Zlatna (; ; ) is a town in Alba County, central Transylvania, Romania. The town administers eighteen villages: Botești ( Golddorf; Botesbánya), Budeni ( Higendorf), Dealu Roatei ( Rotberg), Dobrot, Dumbrava, Feneș ( Wildendorf; Fenes), Galați ( Galz; Ompolygalac), Izvoru Ampoiului ( Gross-Ompeil; Nagyompoly), Pârău Gruiului ( Gruybach), Pătrângeni ( Peters; Ompolykövesd ), Pirita ( Pfirth), Podu lui Paul ( Pauls), Runc ( Goldrücken), Ruși ( Rusch), Suseni ( Oberdorf), Trâmpoiele ( Trempojel; Kénesd), Valea Mică ( Kleinwasser), and Vâltori ( Waldrücken; Vultur).
Geography
Zlatna is located north-west of the county seat,
Alba Iulia, on the border with
Hunedoara County. Situated in the Zlatna depression, between the Metaliferi Mountains and the Trascău Mountains, the town lies at the confluence of the
Ampoi with Valea Morilor
stream.
History
A
gold mining settlement has existed in the area since Roman times, when it was known as a
municipium under the name of
Ampellum. The name
Zlatna (derived from the Slavic term for gold) was first recorded in a 1347 document. In 1387, it was awarded town status. During 1619-1620
Gabriel Bethlen, brought to Zlatna a few hundred
Germans and
Slovaks settlers for mining work.
Tellurium was first discovered in a Zlatna mine in 1782 by Austrian mineralogist Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein. Zlatna regained its town status in 1968, after a time when it was officially a commune.
Demographics
At the 2011 census, Zlatna had 7,182 inhabitants; 89.59% of those were
Romanians and 4.59% Roma. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 6,652, of which 85.6% were Romanians and 5.11% Roma.
Natives
-
Cornelia Emilian (1840–1910), journalist and women's rights activist
-
László Lukács (1850–1932), Hungarian politician
-
Andrei Mărginean (born 2001), footballer
-
(1926–2010), film and theater director
-
Virgil Popescu (1916–1989), footballer
Climate
Zlatna has a humid continental climate (
Cfb in the Köppen climate classification).
Points of interest
-
A high chimney, interconnected with a smoke duct with a copper Smelting (not in use any more) in the town.
