Petroșani Depression
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Petroșani (; Hungarian: ''Petrozsény'';
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
: ''Petroschen'') 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 ...
in
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 , ...
,
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 ...
, with a population of 31,044 as of 2021. The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century.


History

"Pietros" means "stony, rocky" in Romanian. The city of Petroșani was founded in the 17th century (around 1640) with the name Petrozsény. In 1720, an
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...
cartographer mentions that the entire
Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( , ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity ...
was intensely populated and settlements could be seen from one end to the other. At the 1818 census, Petroșani had 233 inhabitants, while the entire Valley counted 2,550. During this time, the main activity of the people was
shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
ing and no urban settlement had appeared yet. Around 1840, coal surface mining began in Petroșani, Vulcan, and
Petrila Petrila (; ) is a town in the Jiu Valley, Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located near the confluence of the rivers Jiul de Est, Taia (river), Taia, and Jieț (Jiu), Jieț. The town administers four villages: Cimpa (''Csimpa''), Ji ...
. After Romania joined the
Allies of World War I The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...
in 1916, Romanian troops attacked the town during the
Battle of Transylvania The Battle of Transylvania was the first major operation of Romania during World War I, beginning on 27 August 1916. It started as an attempt by the Romanian Army to seize Transylvania, and potentially knock Austria-Hungary out of the war. Althou ...
. A battalion of miners defended Petroșani in a last stand battle, refusing to give up the town. The Romanian occupation, however, did not last long: the united
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
troops regained control of the town shortly, in which guerrilla warfare, led by the local Viktor Maderspach, played an important role. After the collapse of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
at the end of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and the declaration of the
Union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...
, the
Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...
took control of Petroșani in December 1918, during the
Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War (; ) was fought between Hungary and Kingdom of Romania, Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the ...
. The town officially became part of the territory ceded to the
Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...
in June 1920 under the terms of the
Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...
. During the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, the city was the headquarters of plasa Petroșani, within Hunedoara County. After 1950, the city became the headquarters of Petroșani
raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...
within . Following the administrative reform of 1968, Petroșani became once more part of Hunedoara County. The population experienced massive growth only in the 20th century during the
communist government 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 ...
, as many workers were brought in from other parts of the country. As other cities from the Jiu Valley, throughout the second half of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, most activities in the city revolved around the mines. But after the fall of the communist regime, many mines were closed, and the city, just like the whole valley, was forced to diversify the economy. This has also led to a significant
population decline Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, Earth's total world population, human population has estimates of historical world population, continued to grow but projections sugg ...
: Petroșani is one of the Romanian cities which has experienced the fastest population loss from the 1990s onwards.


Geography

Petroșani is located in the Jiu Valley, which is the entrance to the
Retezat National Park The Retezat National Park () is a protected area located in the Retezat Mountains in Hunedoara (county), Hunedoara county, Romania. Founded in 1935, it is the oldest national park in the country and categorized as a category II IUCN national park ...
and provides access to the Vâlcan, Parâng, and Retezat mountains. The city administers four villages: Dâlja Mare (''Nagydilzsa''), Dâlja Mică (''Kisdilzsa''), Peștera (''Zsupinyászuvölgy'') and Slătinioara (''Szlatinova községrész'').


Landmarks

* ''Sfinții Arhangeli'' Church ("Holy Archangels Church"), built in the 18th century. * The "
Ion G. Duca Ion Gheorghe Duca (; 20 December 1879 – 29 December 1933) was a Romanian liberal politician, diplomat, and lawyer who briefly served as Prime Minister from November to December 1933. A leading figure in the National Liberal Party, Duca hel ...
" school, built in 1935 * The Hungarian school, built in 1873 by Germans and inhabited by a group of 50 Catholic nuns from a monastery near
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
* The Old Theater, built in 1886 * The
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
Church, built between 1892 and 1896 * The
Mining Museum Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a la ...
, built in 1920 * The current Sports School building, built in 1919 * The "I. D. Sîrbu" Theater Hall, built in 1905 * The Justice Court building, built in 1910 * The current Students theater, built in 1922 * The Unitarian Church, built between 1924 and 1928 * The
University of Petroșani University of Petroșani is a university located in Petroșani, Hunedoara County, Romania. This university was established in 1948. The college offers both undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education a ...
, built in 1948 * The Jiul Shopping Center, re-opened in December 2007 after renovation, initially built in the early 1980s


Social events

The following social events take place in Petroșani: * the Dramatic Theater offers a wide variety of performance every week * the annual international folklore festival * the Folk Music Festival ''Cântecul Adâncului...'' ("Song of the Deep") * artistic summer camps organized by the Petroșani University * art, numismatic and caricatures exhibitions * piano and violin recitals, offered by the Music School * the Petroșani Days festival, usually organized in autumn *the annual Underground Valley Graffiti Fest


Demographics

In 1850, Petroșani was a small village, the vast majority of its 581 inhabitants being Romanian. According to the 1910 census, from 12,193 inhabitants 7,748 (63.54%) were Hungarian, 3,250 Romanian (26.65%) and 831 (6.82%) German. At the 2002 census, 83.3% of the city's inhabitants were
Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...
, 7.2%
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, 3.7%
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 ...
, 2.2%
Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
, 0.8%
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 ...
, and 0.9% belonged to another religion. At the 2011 census, 90.59% of inhabitants 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, ...
, 6.54%
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 ...
, 1.82%
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
, and 0.35%
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 ...
. At the 2021 census, Petroșani had a population of 31,044.


