Sântimbru (; ) 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 3,032 as of 2021 and is composed of five villages: Coșlariu (''Koslárd''), Dumitra (''Demeterpataka''), Galtiu (''Gáldtő''), Sântimbru, and Totoi (''Táté'').

Geography

The commune is located in central Alba County, north of 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 ...

. It is situated on 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 ...

, at an altitude of . It lies on the banks of the river Mureș; the river Galda flows into the Mureș in Sântimbru. The

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 and the European route E81 pass through the western side of the commune. The Podu Mureș train station in Coșlariu serves the CFR main line 300, which connects

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 ...

with the Hungarian border near

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

History

Following the

Mongol invasion of Europe From the 1220s to the 1240s, the Mongol Empire, Mongols conquered the Turkic peoples, Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian peoples, Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began ...

Transylvanian Saxons The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler dialect, Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sa ...

settled in Sântimbru in the 13th century. Driven out by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

in the 16th century, they were replaced by Hungarians, who practised woodcutting. Ethnic Romanians have been in the majority since the 19th century, and today, the inhabitants mainly build bricks and raise poultry. The village of Totoi has developed a speech form known as

Totoiana Totoiana ("Totoian"), also known as the "Totoian language" () or the "inverted language" (), is a speech form used in the village of Totoi in Alba County, Romania. It is unique to the village and not spoken in the other villages that form part o ...

which consists in the inversion of Romanian words so that other speakers of normal Romanian cannot understand it. It is unique to the village, and it is not spoken in other parts of Sântimbru.

Points of interest

The commune has a Hungarian Reformed church founded by

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (; ; ; ; ; – 11 August 1456) was a leading Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian military and political figure during the 15th century, who served as Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526), Kingdom of Hungary ...

in 1449.

Natives

* Samoilă Mârza (1886–1967), photographer * Andrei Socaci (born 1966), weightlifter

References

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