Vințu de Jos, also known as ''Vinț'' (; ; ; ), is a commune located in the centre of

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 eighteen villages: Câmpu Goblii (''Unter-Eisenberg''; ''Telekvinc''), Ciocașu (''Zoggesch''; ''Csókás''), Crișeni (''Krieschen''), Dealu Ferului (''Eisenberg''; ''Vashegy''), Gura Cuțului (''Gurrenkutz''), Hațegana (''Hetzingen''), Inuri (''Lilienfeld''; ''Borsómező''), Laz (''Slawendorf''), Mătăcina (''Mattatschin''), Mereteu (''Merethof''; ''Merítő''), Pârău lui Mihai (''Michelsdorf''), Poienița (''Pojenitz''), Stăuini (''Stabing''), Valea Goblii (''Goblsdorf''; ''Goblipatak''), Valea lui Mihai (''Michaelsdorf''), Valea Vințului (''Wintzbach''; ''Valye Vinci''), Vințu de Jos, and Vurpăr (''Burgberg-Walbersdorf''; ''Borberek'').

Geography

Vințu de Jos has a surface of and is located on the river Mureș, in the centre of

, approximately from the city of Sebeș on the Romanian National Road DN7, and from the county capital,

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 ...

on the Romanian County Road 107C and the Romanian National Road DN1. The commune is bordered by the commune of

Meteș Meteș (; ) is a Commune in Romania, commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It had a population of 2,564 as of 2021. It is composed of twelve villages: Ampoița, Isca, Lunca Ampoiței, Lunca Meteșului, Meteș, Pădurea, Poiana Amp ...

to the north, the city of Alba Iulia in the north-east, the city of Sebeș in the south-east, the communes of

Pianu Pianu () is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 3,375 in 2021 and is composed of five villages: Pianu de Jos, Pianu de Sus (the commune center), Plaiuri, Purcăreți and Strungari. The commune is situa ...

and

Săliștea Săliștea (; ), known as ''Cioara'' until 1965, is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The old name of ''Cioara'' is still widely used, especially by local residents. It is composed of four villages: Mărgineni, Săliștea, ...

in the south, and the commune of Blandiana in the west.

Economy

The centre of the commune, Vințu de Jos, has a large

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

and houses a shoe factory. The train station is an important connection station that links the CFR-Romanian Railways main lines 200 and 300 via the line 200A. It is also on the route of the original

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...

Demographics

The 2002

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

recorded 5,295 people living at the time in the commune, of which 5,108 (96.5%)

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, ...

, 90 (1.7%) Roma, 76 (1.4%)

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 8 (0.2%)

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 ...

."Vințu de Jos"
at th
Erdélyi Magyar Adatbank

''Recensământ 2002''
Retrieved on April 16, 2016. At the 2021 census, Vințu de Jos had a population of 4,923; of those, 91.61% were Romanians.

Tourist attractions

Vințu de Jos' tourist objectives include: *The Martinuzzi Castle – the ruins of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle where George Martinuzzi was assassinated in 1551. *The ruins of a former Dominican

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. *The ruin of the

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such church (building), churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as t ...

of Vurpăr. *The Monument of Romanian Heroes from

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 ...

, built in 1920.

Notable people

* Stephen Pongracz (1584–1619) a Hungarian Jesuit priest, martyr and saint of the Catholic Church. * Joseph Alvinczy (1735–1810) a soldier in the Habsburg Army and a Field Marshal of the Austrian Empire. * Zsigmond Kemény (1814–1875) a Hungarian author. * (1833–1913) botanist and ornithologist. * Lajos Horváth (1872–?) a Hungarian fencer, competed at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vintu De Jos Communes in Alba County Localities in Transylvania