Welcome to County Alba in the Transilvania
region of Romania! Discover historic Alba Iulia and surrounding villages,
and understand the rich Transilvania culture unfolding in beautiful county
Alba . Rest Romania will help you find the perfect hotel or B&B in our Alba
Accommodation section, or a guest house or pensiune in a village nestled in
the mountains. Explore all of Alba from Alba Iulia to Aiud, Blaj, Sebeş, and
the village, Abrud Baia De Arieş Câmpeni Cugir Ocna Mureş Teiuş and Zlatna
!
Travel
by rental car or tour bus and train through the Alba region of Transilvania
in Romania. Hotels in Alba Iulia are well-priced, and great travel and tourism
activities from shopping, to exploring the villages, folk art, castles, mountains
and forests. See all of County Alba, from Alba Iulia to Aiud, Blaj, Sebeş,
and the villages of Abrud Baia De Arieş, Câmpeni Cugir Ocna Mureş, Teiuş and
Zlatna too!
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Alba Iulia has been inhabited since ancient times,
with settlements tracing from 106-107BC when the existence of Dacian
hovels were first mentioned historical texts.
Next to them, two towns developed and later become municipia and collonia.
A bi-millenary municipality, a heart-shaped, historical city of monuments
and national becoming, Alba Iulia had a very important contribution to the
history of human settlings and fortified citadels.
The Union Museum
Address: Str. Mihai Viteazul 12-14, Phone: (+40) 258
813 300
The National Museum of Unification in Alba Iulia is one of the finest
in Romania. The museum is hosted in a building originally built for
military purpose. The Babilon Building dates since the half of the
19th century (1851-1853), and since 1968 has became the headquarters of
the Unification National Museum.
The two floors and over 100 rooms host the basic exhibition, the
warehouse, and the library and restorations laboratories.
This establishment was founded in 1887 and it occupies two important
buildings in the middle of the City: The Babilon Building, built up in
1851 and The Unification Hall Building, built up in 1906. The museum
exhibits over 130000 pieces of priceless works included in its patrimony,
starting with a pre-historia section, then Dacian-Roman and feudal
sections, the great battles with the Turks, the Revolution in 1848, the
Unification of the Principalities in 1859, the Unification of Transylvania
with Romania, etc.
The Unification Hall was highlighted in 1895 as the Military Casino of
the Garrison in Alba Iulia, but its distinctive historical signification
is given by the fact that it hosted, on the First of December 1918, the
Rally of the 1228 Romanian delegates from all Transylvania, who decided
the Unification of this ancient province with Romania.
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All of County Alba has the (258) or (358) county code, depending on
whether the landline number you're dialling was installed by Romtelecom
(as with the 258 ones), or another operator (the 358 ones).
Mobile numbers and the hybrid Zapp telephone system start with (7xx)
for the county/city code. Drop any leading zero on the phone
number you're given if you're dialling from outside Romania.
For full dialling information and a chart of county codes,
see our Dialling Romania section here
Note that most of the HotSpots listed with Rest Romania have been
certified with the
Free HotSpot Certification Program, so you should have few if
any problems connecting once you're there.
Hotel Clasic, Drumul Sibiului 15
in Sebeş. Free fast 54g wireless access for
hotel patrons and a nice Romanian restaurant with reasonable
reception.
+40
(258) 733 017
Hotel Cetate at Unirii 3 and the Hotel Park on Str. Primaverii 4 both
offer 54g Wi-Fi access, as does the Salon Magic on Dr. Aurel Lazar
7A, and in the old
Alba Iulia fortress, head to fun nightspot Pub13 for some free online time and
a nice beer!
Hotel Cetate, Strada Unirii 3 in
Alba Iulia
Free wireless in a beautiful historical area
near the old fortifications. +40
258 815833
Hotel Parc, Strada Primaverii 4 in
Alba Iulia
An acceptable hotel with free wireless placed
in a historical area of Alba Iulia. +40
258 811723
Salon Magic, Str. Crizantemelor, nr.7 or Dr.
Aurel Lazar 7A
in Alba Iulia.
Free wireless
+40
258 832 785 or +40
(747) 417 709
Pub13, Strada Unirii 3 in
Alba Iulia
Free wireless in funky pub type atmosphere that
will be heaven for Americans under 40. Fun, brash, with some
quiet areas too. +40
258 839 555
Geography
This county has a total area of 6, 242 km˛ with the mountains occupying
about 59% of its surface.
In the North-Western side there are the Apuşeni Mountains, in the Southern
side there are the North-Eastern side of the Parâng Mountains group -
Şureanu Mountains and Cindrel Mountains. In the East there is the
Transylvanian Plateau with deep but wide valleys. The three main elements
are separated by the Mureş River valley.
The main rivers are the Mureş River and its effluents Târnava, Sebeş and
Arieş. Bordering Alba are the counties of
Sibiu and Mureş in the east, counties
Bihor and Arad in the west, County
Hunedoara in the south-west, and County Cluj to the north.
Demographics
In 2002, it had a population of 382, 747 and the population density was
61/km˛. Over 90% of the population are Romanians and 6% of the population
are Hungarians. The area in the North and North-West, in the Apuseni
Mountains is known as Ţara Moţilor and is a region with strong Romanian
traditions.
Economy
The predominant industries in the county include food production, textiles
and wood, as well as mechanical components, paper and packing materials
and chemicals.
The mineral resources exploited in County Alba are metals such as gold, silver,
and copper, and even today salt is mined, a process going on since at
least 150AD.
From the surrounding mountains is extracted marbles and granites, much of
which can be seen today in the Palace of the People in Bucharest.
