| Baia de Arieș | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
|
Baia de Arieș
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Alba County |
| Status | Town |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Silviu Mirzan (Social Democratic Party) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 81 km2 (31.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2002) | |
| • Total | 5,065 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Baia de Arieș (Hungarian: Aranyosbánya or Offenbánya; German: Offenburg) is a town in Alba County, Romania. It administers five villages: Brăzești, Cioara de Sus, Muncelu, Sartăș and Simulești. With a population of 5,065, it was until 2004 a mining centre extracting, mainly for base metals but also arsenopyrite and pyrite-rich concentrate containing gold.
The first writing about it is in a document of Charles I of Hungary since 1325. In the beginning of the 15th century it was declared free town. It lost town status later, but regained it in 1998.
Baia de Arieş's tourist objectives are the monument of nature tree known as the "Emperor's beech" and the Muncel Monastery.
According to the census from 2002 there was a total population of 4,669 people living in this commune. Of this population, 98.88% are ethnic Romanians, 0.83% are ethnic Hungarians and 0.19% ethnic Rroma.[1]