Sântana (; ; ) is a town in north-western

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 ...

, in the county of Arad. Declared a town in 2003, it administers one village, Caporal Alexa (''Erdőskerek'').

Geography

The town is situated in the northern part of the Arad Plateau, at a distance from the county seat, Arad. It is traversed by county roads DJ791 and DJ792C.

Population

At the 2021 census, Sântana had a population of 12,460. At the census from 2011, the town had 10,725 inhabitants; of those, 84.89% 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, ...

, 9.57% Roma, 3.14%

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 ...

, 2.07%

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 0.4% of other or undeclared nationalities. Furthermore, 79.6% 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 ...

, 11.5%

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 ...

, 5.5%

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 ...

, and 1.2%

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

History

The first documentary record of the locality under the name Sântana goes back to the year 1828. The settlement is the result of the continuous development of Comlăuș, a locality mentioned already in 1334. Caporal Alexa was mentioned in 1334 when it was called Kerecton. Until 1926, it was called Cherechiu, which is still its colloquial name.

Natives

Ștefan Augustin Doinaș Ștefan Augustin Doinaș (; pen name of Ștefan Popa) (April 26, 1922 – May 25, 2002) was a Romanian Neoclassical poet of the Communist era. He wrote 23 books of poetry, as well as children's books, essay collections, and a novel. Doinaș was ...

Adrian Drida Adrian Ioan Drida (born 5 January 1982 in Sântana) is a Romanian former Association football, football player who played as a midfielder. Club career Drida started his career playing for UTA Arad, from where he was also loaned to Motorul CFR ...

Oskar Kaufmann Oskar Kaufmann (2 February 1873 – 8 September 1956) was a Hungarian architect. He was an expert in construction and design and was active in Berlin beginning in 1900. Among his best-known works are the Krolloper, the Hebbel Theater and the ...

Economy

Although the economy of the town is prevalent agricultural, the secondary and tertiary economic sectors have also developed recently. Sântana is an important centre of vineyards.

Tourism

Its status as a significant road and railway junction can be used also for the promotion and improvement of the tourism. The specific architecture, the historical and architectural monuments as the "Convictului" building, the copyhold house and the fortifications called "Cetatea veche" are only a few of the locality's touristic sights.

Gallery

References

Towns in Romania Populated places in Arad County Localities in Crișana Former Danube Swabian communities in Romania {{Arad-geo-stub