Blaj

Categories: Cities in Romania | Municipalities in Romania

Blaj (Hungarian: Balázsfalva; German: Blasendorf) is a city in Alba county, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758.

The first public school in Romanian was established in Blaj in 1754. Blaj was also the first place to have Romanian written with the Latin alphabet instead of the Cyrillic alphabet in which it had traditionally been written. Blaj was also a center for the Romanian Age of Enlightenment, being the founding site of the Şcoala Ardeleană society. The castle of the Bethlen dynasty is a popular tourist site near Blaj.