Notable people

* Gabriel Apetri (born 1981), footballer * Cosmin Chetroiu (born 1987), luger *
Aristică Cioabă Aristică Cioabă (born 4 August 1971) is a Romanian association football, football manager and a former footballer who is the current head coach of Ghanaian Premier League club Aduana Stars, Aduana Football Club. Playing career Cioabă began h ...
(born 1971), football player and manager *
Iuliu Farkaș Iuliu Farkaș (also known as Gyula Farkas; 8 September 1923 – 9 May 1984) was a Romanian footballer who played as a forward. Club career Iuliu Farkaș was born on 8 September 1923 in Petroșani, Romania, starting to play junior level football ...
(1923–1984), footballer *
Cristina Adela Foișor Cristina Adela Foișor ( Bădulescu; 7 June 1967 – 22 January 2017)Nicolae Guță Nicolae Guță (born 3 December 1967) is a Romanian Roma manele singer from Petroșani. Musical career Guță started as a singer and accordionist in the late 1980s, playing lăutărească music. He released his debut album in 1992. Two years lat ...
(born 1967), Roma manele singer * Raluca Haidu (born 1994), artistic gymnast *
Monica Iacob Ridzi Monica Maria Iacob Ridzi (born 30 June 1977 in Petroșani) is a Romanian politician. She was the head of the youth wing of the Democratic Liberal Party, and a representative in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania since 2008. She is a former member ...
(born 1977), politician * Cornel Irina (born 1976), footballer *
Iosif Kalai Iosif Ladislau Kalai () (born 2 December 1980) is a Romanian football player of Hungarian ethnicity. He currently plays for Liga IV side Inter Petrila as a defender. Kalai previously played for Jiul Petroşani, Politehnica Iaşi, FCM Bacău ...
(born 1980), footballer * Alex Leon (1907–after 1944), graphic artist and painter * Cătălin Mulțescu (born 1976), footballer *
Călin Peter Netzer Călin Peter Netzer (; born 1 May 1975) is a Romanian film director who won the Golden Bear at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. Born in Petroșani to a family of Romanian and German origins, Netzer emigrated with his family to West G ...
(born 1975), film director *
Răzvan Oaidă Răzvan Constantin Oaidă (born 2 March 1998) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club FC Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Cluj. Club career On 25 February 2019, FCSB owner Gigi Beca ...
(born 1998), footballer *
Anamaria Ocolișan Anamaria Ocolișan (born 10 December 1997) is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She was part of her country's team at the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, competing in the team event where Romania placed fourth. Senior career 2014 O ...
(born 1997), artistic gymnast * Mircea Popa (born 1962), footballer *
Cosmin Rațiu Cosmin Aurel Rațiu (born 18 July 1979 in Petrosani) is a retired Romanian rugby union player. He also played as a lock or flanker. He is currently a coach. Club career He played for CS Dinamo București until moving to Stade Montois in Fra ...
(born 1979), rugby union player *
Lóránd Szatmári Lóránd Szatmári (born 3 October 1988) is a Romanian-born Hungary, Hungarian association football, football player. Club career On 29 July 2022, Szatmári signed with Szeged-Csanád Grosics Akadémia, Szeged-Csanád. References External ...
(born 1988), footballer * Andreea Țîrle (born 2002), handball player * Marin Tudorache (born 1968), football player and manager * Vlad Tudorache (born 1995), footballer *
Dacian Varga Dacian Şerban Varga (born 15 October 1984) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Career Childhood Varga began his football career at the age of 8, when his father took him at an indoor-football club based in ...
(born 1984), footballer * Patricia Vizitiu (born 1988), handball player


Gallery

File:Petroșani-1867.jpg, Petroșani railway station (1867) File:Petroșani-1910.jpg, View of Petroșani 1910 File:Nicolae Ceaușescu in Petrosani, 1978.jpg,
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
in Petroșani shortly after the 1977 miners’ strike File:Pietonal_Petrosani.jpg, City center File:Petrosani Centrul istoric (3).jpg File:Petrosani Centrul istoric (1).jpg File:Petrosani Centrul istoric (4).jpg File:RO HD Petrosani Salatruc wooden church 1.jpg, St. George wooden church in Sălătruc neighborhood (1788)


References


External links

*
Jiu Valley Portal
- the regional portal host of the official Petroșani municipal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrosani Populated places in Hunedoara County Localities in Transylvania Jiu Valley Cities in Romania Monotowns in Romania