Towns
The county has the 4 municipalities of
Alba Iulia,
Aiud,
Blaj, and
Sebeş, and the seven main towns of
Abrud, Baia de Arieş,
Câmpeni,
Cugir,
Ocna Mureş,
Teiuş, and
Zlatna.
Alba also has 65 villages, as listed below. Hungarian names are given
in parentheses, unless otherwise stated (some also have German names):
Villages in County Alba
Albac (Fehérvölgy)
Almaşu Mare
Arieşeni (Lepus)
Avram Iancu
Berghin (Berve)
Bistra (Bisztra)
Blandiana (Maroskarna)
Bucium (Bucsony)
Câlnic (Kelnek)
Cenade (Szászcsanád)
Cergău (Magyarcserged)
Ceru-Băcăinţi (Bokajfelfalu)
Cetatea de Baltă (Küküllővár)
Ciugud (Maroscsüged)
Ciuruleasa (Csurulyásza)
Crăciunelu de Jos (Alsókarácsonfalva)
Cricău (Boroskrakkó)
Daia Româna (Oláhdálya)
Doştat (Hosszútelke)
Fărău (Magyarforró)
Galda de Jos (Alsógáld)
Gârbova (Szászorbó)
Gârda de Sus
Gura Ariesului
Hopârta (Háporton)
Horea (Arada)
Ighiu (Magyarigen)
Întregalde (Havasgáld)
Jidvei (Zsidve)
Livezile (Úrháza)
Lopadea Nouă (Magyarlapád)
Lunca Mureşului (Székelykocsárd)
Lupşa (Nagylupsa)
Meteş (Metesd)
Mihalţ (Mihálcfalva)
Mirăslău (Miriszló)
Mogoş (Mogos)
Noşlac (Marosnagylak)
Ocoliş (Alsóaklos)
Ohaba (Székásszabadja)
Pianu (Felsőpián)
Poiana Vadului (Feketevölgy)
Ponor (Nagyponor)
Poşaga (Podsága)
Rădeşti (Tompaháza)
Râmeţ (Remete)
Rimetea (Torockó)
Roşia de Secaş (Székásveresegyháza)
Roşia Montană
Sălciua (Szolcsva)
Săliştea (Alsócsóra)
Sâncel (Szancsal)
Sântimbru (Marosszentimre)
Săsciori (Szászcsór)
Scărişoara (Aranyosfő)
Şibot (Alkenyér)
Sohodol (Aranyosszohodol)
Şona (Szépmező)
Şpring (Spring)
Stremţ (Diód)
Şugag (Sugág)
Unirea (Felvinc)
Vadu Moţilor (Aranyosvágás)
Valea Lungă (Hosszúaszó)
Vidra
Vinţu de Jos (Alvinc; German: Alwitz, Alwintz)
Cars have the
RO-AB license plates,
and the area code for the county is (x58)
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This website is a
general tourist guide, designed to help English-speaking tourists
understand Romania, and as such, provides historical
information for the interest of our traveller readers. History
can be a contentious issue, and we welcome input where readers think
clarification or correction is advisable. Please
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if you have questions or comments about anything in this history
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Historical Alba
The Transilvania heritage shows all through county
Alba
Alba Iulia, The Daco-Roman Root of Romania
The capital city of County Arges was an important Dacian political, economic and social centre
named Apulon, mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy.
After the southern part of Dacia became a province of the Roman
Empire, the capital of the Dacia Apulensis district was established here,
and the city was known as Apulum. Apulum was one of the largest centers in
Roman Dacia and the seat of the XIII Gemina Legion.
In the 9th century, the city was mentioned under the name of Bălgrad
("White Citadel"), the Hungarian Gestas mention a ruler named Geula/Gyyla/Jula
that had discovered the city and made it the capital of his dukedom during
10th century.
Following the establishment of the Catholic Transylvanian episcopacy
after Stephen I of Hungary adopted Catholicism, the first cathedral was
built in the 11th century. The present (Catholic) cathedral was built in
the 12th or 13th centuries. In 1442 John Hunyadi, Voivod of Transylvania,
used the citadel to make his preparations for a major battle against the
Ottoman Turks. The cathedral was enlarged during his reign and served as
his place of entombment after his death.
As Gyulafehérvár, Alba Iulia became the capital of the Principality of
Transylvania in 1541, a status it was to retain until 1690. It was during
the reign of Prince Gabriel Bethlen that the city reached a high point in
its cultural history, with the establishment of an academy. Further
important milestones in the city's development include the creation of the
Batthyanaeum Library in the 18th century, and the arrival of the railway
in the 19th century.
The Union Museum
In November 1599, Michael the Brave, Voivod of Wallachia, entered Alba
Iulia following his victory in the Battle of Şelimbăr and became governor
of Transylvania.
In 1600 Michael gained control of Moldavia, thereby
uniting the three principalities under his rule until his murder in 1601
by Giorgio Basta's agents. Michael's achievement has historic significance
for Romanians, representing the first unification of the three
Romanian-populated principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia, and
Transylvania.
In 1918, tens of thousands of Romanians (the exact number is disputed
between Romanian and Hungarian historians) and representatives of the
Transylvanian Saxons and other minorities of Transylvania, gathered in
Alba Iulia on December 1, now commemorated as Union Day in Romania, to
hear the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of
Romania.
In 1922, Ferdinand of Romania was symbolically crowned King of
Romania in Alba Iulia in an act which mirrored the achievement of Michael
the Brave.
György Jakubinyi was appointed archbishop of the archdiocese of Alba
Iulia by Pope John Paul II on April 8, 1994.
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From it's centre of Roman mining to two declarations of Romanian
independence, Alba has been deeply important to ancient and modern-day
Romania alike!
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