Romania (3): Hunedoara and Alba Iulia

The Castle of a Ruler of Hungary and the Birthplace of Modern Romania

The Plan for Today

Romania

We spent the night of the 26th in Sibiu. Next day, we took a trip eastward to Hunedoara and Alba Iulia, returning to Sibiu for the evening. This post covers that day trip, our time in Sibiu (on the 26th and the evening of the 27th) is covered in the previous post Cozia Monastery and Sibiu.

For most of the 120km outward journey the road followed the valley of the River Mureş in an arc north of the most direct route. We returned to Sibiu via Alba Iulia.

The positions of Sibiu, Alba Iulia and Hunedoara. All three counties are traditionally part of Transylvania

An Introduction to Hunedoara

Unlike our journey to Sibiu, todays departure was on a fast and uncongested road.

The E68 west from Sibiu

Hunedoara County

Agricultural land aside, there was not much to see, but the map suggests that most towns and villages were linear straggles along the old main road.

I am not sure exactly when we entered Hunedoara County, but for the last few kilometres we left the main road and headed southwest, through another linear town of unknown name before reaching Hunedoara around 11.00.

On the road to Hunadoara

Hunedoara shares with Buckingham the distinction of not being the administrative centre of the county that bears its name. Deva, the Aylesbury of Hunedoara County, is a 15-minute drive further north. Unlike Aylesbury, though, it is not significantly bigger than the city it usurped, both having 50-60,000 inhabitants - but Hunedoara has by far the better castle.

Hunedoara Castle

Hunedoara: Some Recent History

Hunedoara City

Until the 17th century Hunedoara was a village huddled round a castle, but with coal deposits in the south of the county and iron ore in the hills, Hunedoara was waiting patiently for the industrial revolution.

The first local steel mill dates from 1667, but the 18th and 19th centuries saw slow growth and by 1850 Hunedoara’s population was still less than 2,000. The industrial revolution eventually arrived in the 20th century and the village soon became a town. Growth accelerated further after the 1947 communist take-over. Industry was prioritised and Hunedoara became Romania’s largest steel town. By the late 1980s the population was almost 90,000.

Overlooking Hunedoara from the castle

The end of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw the market for Romanian steel shrink dramatically and mills started closing The demise of the Ceaușescus gave people freedom to move and seek out new opportunities. Young people fled to Bucharest, while after 600 years voluntary exile, most ‘Transylvanian Saxons’ (see Sibiu) returned to Germany. When Romania joined the EU, the exit accelerated, Hunedoara lost 16% of its population between 2011 and 2021, dropping to just over 50,000 inhabitants. The flight of the young has left Hunedoara with the second oldest average age of any Romanian county. But neither hope, nor steelmaking have gone entirely, ArcelorMittal are investing in modernising the Romanian industry and currently produce steel billets, reinforcing bars and specialty steels in Hunedoara.

Hunedoara: Hunyadi and Corvinus

A man known, in English, as John Hunyadi, Hunyadi János in Hungarian and Iancu or Ioan de Hunedoara in Romanian started constructing a castle here in 1446. A second phase of building a decade later was the work of his son Matthias Corvinus. Much later, when the great days of castles were over, it fell into disrepair. There was an attempt to turn the castle into a palace in the 17th century and a fanciful 19th century restoration. It now belongs to the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

I lack the expertise to know which bit was built when, so here are my pictures of Hunedoara Castle as it is now, interleaved with some of the historical background.

Across the moat to Hunedoara Castle

A keep was built on this site by Charles I, King of Hungary and Croatia (ruled 1308-1332). For reasons lost in history Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of Hungary and Croatia (r 1387-1437) gave the keep to Voyk Hunyadi, a Wallachian knight in the royal court. Voyk died between 1414 and 1419, passing the keep on to his son John.

King Sigismund noted the young Hunyadi’s organisational skills and military prowess in campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

Courtyard, Hunedoara Castle

Sigismund died in 1437. The Hungarian crown was usually, but not automatically passed from father to son; kings had to be elected by the Diet, a parliament of the rich and powerful. Sigismund had no son, and his daughter was obviously unsuitable, so the Diet chose his son-in-law Albert the Magnanimous (though to the Jews and Hussites he persecuted, magnanimity was not his most obvious quality).

The bear pit

Albert also found John Hunyadi invaluable in his efforts to keep Transylvania out of Ottoman hands. However, he discovered sharp metal objects were not the only danger of campaigning and after two years on the throne he died of dysentery.

Chapel, Hunedoara Castle

Albert’s first son was still in utero when his father died. When the Diet eventually met to elect a successor, they rejected the by then infant Ladislaus the Posthumous and chose Władysław III, same name different spelling, who was already King of Poland. He was better qualified, being a grown-up (well he was 16) and had several years’ experience of monarching.

One of the Hunyadi/Corvinus family

John Hunyadi had been right-hand man to two monarchs, so a third was easy. Władysław lasted four years until he and Hunyadi led the Varna Crusade. It started well but finished with defeat and Władysław’s death.

