Covasna (, , , ) is a town in

Covasna County Covasna County (, , ) is a county (județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania's 41 counties and the ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, at an altitude of . It is known for its natural mineral waters and mofettas. The town administers one village, Chiuruș (). The village has a population of 451 and has an absolute Székely Hungarian majority. Before Orbaiszék merged with Sepsiszék and Kézdiszék to create

Háromszék County Háromszék (''Three Seats''; Romanian: ''Trei Scaune'') was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Situated in south-eastern Transylvania, its territory is now in central Romania (in the c ...

, in 1876, Covasna was the capital village of Orbaiszék.

Name origin

There are several theories regarding the origin of the city's name, the most recognized one being that it originates from the Slavic ''kvas'', which means "bitter", referring to the taste of the mineral water springs located in the city. According to Szabó Gyula (1914–1984), some legends suggest that the name of ''Kovászna'' might have been the result of a fusion between the name of "''Kó''" and the word "''vászon''" (it means ''canvas'' in Hungarian), thus meaning "''Kó's canvas''". Theories suggest that the individual of "''Kó''" might have been a knight, a craftsman or even the last monarch of the Fairies Fortress.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Covasna had a population of 9,208; of those, 60.34% were

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

and 31.14% were

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

. At the 2011 census, the town had 10,265 inhabitants, of which 7,549 or 66.4% were Hungarians and 3,672 or 32.3% were Romanians. ''Demographic movement according to the censuses:'' Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:300 height:220 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1956 text:1956 bar:1966 text:1966 bar:1977 text:1977 bar:1992 text:1992 bar:2002 text:2002 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1956 from:0 till: 7290 bar:1966 from:0 till: 7831 bar:1977 from:0 till: 9308 bar:1992 from:0 till: 12515 bar:2002 from:0 till: 11369 bar:2011 from:0 till: 10265 bar:2021 from:0 till: 9208 PlotData= bar:1956 at: 7290 fontsize:S text: 7,290 shift:(-7,5) bar:1966 at: 7831 fontsize:S text: 7,831 shift:(-13,5) bar:1977 at: 9308 fontsize:S text: 9,308 shift:(-13,5) bar:1992 at: 12515 fontsize:S text: 12,515 shift:(-13,5) bar:2002 at: 11369 fontsize:S text: 11,369 shift:(-13,5) bar:2011 at: 10265 fontsize:S text: 10,265 shift:(-13,5) bar:2021 at: 9208 fontsize:S text: 9,208 shift:(-13,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(10,10) text: Census Data. Graphics made by Wikipedia.

History

* 1548 – First mentioned as ''Kowazna''. * 1567 – Mentioned in a document, as a prestigious locality, having 61 registered homes. * 1756 – Gets destroyed by conflagration. * 1840 – Gets the right to hold its own market. * 1880 – Covasna has flourished as a health resort since the 1880s. * 1837, 1856, 1885 – The ' ( in Romanian: ''Balta Dracului''; in English: ''Devil's Lake'')

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or Slurry, slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true Igneous rock, igneous volcanoes as th ...

erupts. * 1889–91 – the Covasna– Comandău

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

is built * 1952 – Covasna became a town. * 1970's – Several hotels and cure centers were built in Covasna. * 1996 – Forest fire in the Fairie's Valley. * 2000's – Covasna is a nationally important spa town in Romania, having an important cardiovascular hospital.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Covasna is twinned with: *

Pápa Pápa is a historical town in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 28,549 inhabitants (2024), it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the r ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Nagykanizsa Nagykanizsa (; , or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; ; ; ; ), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. It is a city with county rights. It lies not far from Lake Balaton at the meeting point of five ...

Gyula, Hungary Gyula (; ; or ) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its medieval castle and a thermal bath. Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the father of Albrecht ...

* Balatonfüred,

* Csenger,

Călărași Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county se ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Natives

* (1926–2017), engineer and titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

* (1927–2024), bishop of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Romania from 2022 to 2024 *

Sándor Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Csoma de Kőrös (; born Sándor Csoma; 27 March 1784/811 April 1842) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian philologist and Orientalist, author of the first Standard Tibetan, Tibetan–English language, English dictionary and grammar book. H ...

(1784–1842), born in Chiuruș/Csomakőrös, was a Hungarian explorer and linguist. Widely seen as the founder of

Tibetology Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...

, Kőrösi was the compiler and author of the first Tibetan– English dictionary and grammar book. He died in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1842. A statue in his honour was erected in the centre of the village in 1972 and there is an exhibition in the cultural centre. * Iozefina Ștefănescu (1932–2015), handballer * (1865–1932), born Ioan Teculescu. A

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

cleric, he was archpriest of

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

and one of the main organizers of the

Great Union In Romanian historiography, the Great Union () or Great Union of 1918 () was the series of political unifications the Kingdom of Romania had with several of the Romanian historical regions, starting with Bessarabia on 27 March 1918, continuin ...

from December 1, 1918.

References

External links

Official website in Romanian

Official website in Hungarian
* * {{Authority control Towns in Romania Populated places in Covasna County Localities in Transylvania Spa towns in Romania Place names of Slavic origin in Romania