Mirăslău (; ) 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 has a population of 1,805 as of 2021. The commune is composed of six villages: Cicău (''Csákó''), Decea (''Marosdécse''), Lopadea Veche (''Oláhlapád''), Mirăslău, Ormeniș (''Marosörményes''), and Rachiș (''Oláhrákos'').

Geography

The commune lies at the western edge of the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern Carpathians, Eastern, Southern ...

, on the banks of the

Mureș River Mureș may refer to: * Mureș County, Romania * Mureș (river) in Romania and Hungary (''Maros'') * Mureș culture, a Bronze Age culture from Romania See also * Târgu Mureș, the capital of Mureș County * Ocna Mureș, a town in Alba Cou ...

. It is situated in the northern part of Alba County, from the city of Aiud, on the border with

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

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 ...

DN1 leads south to Aiud,

Teiuș Teiuș (, ; ) is a town in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 6,308 inhabitants as of 2021. The town, declared as such in 1994, administers four villages: Beldiu (''Marosbéld''), Căpud (''Magyarkapud''), Coșlariu Nou ('' ...

, and the county seat,

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 ...

, away, and north to

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 ...

and

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, at a distance of . The A10 motorway runs through Decea, parallel to DN1. The Mirăslău train station serves the CFR Line 300, which runs from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

, Teiuș, Cluj-Napoca, and on to the Hungarian border.

History

Mirăslău is the site of a battle in 1600 between the

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n army led by

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

and the Hungarian noblemen supported by the Austrian general

Giorgio Basta Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt, Gjergj Basta or Gheorghe Basta (1550 – 1607) was an Kingdom of Naples, Italian general, diplomat, and writer of Arbëreshë people, Arbëreshë Albanian origin, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to com ...

(''see Battle of Mirăslău'').

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Mirăslău had a population of 1,805; of those, 61.44% 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, ...

, 24.89%

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 ...

, and 5.43% Roma. At the 2011 census, the commune had a population of 1,985; of those, 67.5% were Romanians, 27.8% Hungarians, and 4.5% Roma. At the 2002 census, 66.4% were Romanian Orthodox, 25%

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

, and 4%

Greek-Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gr ...

References

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