Rear Tower, Hunedoara Castle

The only choice left was Ladislaus the Posthumous, and the Diet made Hunyadi one of his co-regents, and later sole regent, Governor of Transylvania and Captain General of Hungary. Effectively John Hunyadi ruled Hungary.

Lynne and Vlad walk the long corridor, Hunedoara Castle

The Turk-Basher, as he was known, was rich, powerful and popular. If he was not a Hungarian National hero before his defeat of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II at the Siege of Belgarde in 1456 he was afterwards, while Pope Pius II wrote ‘Hunyadi did not increase so much the glory of the Hungarians, but especially the glory of the Romanians among whom he was born.’ He also called him Athleta Christi (Christ’s Champion).

John Hunyadi from the Chronica Hungarorum 1488 (Public domain)
He does not look that fearsome!

For all his political skill and swordsmanship, Hunyadi had no defence when plague broke out in the Crusader camp. He died at the height of his powers on the 11th of August 1456.

The now teenage Ladislaus the Posthumous flexed his muscles, arresting Hunyadi’s two sons. In March 1457 he had the elder (another teenage Ladislaus) executed for murder, and released the younger brother Matthias.

The family crest, from the keystone of the Knight's Hall

The main feature of the Hunyadi family crest was a single crow, corvus in Latin which was the official language of the Hungarian Empire and would have been understood by any educated person. This explains why Hunedoara Castle is sometimes referred to as Corvin Castle and why Hunyadi's sons used the surname Corvinus.

Back out into the courtyard, Hunedoara Castle

Ladislaus died suddenly in November 1457 aged 17. His supporters claimed he was poisoned, but the cause of death was more likely leukaemia or plague. The Hungarian Diet met the next year and declared 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus king. He was the first Hungarian monarch not from one of Europe’s great dynastic families. He ruled for 32 years, and apart from military campaigns, he reformed the administration and welcomed the Renaissance into Hungary. He was a patron of the arts, founded a Royal Library and was a keen builder, including of his own castle at Hunedoara.

Exit from the Castle

Leaving the castle we paused for coffee, had a look round the stalls outside and acquired the obligatory fridge magnet.

Hunedoara fridge magnet

Then Vlad drove us the 80km to Alba Iulia.

Alba Iulia

Alba Iulia

Alba County

Alba Iulia is a similar size to Hunedoara and is the administrative centre of Alba County.

Long ago, the Romans settled here, calling the town Apulum. After they left, Slavs moved into the ruins, naming their settlement Bălgrad, meaning "white castle" or "white town.” Incoming Hungarians translated this name and added a twist of their own, calling it Gyulafehérvár meaning "white castle of Gyula" a reference to Gyula II, a 10th century Hungarian warlord. The Romanians translated it back into Latin(ish), Alba being the feminine singular of “white” and Iulia for Gyula – who displayed as much femininity as your average medieval warlord.

Alba Iulia has long been the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Transylvania and from 1526 to 1570 was capital of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom which morphed into the Principality of Transylvania. Most importantly to Romanians, the Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared in Alba Iulia in December 1918 and four years later the coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie took place in the Orthodox Cathedral.

Hunedoara was about the Hungarians in Transylvania, Alba Iulia is about the Romanians

Alba Carolina Citadel

We did not really visit Alba Iulia, we visited the Alba Carolina Citadel. The Citadel is one of the star shaped fortresses that popped up all over continental Europe after the French military architect Vauban came up with the idea in the late 17th century. This one was built 1715-38 when the Hapsburgs ruled Transylvanian and gets its name from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (Carol VI in these parts). In the 20th century it was repurposed as the ceremonial quarter of the city.

Model of the Alba Carolina Citadel, Alba Iulia

We approached over a bridge heading for the gap between the Orthodox Cathedral (left) and the Catholic Cathedral on the right.

The Orthodox Cathedral is  edge of photo left, the Catholic Cathedral is in the central

The guards were friendly, if a bit stiff…

Lynne and a guard, Alba Carolina Citadel

…and there was a reminder than not everything here has military connections….

Monk and children, Alba Carolina Citadel

…though the equestrian statue of Mihai Viteazul looks a little aggressive. Michael the Brave (1558 – 1601) was Prince of Wallachia from 1593, became Prince of Moldavia in 1600 and was also de facto ruler of Transylvania. It was the first time the three principalities with majority Romanian populations were under the same (Romanian) ruler. Michael the Brave is thus a symbol of Romanian unity.

Mihai Viteazul, Alba Carolina

A little further along is a cracked bell. Cracked bells seem to resonate with some people - the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, and the huge Tsar Bell in Moscow’s Kremlin come to mind – but I do not understand why.

Mircea Roman's cracked bell, Alba Carolina Citadel

But this is not actually a cracked bell, it is a sculpture by Mircea Roman, one of Romania’s leading artists. Common themes in his work, ChatGPT tells me, are human suffering, resilience, and the passage of time. Make of that what you will.

