Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia (German: Karlsburg, Hungarian: Gyulafehérvár) is a city in Alba county, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,369, located on the Mureş river.
The city consists of two parts: the upper town (the citadel) was constructed by the Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire between 1716 and 1735 and the lower town, which contains the gothic Catholic cathedral and the Batthyaneum, a museum that was founded in 1794. The tomb of John Hunyadi is also located in Alba Iulia.
The city is historically important for both the Hungarians and Romanians.
History
The city was an important Dacian political, economic and social centre named Apulon, and mentioned by the ancient Greek historian 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 Balgrad ("white citadel"), and a Byzantine source from 938 gives a detailed account of the city called "white fort of gyula" (ie Gyulafehérvár). In 953 the gyula (chief) of Transylvania, whose name was probably Zsombor, was baptised in Constantinople and on his return he built a church in the city. Following the establishment of the Transylvanian episcopacy, the first cathedral was built in the 11th Century. The present (catholic) cathedral was built in the 12th or 13th Century. In 1442 John Hunyadi, Voivod of Transylvania, used the citadel to make his preparations for a major battle against the Turks. During his reign, the cathedral was enlarged and after his death he was entombed there.
In 1541, Gyulafehérvár became the capital of the autonomous principality of Transylvania, 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.
Two events in particular give Alba Iulia an importance in Romanian history. In November 1599, Michael, Voivod of Wallachia, occupied Transylvania following his victory in the battle of Selimbar, entered Alba Iulia and became Habsburg governor of the province, until he was killed by mercenary troops in Basta's army. According to the Romanian interpration of history, this event briefly unified all three historical Romanian principalities.
On December 1, 1918 some tens of thousands of Romanians (the exact number is disputed between Romanian and Hungarian historians) gathered in Alba Iulia, to hear the proclomation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania.
External links
- Alba Iulia: Official site (http://www.apulum.ro/index-en.htm)
- History of Alba Iulia (http://www.apulum.ro/en/istoria.htm)
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