Râșnov (; ; ;

Transylvanian Saxon dialect Transylvanian Saxon is the native German dialects, German dialect of the Transylvanian Saxons, an ethnic Germans of Romania, German minority group from Transylvania in central Romania, and is also one of the three oldest ethnic German and Geog ...

: ''Ruusenåå'';

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Rosnovia'') is a town in

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Transylvania, Romania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian language, Hungari ...

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 ...

with a population of 15,920 as of 2021. It is located at about southwest of the city of

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

and about the same distance from

Bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the component of a Cereal, cereal grain consisting of the hard layersthe combined aleurone and Fruit anatomy#Pericarp layers, pericarpsurrounding the endosperm. Maize, Corn (maize) bran also includes the p ...

, on DN73, a road that links

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and

History

The

Roman fort ''Castra'' () is a Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base.. Included is a discuss ...

Cumidava Cumidava (also Comidava, Komidava, ) was originally a Dacian settlement, and later a Ancient Rome, Roman military camp on the site of the modern city of Râșnov (15 km from Brașov) in Romania. Etymology After the Roman conquest of Dacia ...

was discovered in 1856 near the town. The Râșnov Fortress was first built as a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

by the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

in the years 1211–1225. Râșnov was mentioned for the first time in 1331 as ''Rosnou'' and again in 1388 as ''villa Rosarum''. While the village was razed many times in its history by

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, Turks, and Wallachians, the fortress was conquered only once, in 1612, by Gabriel Báthory.

Legend of the fortress well

There is a legend attached to Râșnov Fortress. During a particularly long siege of the fortress, the citizens of Râșnov were concerned about the lack of available fresh drinking water. Two Turkish soldiers, having been captured earlier, were put to the task of digging a well in the centre of the fortress. These two men were assured that they would be given their freedom once the well was completed. According to local legend, it took them 17 years to finish the well, but they were still killed afterwards. This famous well still sits in the centre of Râșnov Fortress, and is deep.

Climate

Râșnov has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

Culture

Music

As of August 2013, Râșnov became the host of the biggest

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

festival in Romania, known as Rockstadt Extreme Fest, which was held at the foot of the fortress hill. The festival featured bands such as Decapitated,

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...

, Gojira, Carach Angren, Rotting Christ, Septicflesh, Primordial,

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic lang ...

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...

Lamb Of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

Bullet For My Valentine Bullet for My Valentine, often abbreviated as BFMV, are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is currently composed of Matthew Tuck (vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar), Jason Bowld (drums) and J ...

Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...

Parkway Drive Parkway Drive are an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. Parkway Drive have released seven studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled ''Ten Years of Parkway Drive''. The band's la ...

Sleep Token Sleep Token are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 2016. Its members remain Anonymous work, anonymous by wearing masks. After self-releasing their debut Extended play, EP ''One'' in 2016, the band signed with Basick Records an ...

Architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, Stick To Your Guns,

Knocked Loose Knocked Loose is an American hardcore punk band from Oldham County, Kentucky, formed in 2013 and currently signed to Pure Noise Records. The band released their debut studio album, ''Laugh Tracks (album), Laugh Tracks'', in September 2016 thro ...

Unearth Unearth is an American metalcore band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998. The group consists of lead guitarist Buz McGrath, vocalist Trevor Phipps, bassist Chris O'Toole, drummer Mike Justian and rhythm guitarist Peter Layman. They are cu ...

among many others.

Film

The American film '' Cold Mountain'' (2002) was shot to a large degree in the area around Râșnov.

Sports

Râșnov Sports Complex was built just outside the town in Cărbunării Valley, for 2013 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival, which was hosted in the nearby city of

. Two

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

events took place in Râșnov, as part of the Women's Ski Jumping World Cup 2013/2014 competition. The events were scheduled for March 2014, on the "Valea Cărbunării" slope. During the 2019–20 World Cup, both women and men had events in Râșnov..

Notable people

* Erich Bergel (1930–1998), German trumpet player and conductor * Gheorghe Cimpoia (born 1939), biathlete * Carol Haidu (1942–2022), footballer * Adrian Veștea (born 1973), politician * Nicolae Veștea (born 1950), biathlete * Ioan Vlădea (1907–1976), engineer

References

External links

The Râșnov Fortress

Photos from Râșnov

Fortress History

Rockstadt Extreme Fest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasnov Populated places in Brașov County Localities in Transylvania Castles of the Teutonic Knights Towns in Romania Place names of Slavic origin in Romania Monotowns in Romania Țara Bârsei