Lunch

Two thirty is well past my lunch time, but I am not the sort of person to moan about it! Fortunately, there was a café just along from the cracked bell.

In the Bucharest post I compared Romanian breakfasts to those we had enjoyed in Moldova in 2018, lamenting their lack of variety and the absent pleasures of Moldovan pastries, sweet and savoury. I did not mention plăcintă, - flaky pastry envelopes filled with cabbage and dill or soft cheese, as they are a little heavier and usually served at lunch. We were delighted to find plăcintă on the menu here and promptly ordered one each.

Lynne and plăcintă, Alba Carolina Citadel

If plăcintă is deemed too heavy for breakfast in Moldova, in Romania it is just too heavy. One between us would have been ample, and a little more filling and a little less pastry would have improved it. For Moldovan plăcintă see my Purcari Post.

Where's the filling?

Back Through the Citadel

Having entered through the west gate we had walked far enough to exit via an eastern gate known as Poarta a III-a a Cetății (the 3rd gate of the Citadel) if only to photograph it.

The Third Gate, Alba Carolina 

Then we started to walk back. The citadel was built over the Roman fort of Apulum and the later Slavic citadel. There is a place where you can look down into the past, but it is not very photography friendly

A portal into the past, Alba Carolina Citadel

The Creation of Modern Romania

We are used to Europe consisting of a finite number of countries whose well-defined borders each encompass a nation-state, but this was a 19th century idea.

The Romans left in the 3rd century CE and the Slavs arrived a couple of centuries later. By the end of the first millennium there was a large group speaking a Slav influenced Romance language which could be called early Romanian. Most lived in the intermittently warring and sporadically independent principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania. By the end of the 16th century the first two were usually under Ottoman control, while the third was part of the Hungarian Empire.

Eventually the decline of the Ottoman Empire allowed Moldavia and Wallachia to come together and form the first ever Romania, which became a fully independent kingdom in 1881 under Carol I.

At the outbreak of World War I, Carol's instincts were to support Germany - he and the Kaiser were second cousins - but he died before the end of 1914. Ferdinand I succeeded his uncle, and argued for a vacillating Romania to join the war in support of the Triple Entente (UK, France and Russia). With some misgivings Romania eventually became involved in 1916, and joining the winning side proved a good move.

King Ferdinand, Alba Carolina Citadel

Modern Romania was born in Alba Iulia in the aftermath of the war. Opposite the statue of Mihai Viteazul are two rows of stone plinths, each one - there are 25 - surmounted by the bust of someone who played an important part in the 1918 Union of Transylvania and Romania.

Some of the Founders of modern Romania

There was diplomacy to be done and treaties to be signed, and four or five smaller areas to be considered before the union was certified and Greater Romania came into existence in 1920. Ferdinand was now king of a country twice the size of the one he had inherited. It was time for King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie’s belated coronation which took place in the nearby Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in October 1922.

Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, Alba Carolina Citadel

St Michael’s Catholic Cathedral

Finally, we returned to Hungarian Transylvania by visiting the Catholic Cathedral (Romanians are largely Orthodox).

The first cathedral was started in 1009 under Stephen I of Hungary. It was destroyed and rebuilt after unfriendly visits from the Mongols (1241), Saxons (1277), and Ottomans (1439).

The last rebuilding was driven by the Archbishop of Esztergom, and the Regent-Governor of Hungary, John Hunyadi (yes, him again). There have been improvements and alterations since, but no major rebuilding.

Catholic Cathedral, Alba Carolina Citadel

The interior is plain, as catholic cathedrals go.

Inside the catholic cathedral, Alba Carolina Citadel

There is a memorial to Márton Áron (Hungarians put the surname first), who is buried nearby. He was bishop from 1938 until his resignation in 1980, just months before his death. An outspoken critic of the Nazis during the war, Yad Vashem honoured him as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" for his efforts to stop the deportation of Romanian and Hungarian Jews. He was a strong advocate for religious freedom and human rights during communism and spent time in prison. In 1992 Pope John Paul II started the canonisation process, which continues today at the unhurried pace of the catholic church.

Márton Áron Memorial, Catholic Cathedral, Alba Carolina Citadel

There is also the grave of John II, King of Hungary (1540-70) and more importantly to us, the grave of John Hunyadi.

Tomb of John Hunyadi, Catholic Cathedral, Alba Carolina Citadel

The effigy has obviously seen hard times, but like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Hunyadi would doubtlessly regard it as ‘just a scratch.’

We then returned ro Sibiu where the narrative continues – in the previous post.

Romania

Romania: An Introduction
Part 1 Bucharest
Part 2 Cozia Monastery and Sibiu
Part 3 Hunedoara and Alba Iulia
Part 4 Biertan and Sighișoara
Part 5 Rupea and Brașov