Ghimbav
Ghimbav is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, central Romania.
Geography
The town is situated in the southern part of the Transylvanian Plateau, at an altitude of, on the banks of the river Ghimbășel. It is located in the Burzenland ethnographic area, in the central part of Brașov County, just west of the county seat, Brașov.History
The town was first mentioned in a letter written in 1420 by King Sigismund of Hungary. He advised the inhabitants of Weidenbach/Ghimbav to join their forces together with the people living in three other neighboring Saxon villages and contribute to the construction of the stone fortress of Brașov.The Ottomans invaded Ghimbav in 1422. In 1469 a major fire damaged the town. In 1611 the Hungarian prince Gabriel Báthory set fire to several villages in Burzenland ; Ghimbav was one of them.
The local church and the bell tower were built around 1300. In the 15th century a fortress was built around the church. It was hit by lightning in 1642 and suffered major damages. In 1666 the city hall was moved inside the fortress as well as several other houses. These houses were demolished in 1940. The defensive walls were partially ruined in the 20th century.
Demographics
At the 2021 census, Ghimbav had a population of 7,208; of those, 84.56% were ethnic Romanians and 1.96% Hungarians.Industry
, a Romanian builder of helicopters and small planes, is located in Ghimbav. Among other aircraft, it builds the Eurocopter/IAR Puma military transport helicopter.Premium AEROTEC, a subsidiary of EADS, has also built a factory in Ghimbav.
Transportation
Ghimbav lies at the intersection of several major national roads:- DN1, which links Bucharest with the northwestern part of the country and the Hungary–Romania border near Oradea.
- DN73, which connects Brașov to Pitești through the Rucăr–Bran Pass.
- , which connects Ghimbav to Cristian, to the south.
The Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport, opened on June 15, 2023, is located on the northern side of the town.