Abrud | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location in Alba County | |
  Location in Romania | |
| Coordinates:46°16′26″N23°3′48″E / 46.27389°N 23.06333°E /46.27389; 23.06333 | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Alba |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2024–2028) | Radu-Marcel Tuhuț[2] (PSD) |
Area | 32.00 km2 (12.36 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 627 m (2,057 ft) |
| Population (2021-12-01)[1] | 4,360 |
| • Density | 136/km2 (353/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 515100 |
| Area code | (+40) 02 58 |
| Vehicle reg. | AB |
| Website | www |
Abrud (Latin:Abruttus;[3]Hungarian:Abrudbánya;German:Großschlatten) is a town in the north-western part ofAlba County,Transylvania,Romania, located on the riverAbrud. It administers three villages: Abrud-Sat (Abrudfalva), Gura Cornei (Szarvaspataktorka) and Soharu (Szuhár).
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | 2,938 | — |
| 1930 | 2,468 | −16.0% |
| 1948 | 2,656 | +7.6% |
| 1956 | 4,411 | +66.1% |
| 1966 | 5,150 | +16.8% |
| 1977 | 5,315 | +3.2% |
| 1992 | 6,729 | +26.6% |
| 2002 | 6,803 | +1.1% |
| 2011 | 4,944 | −27.3% |
| 2021 | 4,360 | −11.8% |
| Source:INS, Census data | ||
At the2021 census, Abrud had a population of 4,360. According to thecensus from 2011, the town had a total population of 4,944; of those, 96.66% were ethnicRomanians, 0.86% ethnicHungarians, and 0.53% ethnicRomani.[4]
The name came from the ancient name of theAbrud river. Although first recorded only in 1271 in the formterra Obruth, the name of the town might have derived from a hypotheticalDacian word for gold:"obrud".[5] The Hungarian name isAbrudbánya ("bánya" means mine in Hungarian). According to Hungarian linguists, the town's modern name reflects a characteristic vowel shift in the medievalHungarian language which occurred in the 14th century. The Romanian nameAbrud was borrowed from the Hungarian form, the transformation ofObruth toAbrud reflects the typically Hungarianvowel shift (from o to a) as in the case of theSzamos andMaros rivers. If the ancient form had survived directly in the Romanian language, then according to the Romanian linguistic rules it would have producedAurud.[6] According to Romanian linguistNicolae Drăganu, the earlier form of the Hungarian name wasObruth andObrudbania which was a Greek variant of a Thracian word. He states that the Romanian form (a) came from the romanized Dacians, while the Hungarian form (o) came from the Daco-Romans through Slavic mediation.[7]
TheRomans erected asmall fortification here in the 2nd century AD.[8] It was part of the defence system of thegold mines nearby, in "Alburnus Maior" (nowadays,Roșia Montană),[citation needed] but it was abandoned in the 3rd century.[8]
Abrud was first recorded in 1271 in asterra Obruth.[5] It gained town status in 1427.
In 1727, the leaders of a revolt gained control of the town. Anotherserfs' revolt began in the area in 1784 withHorea, Cloșca and Crișan as leaders fighting the Austrian Imperial forces. Abrud was captured by the uprising's members on 6 November, before the revolt was crushed by the Austrian army.
During theHungarian Revolution of 1848, negotiations took place in Abrud between the leaders of the Romanian peasants, led byAvram Iancu and Ion Dragoș, the envoy ofLajos Kossuth, deputy ofBihar County in the Parliament of Budapest, regarding the conciliation of the Romanian and Hungarian revolutionary forces. On 6 May, in violation of the negotiated armistice, MajorImre Hatvani conducted a one-way action without any compliance by attacking and occupying Abrud which triggered the Abrud massacre. Hatvani embarked also on unnecessary killings, hanged Romanian lawyerIoan Buteanu, while his drunken soldiers massacred prefectPetru Dobra. In the next two weeks 88 Romanians were killed in the central square, and around 2,500 Hungarians were killed in revenge by Iancu's army in Abrud and inRoșia Montană; Dragoș was also killed, being considered a traitor.[9] The escalated conflict could not be settled, Abrud was conquered and lost several times by the Hungarian troops, until 18 May when they retreated toArad.[10]
Abrud has ahumid continental climate (Cfb in theKöppen climate classification).
| Climate data for Abrud | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 0.8 (33.4) | 2.8 (37.0) | 7.4 (45.3) | 13.7 (56.7) | 18 (64) | 21.2 (70.2) | 22.9 (73.2) | 23.3 (73.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 13.2 (55.8) | 7.9 (46.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | 12.6 (54.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −2.7 (27.1) | −1.1 (30.0) | 3.1 (37.6) | 9 (48) | 13.6 (56.5) | 17 (63) | 18.7 (65.7) | 19 (66) | 14.2 (57.6) | 9 (48) | 4.2 (39.6) | −1 (30) | 8.6 (47.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.9 (21.4) | −4.7 (23.5) | −1.2 (29.8) | 3.9 (39.0) | 8.5 (47.3) | 11.9 (53.4) | 13.8 (56.8) | 14.2 (57.6) | 10 (50) | 5.2 (41.4) | 1.2 (34.2) | −3.8 (25.2) | 4.4 (40.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 56 (2.2) | 53 (2.1) | 71 (2.8) | 97 (3.8) | 131 (5.2) | 149 (5.9) | 149 (5.9) | 108 (4.3) | 84 (3.3) | 62 (2.4) | 60 (2.4) | 66 (2.6) | 1,086 (42.9) |
| Source:https://en.climate-data.org/europe/romania/alba/abrud-44395/ | |||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
