Deva, Romania

Deva (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdeva] ⓘ; Hungarian: Déva, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈdeːvɒ]; German:
Diemrich, Schlossberg, Denburg; Latin: Sargetia;[3] is a city in Romania, in the historical region of
Transylvania, on the left bank of the river Mureș. It is the capital of Hunedoara County.

Name

Its name was first recorded in 1269 as castrum Dewa. The origin of the name gave rise to
controversy. It is considered that the name comes from the ancient Dacian word dava, meaning
"fortress" (as in Pelendava, Piroboridava, or Zargidava). Other theories trace the name to a Roman
Legion, the Legio II Augusta, transferred to Deva from Castrum Deva, now Chester (Deva Victrix)
in Britain. János András Vistai assume the name is of old Turkic origin from the name Gyeücsa.[4]
Others assert that the name is probably of Slavic origin where Deva or Devín means "girl" or
"maiden" (a similar case exists in Slovakian for the Devín Castle, located at the confluence of the
Danube and Great Morava, at the site of the former town of Devín)[5] or from the Old Hungarian
name Győ.[6] Additionally, it is possible the name Deva was derived from the reconstructed proto-
Indo-European dhewa ("settlement"). On medieval maps Deva appears as: Dewan (first mention),
Deva, or later Diemrich.

History

Documentary evidence of the city's existence first appeared in 1269 when Stephen V, King of
Hungary and Duke of Transilvania, mentioned "the royal castle of Deva" in a privilege-grant for the
Count Chyl of Kelling (Romanian: comitele Chyl din Câlnic).[7] Partially destroyed by the Ottoman
Turks in 1550, it was afterward rebuilt and the fortress extended. In 1621 Prince Gabriel Bethlen
transformed and extended the Magna Curia Palace (also known as the Bethlen Castle) in
Renaissance style.

In 1711–1712, Deva was settled by a group of Roman Catholic Bulgarian merchant refugees
from the unsuccessful anti-Ottoman Chiprovtsi Uprising of 1688. The refugees were originally
mostly from Chiprovtsi and Zhelezna, though also from the neighbouring Kopilovtsi and
Klisura.[8][9] However, the refugees came to Deva from Wallachia and from Alvinc (now Vinţu de
Jos, Romania), where a similar colony had been established in 1700.[10]

They numbered in 1716[11] 51 families and three Franciscan friars, established their own
neighbourhood, which was known to the locals as Greci ("Greeks", i.e. "merchants"). Their
influence over local affairs caused Deva to be officially called a "Bulgarian town" for a short
period, even though the maximum population of the colony was 71 families in 1721.[11] The
Bulgarians received royal privileges of the
Deva
Austrian crown along with their permission to
settle and their acquisition of land and Municipality

property. The construction of Deva's

Franciscan friary commenced in 1724 with the
funding and efforts of its Bulgarian population,
so that the monastery was commonly known
as the Bulgarian Monastery. However, the
Great Plague of 1738 and the gradual
assimilation of the Deva Bulgarians into other
ethnicities of Transylvania prevented the Deva viewed from the fortress hill

colony from growing and by the late 19th

century the Bulgarian ethnic element in the
town had disappeared completely.[8][9]
Magna Curia Castle Art Theatre

Jewish history

Franciscan Fortress of Deva

monastery

Deva synagogue

Jews first settled in the town in the 1830s,

Coat of arms
organizing a community in 1848. Rabbi Moshe
Herzog (1893-1898) delivered patriotic
sermons in Hungarian. The synagogue was
rebuilt in 1925. In 1923, the strictly Orthodox
established their own congregation under
Hayyim Yehuda Ehrenreich, a rabbinical
scholar whose periodical Otzar ha-Hayyim
became renowned in Jewish academic circles.
In 1927, he set up a press that printed
classical Hebrew works.[12]

Zionist organizations were especially active in Location in Hunedoara County

the mid-1920s. In 1930, there were 914 Jews,

or 8.7% of the total. On 5 December 1940,
during the National Legionary State, Jewish
merchants were forced to give up their shops
to members of the ruling Iron Guard. In June
Deva
1941, when Romania entered World War II, 695
Jewish refugees from surrounding villages
were brought to Deva. In the war's aftermath,
many remained there. There were 1190 Jews
Location in Romania
in 1947; the majority emigrated to Israel after
1948.[12] Coordinates: 45°52′41″N 22°54′52″E (https://g
eohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename
=Deva,_Romania&params=45_52_41_N_22_54
Geography _52_E_region:RO_type:adm1st_dim:100000)

