Blaj

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Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has about 17,800 residents (2021) and administers eight nearby villages: Deleni-Obârșie, Flitești, Izvoarele, Mănărade, Petrisat, Spătac, Tiur and Veza.

Blaj has a long religious and cultural history. It was first mentioned in 1271 and became a town in 1737. The first public Romanian school opened there in 1754, and Blaj was the first place where Romanian was written with the Latin alphabet. It was the cradle of the Transylvanian School, a movement that promoted Romanian culture, earning Blaj the nickname “Little Rome” from poet Mihai Eminescu.

In 1848, Câmpia Libertății in Blaj hosted a huge gathering where more than 40,000 Romanians protested against Transylvania joining Hungary.

Geographically, Blaj sits where the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică rivers meet to form the Târnava River. It is about 39 km northeast of Alba Iulia, in a well-known wine region.

Nearby is the village of Mănărade, which has an Evangelical fortified church that was restored in the 21st century with help from emigrants in Germany. Historically, the area had a large German Saxon population, which has declined. The 2011 census showed Romanians as the majority in Blaj, with minorities of Hungarians, Roma, and a small German community.

Blaj’s notable sights include the Metropolitan Palace, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Buna Vestire Monastery, the Greek Catholic Church, the Liberty Field, and Avram Iancu’s oak. The nearby Bethlen castle is a popular tourist site. The city has a humid continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters, and about 550 mm of precipitation per year.

Postal code: 515400.