Everything about Gherla totally explained
Gherla (
Hungarian:
Szamosújvár or
Örményváros,
Armenian: Հայաքաղաք
Hayakaghak,
German:
Neuschloss or
Armenierstadt) is a city in
Cluj County,
Romania (in the historical region of
Transylvania). It is located 45 km from
Cluj-Napoca on the
Someşul Mic River, and has a population of 24,083.
History
The locality was first recorded in
1291, as a village named
Gherlahida (probably derived from the
Slavic word
grle, meaning "
ford"). The second name was Armenian,
Hayakaghak, meaning "Armenian city"; it gave the
Medieval Latin and
Greek official name
Armenopolis, as well as the German alternative name
Armenierstadt. Later, the name of
Szamosújvár was used in official
Hungarian records, meaning "the new town on the
Someş". Before 1918, Gherla was part of the
Kingdom of Hungary comitatus of
Szolnok-Doboka.
The modern city was built in the early 18th century by
Armenians, successors of the
Cilician Armenian diaspora who had originally settled in
Crimea and
Moldavia and moved to Transylvania sometime after 1650. After a two years' campaign on the part of the
Armenian-Catholic Bishop
Oxendius Vărzărescu, they converted from the
Armenian Apostolic Church to the
Catholic Church.
Gherla is the seat of the
Roman Catholic-led
Armenian Rite Gherla Vicariate as well as that of a
Greek-Catholic diocese – the
Cluj-Gherla Diocese (
suffragan to the
Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Alba Iulia and Făgăraş-Blaj, who resided in
Blaj). In the center of the city lie the Saint
Gregory the Illuminator and the Holy Trinity Armenian Cathedral. The main Armenian-Catholic church was built in 1792. The Greek Catholic diocese was created through the
Papal Bull Ad Apostolicam Sedem of November 26, 1853, and the first bishop was
Ioan Alexi.
A
Habsburg fortress was built here, and in
1785 it was transformed into a prison which, during the
Communist regime, was used for political detainees (
see Gherla prison). Today it's one of the high security prisons in Romania.
The town is often visited by
Orthodox pilgrims on their way to the nearby village of
Nicula and
Nicula Monastery.
Population
In 2002, Gherla's population was as follows:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gherla'.
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