Country Romania
Deva is situated in the central part of County Hunedoara
Hunedoara County, on the left bank of the
Established 1269 (first mention)
middle course of the Mureș River at 187 m
Subdivisions Archia, Bârcea Mică,
above sea level.[13] The city administers four Cristur, Sântuhalm
villages: Archia (Árki), Bârcea Mică (Kisbarcsa),
Government
Cristur (Csernakeresztúr) and Sântuhalm
(Szántóhalma). • Mayor (2020– Nicolae-Florin
2024) Oancea[1] (PNL)

Area 60.03 km2

Demographics (23.18 sq mi)

Elevation 187 m (614 ft)

In 1850, the town had 2,129 inhabitants, of
which 1,038 were Romanians (48.8%), 517 Population (2021-12- 53,113
01)[2]
Hungarians (24.3%), 255 Germans (12%), 216
Roma (10.1%) and 103 (4.8%) of other • Density 880/km2
(2,300/sq mi)
ethnicities, meanwhile in 1910, out of 8,654
Time zone EET/EEST
inhabitants, 5,827 were Hungarians (67.33%), (UTC+2/+3)
2,417 Romanians (27.92%), 276 Germans
Postal code 330005–330260
(3.18%) and 134 (1.57%) of other
ethnicities.[14] Area code +40 a54

Vehicle reg. HD
At the 2021 census, Deva had a population of
Website www.primariadeva.ro
53,113.[15] At the previous census, from 2011, (http://www.primaria
there were 56,647 people living within the city, deva.ro/)

making it the 37th largest city in Romania. The

ethnic makeup in 2011 was as follows: Romanians 89.67%, Hungarians 7.79%, Roma 1.6%, other
0.91%.
Economy Historical population

Year Pop. ±%
Automotive, commerce, construction materials and power 1912 8,654 —
industries are important to Deva's economy.
1930 10,509 +21.4%
1948 12,959 +23.3%
Education
1956 16,879 +30.2%
1966 26,969 +59.8%
A private University of Ecology and Tourism was established
in the city in 1990, and the academic centres of Timișoara 1977 60,334 +123.7%

and Cluj-Napoca have opened branches in the city. Deva is 1992 78,438 +30.0%
also the home of Romania's national women gymnastics 2002 69,390 −11.5%
training center called Colegiul National Sportiv "Cetatea" Deva 2011 61,123 −11.9%
[1] (https://web.archive.org/web/20120402051313/http://cet 2021 53,113 −13.1%
atedeva.licee.edu.ro/prima%20pagina.HTML) . Here is a list Source: Census data
of the high schools from Deva:

Decebal National College [2] (http://www.cnd.ro/)

Traian Theoretical High School [3] (https://adevarul.ro/locale/hunedoara/liceul-traian-colegiul-i

on-mincu-deva-vor-desfiintate-toamna-1_52d2f6c1c7b855ff566c3801/index.html)

Sabin Drăgoi Theoretical High School [4] (http://www.sabindragoi.ro/) Archived (https://web.

archive.org/web/20140614141642/http://www.sabindragoi.ro/) 14 June 2014 at the
Wayback Machine

Colegiul Național Sportiv "Cetatea" [5] (http://cnscetatedeva.ro/) Archived (https://web.archi

ve.org/web/20140517074543/http://cnscetatedeva.ro/) 17 May 2014 at the Wayback
Machine

Sigismund Toduță High School of Arts [6] (http://artedeva.ro/)

Téglás Gábor Theoretical High School [7] (http://devatgi.ro/en)

Transylvania Technical College [8] (http://www.cttdeva.ro/) Archived (https://web.archive.or

g/web/20140517063419/http://cttdeva.ro/) 17 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine

Grigore Moisil Technical High School [9] (http://ltgmoisildeva.ro/)

Dragomir Hurmuzescu Technical College [10] (http://www.energeticdeva.ro/)

*Traian Theoretical High School was disbanded in 2014 and the students were enrolled at
Decebal National College.
Notable people

