Ancient times The modern city is located near the site of the important
Dacian political, economic and social centre of
Apulon, which was mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer
Ptolemy and believed by some archaeologists to be the Dacian fortifications on top of Piatra Craivii. After Dacia became a province of the
Roman Empire, the capital of
Dacia Apulensis was established here, and the city was known as
Apulum.
Apulum was the largest urban centre in Roman Dacia and was the seat of the
XIII Gemina Legion.
Apulum is the largest
castrum located in Romania, occupying (750 x 500 m2).
Middle Ages . Analysis of the necropoles of the city prior to the 11th century show that they were used by a population different from the conquering Hungarians. Archaeological evidence shows
Bulgarian presence in the 9th century. The
Gesta Hungarorum mentions a Hungarian regent named Jula or Geulathe maternal grandfather of
Stephen I of Hungary and lord [regent] of Transylvaniawho built the capital of his dukedom there during the 10th century.
Geula was baptized in the Byzantine Empire and built around 950 in Alba Iulia the first church of Transylvania. The ruins of a church were discovered in 2011. According to Ioan Aurel Pop and other historians, here lived Hierotheos the first bishop of Transylvania, who accompanied Geula back to Hungary after Geula had been baptized in Constantinople around 950. After Stephen I adopted Catholicism, and the establishment of the
Catholic Transylvanian bishopric, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first cathedral was built in the 11th century or possibly before. The present Catholic cathedral was built in the 12th or 13th century. In 1442,
John Hunyadi,
Voivode of Transylvania, used the citadel to prepare for a major battle against the
Ottoman Turks. The cathedral was enlarged during his reign and he was entombed there after his death.
Ottoman and Habsburg period In 1542 — after the partition of the Kingdom of Hungary — Alba Iulia became the capital of Transylvania and some of its neighboring territories to the west (later known as
Partium), the autonomous
Principality of Transylvania, and remained so until 1690. The
Treaty of Weissenburg was signed in the town in 1551. During the reign of Prince
Gábor Bethlen, the city reached a high point in its cultural history with the establishment of an academy. The former
Ottoman Turkish equivalent was
Erdel Belgradı or
Belgrad-ı Erdel ("Belgrade of Transylvania" in English) where Erdel (
Erdély) was added to prevent confusion with
Belgrade and
Arnavut Belgradı ("Albanian Belgrade" in Turkish, early name of Berat during Ottoman rule). On 29 November 1599,
Michael the Brave, Voivode of
Wallachia, entered Alba Iulia following his victory in the
Battle of Șelimbăr and became Voivode of Transylvania. In 1600 he gained control of
Moldavia, uniting the principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania under his rule, which lasted for a year and a half until he was murdered in 1601, by General
Giorgio Basta's agents. Alba Iulia became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1690. The fortress
Alba Carolina, designed by architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, was built between 1716 and 1735, at the behest of
Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg. The leaders of the
Transylvanian peasant rebellion were executed in Alba Iulia in January 1785. Important milestones in the city's development include the creation of the
Batthyaneum Library in 1780 and the arrival of the railway in the 19th century. File:Alba Iulia, Salva tun.jpg|The Austrian Guard of the Citadel File:AlbaIulia1556.jpg|Alba Iulia on a 1556 map File:Alba Iulia - Muzeul Unirii.jpg|The Union Museum
20th and 21st centuries At the end of World War I, representatives of the Romanian population of Transylvania, the
National Assembly of Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary, gathered in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918 during the so-called
Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia to proclaim the
Union of Transylvania with the
Kingdom of Romania. The representatives of the
Transylvanian Saxons decided to join this declaration on 8 January 1919. In 1922,
Ferdinand I of Romania was symbolically crowned
King of Romania in Alba Iulia. In October 2012, at the 90th anniversary of King Ferdinand's coronation, his great-granddaughter
Princess Margarita of Romania visited Alba Iulia to commemorate the event.
Jewish history The Jewish community, which was the first in Transylvania, was established in the 14th century. A community was officially founded by permission of Prince
Gabriel Bethlen in 1623. ==Climate==