Editing Alba Iulia (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2013}}

===Ancient times===
[[File:Castrum Apulum 2011 - Porta Principalis Dextra-8.jpg|thumb|"Porta Principalis Dextra" of the castrum Apulum]]

The modern city is located near the site of the important [[Dacia]]n political, economic and social centre of ''[[Apulon]]'', which was mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] and believed by some archaeologists to be the Dacian fortifications on top of Piatra Craivii.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apulum.ro/en/istoria.htm |title=Alba Iulia Online |publisher=Apulum.ro |access-date=2013-03-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211093233/http://www.apulum.ro/en/istoria.htm |archive-date=11 February 2012}}</ref> After Dacia became a province of the [[Roman Empire]], the capital of [[Dacia Apulensis]] was established here, and the city was known as ''Apulum''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xiii_gemina.html |title=Apulum @Livius.orgl |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026204137/http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/xiii_gemina.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Apulum (conurbation)|Apulum]] was the largest urban centre in Roman Dacia and was the seat of the [[Legio XIII Gemina|XIII Gemina]] [[Roman Legion|Legion]]. [[Apulum (castra)|Apulum]] is the largest [[castrum]] located in Romania, occupying {{Convert|37.5|ha|acre}} (750 x 500 m<sup>2</sup>).

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Cetatea Alba Carolina Ansamblul fortificației „Cetatea Alba Iulia 16.jpg|thumb|Defense wall of [[Citadel Alba Carolina|Alba Carolina citadel]].]]
Analysis of the necropoles of the city prior to the 11th century show that they were used by a population different from the conquering Hungarians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gáll |first=Erwin |date=2010 |title=An analysis of the Cemeteries from the 10th and 11th Centuries in Brânduşei Street, Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár, Karlsburg). New theories on the migration of People in Transylvania in the 10 th -11th Centuries |url=https://www.academia.edu/3556064 |access-date=3 May 2024 |website=academia.edu}}</ref> Archaeological evidence shows [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian]] presence in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Takács |first=Miklós |title=Takács M.: The ninth-century Carpathian basin on the north-western edge of the first Bulgarian State. An overview of some hypotheses and remarks. In: Zwischen Byzanz und der Steppe. Archäologische und historische Studien Festschrift für Csanád Bálint zum 70. Geburtstag. Budapest 2016. 502-518. |url=https://www.academia.edu/30637800/Tak%C3%A1cs_M_The_ninth_century_Carpathian_basin_on_the_north_western_edge_of_the_first_Bulgarian_State_An_overview_of_some_hypotheses_and_remarks_In_Zwischen_Byzanz_und_der_Steppe_Arch%C3%A4ologische_und_historische_Studien_Festschrift_f%C3%BCr_Csan%C3%A1d_B%C3%A1lint_zum_70_Geburtstag_Budapest_2016_502_518| website= academia.edu |access-date= 19 February 2025}}</ref>

The ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'' mentions a Hungarian regent named Jula or Geula{{mdash}}the maternal grandfather of [[Stephen I of Hungary]] and lord [regent] of Transylvania{{mdash}}who built the capital of his dukedom there during the 10th century. [[Gyula II|Geula]] was baptized in the Byzantine Empire and built around 950 in Alba Iulia the first church of Transylvania. The ruins of a church were discovered in 2011. According to Ioan Aurel Pop and other historians, here lived Hierotheos the first bishop of Transylvania,<ref>Ioan Aurel Pop, Jan Nicolae, Ovidiu Panaite, Sfântul Ierotei, episcop de Alba Iulia (sec. X). Edit. Reîntregirea, 2010, 335 p</ref><ref>I. Strajan, Adevărul istoric a învins la Alba Iulia, Despre prima organizare creştină din Transylvania – sec. X, "DACOROMANIA" nr.55/2011</ref> who accompanied Geula back to Hungary after Geula had been baptized in Constantinople around 950.<ref>{{cite book |last=Curta |first=Florin |author-link=Florin Curta |title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250 |url=https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt |url-access=registration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt/page/189 189-189] |isbn=978-0-521-89452-4}}</ref>

After Stephen I adopted Catholicism, and the establishment of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] Transylvanian bishopric, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first cathedral was built in the 11th century or possibly before. The present Catholic cathedral was built in the 12th or 13th century. In 1442, [[John Hunyadi]], [[Voivode of Transylvania]], used the citadel to prepare for a major battle against the [[Ottoman Turks]]. The cathedral was enlarged during his reign and he was entombed there after his death.

