Zlatna is a town in Alba County

Alba County

Alba is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, its capital city being Alba-Iulia with a population of 66,406.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 382,747 and the population density was 61/km².* Romanians - 90.4%* Hungarians - 5.4%...

, central Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It has a population of 8,607.

Administration

The town administers eighteen villages: Boteşti (Golddorf), Budeni (Higendorf), Dealu Roatei (Rotberg), Dobrot, Dumbrava, Feneş (Wildendorf), Galaţi (Galz), Izvoru Ampoiului (Gross-Ompeil), Pârău Gruiului (Gruybach), Pătrângeni (Peters), Pirita (Pfirth), Podu lui Paul (Pauls), Runc (Goldrücken), Ruşi (Rusch), Suseni (Oberdorf), Trâmpoiele (Trempojel), Valea Mică (Kleinwasser) and Vâltori (Waldrücken).

Geography

Located 36 km north-west of Alba Iulia

Alba Iulia

Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...

, in the Zlatna depression, the town lies at the confluence of Ampoi River with Valea Morilor creek

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

.

History

A gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 mining settlement has existed in the area since Roman times, when it was known as a municipium

Municipium

Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...

 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

Gabriel Bethlen

Gabriel Bethlen was a prince of Transylvania , duke of Opole and leader of an anti-Habsburg insurrection in the Habsburg Royal Hungary. His last armed intervention in 1626 was part of the Thirty Years' War...

, brought to Zlatna a few hundred German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 and Slovakian

Slovaks

The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

 settlers for mining work. Zlatna regained its town status in 1968, after a time when it was officially a commune.