François Bréda

María Corda

Matthias Dévay

Florentina Iusco

Kocsárd Janky

Bogdan Juratoni

Raluca Lăzăruț

Maria Neculiță

Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás

Dora Pavel

Pál Réthy

Daniela Silivaș

Adrian Sitaru[16]

Climate

Deva has a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with warm summers and cold winters.
Precipitation peaks in the month of June.[17]
 Climate data for Deva (1991–2020) [hide]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
15.5 20.9 28.4 31.6 32.9 36.6 40.0 39.1 37.1 33.1 25.0 16.7 40
Record high °C (°F)
(59.9) (69.6) (83.1) (88.9) (91.2) (97.9) (104.0) (102.4) (98.8) (91.6) (77.0) (62.1) (104)
Mean daily 2.7 6.3 12.1 18.3 22.9 26.4 28.4 28.8 23.1 17.3 9.9 3.5 16.6
maximum °C (°F) (36.9) (43.3) (53.8) (64.9) (73.2) (79.5) (83.1) (83.8) (73.6) (63.1) (49.8) (38.3) (61.9)
−1.2 1.0 5.7 11.3 15.8 19.4 21.1 20.9 15.8 10.4 5.0 0.1 10.4
Daily mean °C (°F)
(29.8) (33.8) (42.3) (52.3) (60.4) (66.9) (70.0) (69.6) (60.4) (50.7) (41.0) (32.2) (50.7)
Mean daily −4.3 −2.8 0.6 5.3 9.8 13.2 14.6 14.5 10.4 5.7 1.4 −2.6 5.5
minimum °C (°F) (24.3) (27.0) (33.1) (41.5) (49.6) (55.8) (58.3) (58.1) (50.7) (42.3) (34.5) (27.3) (41.9)
−21.5 −22.3 −8.1 −1.4 4.0 5.3 6.4 −1.2 −8.0 −11.6 −22.0 −22.3 −22.3
Record low °C (°F)
(−6.7) (−8.1) (17.4) (29.5) (39.2) (41.5) (43.5) (29.8) (17.6) (11.1) (−7.6) (−8.1) (−8.1)
Average
29.3 26.4 32.7 50.5 70.0 83.4 69.8 58.2 51.3 42.9 34.5 36.5 585.5
precipitation mm
(1.15) (1.04) (1.29) (1.99) (2.76) (3.28) (2.75) (2.29) (2.02) (1.69) (1.36) (1.44) (23.05)
(inches)
Average
precipitation days 6.8 6.3 6.9 8.1 10.5 10.2 7.7 6.4 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.9 90.5
(≥ 1.0 mm)
Mean monthly
70.4 104.1 160.6 189.8 221.3 249.4 268.3 262.6 190.2 153.1 86.5 54.4 2,010.7
sunshine hours
Source: NOAA[18]

Tourism

Deva is dominated by the Citadel Hill, a protected nature reserve because of its rare floral species
and the presence of the horned adder. Perched on the top of the hill are the ruins of the Citadel
built in the 13th century. Tourists can visit the Citadel by climbing the hill or using the cable car.
The machinery covers a distance of 160 meters and it can transport up to 16 people.[19]

Deva seen from the Citadel (view towards the North)

Deva seen from the Citadel (view towards the East)

Deva's tourist attractions include the Arts Theatre, the Patria Cinema, the Old Centre and the
Citadel Park, where there are the statues of Mihai Eminescu and Decebal and the Magna Curia
Palace. There is also the Aqualand Complex, a recently built leisure centre situated near the
Citadel Park. It is an important tourist spot for the Transylvania region.[20] Downtown the city, the
House of culture and the musical fountain represent two elements that define the town centre of
Deva.[21]

Deva by night

Sport

Deva is considered the Gymnastics capital of Romania because the National gymnastics training
center is located in the city. Many of the country's Olympic gymnasts have trained in Deva,
including Nadia Comăneci.[22]

Twinned cities

Arras, France

Cherbourg-Octeville, France

Szigetvár, Hungary
 Yancheng, China

Photo gallery

Deva Citadel Magna Curia Art Theatre Church of the

Franciscan
monastery, founded
by a Bulgarian colony
in 1724

Hunedoara County
Prefecture

References

External links