Brașov

Brasov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brasov County. The city's population is 284,596.Brasov is located in the central part of the country, about 166 km from Bucharest. It is surrounded by the Southern Carpathians, and is part of the Transylvania region.The city is notable for hosting the Golden Stag (Cerbul de Aur) international music festival.

Etymology

The current Romanian and Hungarian names are derived from the Pecheneg word, barasu, meaning "fortress". On Tampa Hill, located on the southern side of the city, there was a citadel called Brassovia, which gave both the Romanian and the Hungarian name of the city.

The first attested mention of Brasov is Terra Saxonum de Barasu.The German name Kronstadt means "Crown City", and is reflected in the city's coat of arms, as well as in its Medieval Latin name, Corona. The three names of the city (Brasov/Brasso, Kronstadt, and Corona) were used simultaneously in the Middle Ages.

From 1950 to 1960, during part of the Communist period in Romania, the city was called Orasul Stalin, after the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

History

The oldest traces of human activity and settlements in Brasov date back to the Neolithic. Archaeologists, working from the last half of the 19th century, discovered continuous traces of human settlements in areas situated in Brasov: Valea Cetatii, Pietrele lui Solomon, Sprenghi, Tampa, Dealul Melcilor, and Noua. The first three locations shows traces of Dacian citadels; Sprenghi Hill housed a Roman-style construction. The last two locations had their names applied to Bronze Age cultures -- Schneckenberg and Noua.

In subsequent periods, the inhabitants of Brasov were primarily Romanians who continued living in these territories (especially in areas protected by mountains and hills), and organized small polities. Archaeological discoveries, including coins, rings, metal tools, pottery, and settlements, have been dated from the 2nd-8th centuries. One such community was Tara Barsei, comprising several villages.

The population of that time consisted mainly of Christian shepherds (who followed Eastern Orthodoxy after the Great Schism). Near the

- "O istorie a Brasovului" ("A history of Brasov") - Ion Dumitrascu, Mariana Maximescu, Phoenix, Brasov, 2001

- "Fortificatia dacica de la Brasov - Pietrele lui Solomon" ("The Dacian citadel from Brasov - Pietrele lui Solomon"), Fl. Costea, CumidavaXX, Brasov, 1996

- "Sapaturile de salvare de pe dealul Sprenghi" ("The diggings for saving [the archaeological evidences] from Sprenghi Hill" - the hill was a quarry) A. Alexandrescu, N. Constantinescu, Bucuresti, 1959

- "Die spatneolitischen Ansiedlungen mit bemalter Keramik aus oberem Laufe des Altflusses", J. Teutsch, Mitteilungen der Prehistorischen Komision, I, Wien.