Brasov, Transylvania, Romania

Brasov is a city in the central Transylvania region about 100 miles north of Bucharest past Ploiesti and Sinaia. With a population of over a quarter million people, it is a busy city with both modern delights and plenty of historic, Old World facets and offers great scenic beauty with the Carpathian Mountains bordering on the south. Human settlement in Brasov Romania dates back to 9500 BCE during the Neolithic Age. Transylvanian Saxons, colonists of German descent, played a major hand in development via invitation from Hungary’s King Geza II. Continuous building and expansion of now-famous area fortifications happened during this period. German colonists who settled the city denied Romanians many rights they had always enjoyed, including religious freedoms and the denial of citizenship which forced them to close local businesses. In the 17th century and again in the 19th century a strong campaign for cultural, national, and political rights went viral with the support of thousands of Romanians living abroad. Brasov was delivered back to the Romanians in 1918 when a large majority of Germans were deported to Russia. Brasov’s population has always included a strong ethnic Hungarian minority along with a small percentage of Jewish residents.Read more