Miercurea Sibiului is a town in the west of Sibiu County

Sibiu County

Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km²....

, in southern Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, central Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, 34 km to the west of the county capital Sibiu

Sibiu

Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...

.

Administration

Miercurea Sibiului was declared a town in 2004 and it is one of the smallest and least urbanised cities in the country.

The town administers two villages:

• The village of Apoldu de Jos, 5 km away
• The village of Dobârca, 8 km away.

Also, 5 km away there is a small spa town

Spa town

A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...

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Geography

The town lies on the contact area between the Transylvanian Plateau

Transylvanian Plateau

The Transylvanian Plateau is a plateau in central Romania.The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Western branches of the Carpathian Mountains...

 and the Cindrel Mountains

Cindrel Mountains

Cindrel Mountains are a group of mountains in central Romania in the centre of the Southern Carpathians, in the North-East of the Parâng Mountains group....

, a massif in the Parâng Mountains

Parâng Mountains

Parâng Mountains are one of the highest mountain ridges in Romania and Southern Carpathians, with its highest peak Parângu Mare reaching 2,519 m.-Description:The Parâng mountains are located in the south-western part of the Central-Meridional Carpathians...

 group in the Southern Carpathians

Southern Carpathians

The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...

, on a small depression formed by the Secaş River.

The town is situated on a main Romanian road link: the DN1

DN1

DN1 is an important national road in Romania which links Bucharest with the northwestern part of the country...

 road between Sibiu and Sebeş

Sebes

Sebeș is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania.-Geography:The city lies on the Mureș River valley and it straddles the Sebeș river...

, E68/E81 European routes.

History

Since the 12th or 13th century it was inhabited by Transylvanian Saxons

Transylvanian Saxons

The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...

 and from 1355 it became one of the original seven seats of Saxondom from the Sibiu area.

The city is the place of birth of Ilie Măcelaru (1822-1891), a lawyer who participated in the 1848 revolution and a founding member of the Romanian National Party

Romanian National Party

The Romanian National Party , initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat , was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Transleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, and especially to those in...

that was formed in Miercurea Sibiului on 17 March 1869.