===Ottoman and Habsburg period===
In 1542 — after the partition of the Kingdom of Hungary — Alba Iulia became the capital of Transylvania and some of its neighboring territories to the west (later known as [[Partium]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Keul |first=István |date=2009 |title=Early modern religious communities in East-Central Europe: Ethnic Diversity, Denominational Plurality, and Corporative Politics in the Principality of Transylvania (1526–1691) |url=https://brill.com/view/title/17878?language=en |location=Leiden |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=40–41 |isbn=978-90-04-17652-2}}</ref>), the autonomous [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]], and remained so until 1690. The [[Treaty of Weissenburg]] was signed in the town in 1551. During the reign of Prince [[Gabriel Bethlen|Gábor Bethlen]], the city reached a high point in its cultural history with the establishment of an academy. The former [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] equivalent was ''Erdel Belgradı'' or ''Belgrad-ı Erdel'' ("Belgrade of Transylvania" in English) where Erdel ([[Erdély]]) was added to prevent confusion with [[Belgrade]] and [[Berat|Arnavut Belgradı]] ("Albanian Belgrade" in Turkish, early name of Berat during Ottoman rule).

In 29 November 1599, [[Michael the Brave]], Voivode of [[Wallachia]], entered Alba Iulia following his victory in the [[Battle of Șelimbăr]] and became Voivode of Transylvania. In 1600 he gained control of [[Moldavia]], uniting the principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania under his rule, which lasted for a year and a half until he was murdered in 1601, by General [[Giorgio Basta]]'s agents.

Alba Iulia became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1690. The fortress ''Alba Carolina'', designed by architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, was built between 1716 and 1735, at the behest of [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg]]. The leaders of the [[Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan|Transylvanian peasant rebellion]] were executed in Alba Iulia in January 1785. Important milestones in the city's development include the creation of the [[Batthyaneum Library]] in 1780 and the arrival of the railway in the 19th century.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="155px">
File:Alba Iulia, Salva tun.jpg|The Austrian Guard of the Citadel
File:AlbaIulia1556.jpg|Alba Iulia on a 1556 map
File:Alba Iulia - Muzeul Unirii.jpg|The Union Museum
</gallery>

===20th and 21st centuries===
At the end of World War I, representatives of the Romanian population of Transylvania, the [[1918 Romanian National Assembly election|National Assembly of Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary]], gathered in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918 during the so-called [[Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia]] to proclaim the [[Union of Transylvania with Romania|Union of Transylvania]] with the [[Kingdom of Romania]]. The representatives of the [[Transylvanian Saxons]] decided to join this declaration on 8 January 1919.

In 1922, [[Ferdinand I of Romania]] was symbolically crowned [[King of Romania]] in Alba Iulia. In October 2012, at the 90th anniversary of King Ferdinand's coronation, his great-granddaughter [[Princess Margarita of Romania]] visited Alba Iulia to commemorate the event.

===Jewish history===
[[File:Alba Iulia, sinagogo, 2.jpeg|thumb|Alba Iulia synagogue]]

The Jewish community, which was the first in Transylvania, was established in the 14th century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Gyémánt |first=Ladislau |date=December 2012 |title=The Transylvanian Jewish Identity's Avatars in the Epoch of Emancipation |url=http://www.studia.ubbcluj.ro/download/pdf/743.pdf |journal=Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai, Historia |volume=57 |issue=Transylvanian Identities in the Modern Epoch}}</ref> A community was officially founded by permission of Prince [[Gabriel Bethlen]] in 1623.<ref name=":1" /> The 18th century saw an influx of [[Ashkenazim]] from Hungary and Wallachia, as well as Sephardim. From 1754 to 1868, the town rabbi was the chief rabbi of Transylvania. A synagogue was built in 1840, with a Sephardic one following in 1874. Most local Jews in the 19th century worked in viticulture and bought land for growing vines; in the 20th century, they were mainly artisans. By 1930, the 1558 Jews of Alba Iulia represented nearly 13% of the town's population.<ref name=Spector/>

In October 1940, during the [[National Legionary State]], the [[Iron Guard]] terrorized local Jews. The following year, the [[Ion Antonescu]] regime confiscated Jewish property and sent the men to forced labor. After World War II, the community was re-established but soon dwindled as Jews emigrated.<ref name=Spector>Shmuel Spector, Geoffrey Wigoder (eds.), ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: A—J'', p. 25. [[New York University Press]], 2001, {{ISBN|0-8147-9376-2}}</ref>