Covasna


Covasna is a town in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania, 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, 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, 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", 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 and 31.14% were Romanians. 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
id:darkgrey value:gray
id:sfondo value:rgb
id:barra value:rgb
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:
bar:1966 at: 7831 fontsize:S text: 7,831 shift:
bar:1977 at: 9308 fontsize:S text: 9,308 shift:
bar:1992 at: 12515 fontsize:S text: 12,515 shift:
bar:2002 at: 11369 fontsize:S text: 11,369 shift:
bar:2011 at: 10265 fontsize:S text: 10,265 shift:
bar:2021 at: 9208 fontsize:S text: 9,208 shift:
TextData=
fontsize:S pos:
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 mud volcano erupts.
  • 1889–91 – the Covasna–Comandău narrow-gauge railway 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: