Blaj is a city closely related to the history of Romanian culture in Transylvania. It is also the main center of Greek Catholicism in this part of Romania, and its most important monument is the baroque Holy Trinity Cathedral .
The city was founded in the 14th century, but no monuments have survived from that time. In the vicinity, however, there is a castle of the Hungarian Bethlen family, often visited by tourists. In 1687, when the city was taken over by Austria, the Uniate bishopric for the territory of Transylvania was established here. To this day, it is the most important center of this rite in the region, and apart from the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace is one of the important monuments.
In the 18th century, Blaj became the center of Romanian culture. One of the first schools was established here to teach Romanian written in the Latin alphabet instead of the Cyrillic alphabet. The most important attraction, Blaj, the Freedom Plain, reminds us of the importance of the city in the revival of Romanian culture and the sense of state community. In a small park there are busts of people of culture, art and activists associated with the Romanian national movement.
Centrum Blaj is built mainly with nineteenth-century tenement houses that resemble many cities of the then Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It houses the Augustine Bunei History Museum and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary .
