The city of Alba Iulia is known mainly for its monumental 18th-century fortress, one of the best preserved in Europe. In the past, the city was the capital of Transylvania. A remnant of those times is the Gothic cathedral with the tombs of the Hunyady and Jagiellonian families.
The origins of the city date back to the Danish times. During the Roman reign, the former provincial capital was called Apulum. From the medieval times it was within the reach of the Hungarian state and was the seat of the bishopric of Transylvania. Already at that time, a citadel was erected in the city, in which John Hunyady defended himself against the Turks in 1442. During his time, the local Cathedral of St. Michael, which became the burial place for the representatives of Hunyady, Zapolyas and Izabela Jagiellonka.
The Alba Carolina fortress, which is the most important attraction of Alba Iulia today, was rebuilt during the reign of the Habsburgs. It was then adapted to new ways of waging war, using French patterns. Today, surrounded by a moat, the starry citadel with richly decorated gates and a regular street layout is eagerly visited by tourists. Today it houses the Union's National Museum telling the history of Romanian unification, the Saxon Bastion, the Apor Palace, the Prince's Palace and many monuments. The fortress can be visited min. Route of the Three Fortifications.
Next to the fortress walls, there is the Coronation Cathedral of Romanian kings built in the interwar period. It is a church that resembles Romanian religious buildings, inside which you can see carved plates depicting the events that led to the unification of the country, such as uprisings against the Turks or the unification of the country by Michael the Brave.
