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The town administers 21 villages: Boncești, Borlești, Botești (''Botesbánya''), Certege (''Csertés''), Coasta Vâscului, Dănduț ...

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

, from

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 ...

, the county seat, 15 km from the city of Câmpeni, and 9 km from Baia de Arieș, the nearest town. In 1978, the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

opened the Roșia Poieni copper mine near Geamăna, which at the time had over 1,000 residents. In 1986, production from the mine caused the formation of a muddy lake, which gradually submerged almost the entire village. By 2015, at most 15 people remained. The main objective is a partly submerged church, which has become a tourist attraction.

References

Communes in Alba County Localities in Transylvania {{Alba-geo-stub