BRASOV (Ger. Kronstadt, Hung. Brassd), a town of Tran sylvania, Rumania, centre of the old Saxon district known as the Burzenland, and capital of the Rumanian dept. of Brtiov. Pop. (1924) 40,000, of which 15,000 were Magyars, 12,000 Ru manians and 1 i,000 Germans. Brasov is beautifully situated on the slopes of the Transylvanian Alps, in a narrow valley, shut in by mountains, and presenting only one opening on the north west towards the Burzen plain. The town is entirely dominated by the Zinne, a mountain rising 1,276ft. above the town (total altitude 3,153ft.). The total population in 1931 was 56,234.
Brasov consists of the inner town, which is the commercial centre, and the suburbs of Blumenau, Altstadt and Obere Vor stadt, inhabited respectively by Germans, Magyars and Ruma nians. To the east of the inner town rises the Schlossberg, crowned by the citadel, erected in 1553. To the north is the ruined tower of the Teutonic Order. Under it the old city wall, with its bastions, is intact. The Protestant church, popularly called the Black Church, owing to its smoke-stained walls, caused by the great fire of 1689, is the finest in Transylvania. It is a Gothic edifice and was built in 1385-1425. In the square in front of it is the statue of Johannes Honterus "the apostle of Transylvania," who was born in Brasov, and established here the first printing-press in Transylvania. In the principal square of the inner town stands the town hall, built in 1420 and restored in the 18th century, with a tower I 9of t. high. Brasov is an important commercial and manufactur ing town. Lying near five passes of the Carpathians (Bran, Predeal, Bratocea, Oituz, Buzeu), it developed from the earliest time an active trade with Walachia, Moldavia and the Balkan States. Its chief industries are iron and copper works, wool spinning, distilleries, turkey-red dyeing, leather goods, paper, cement and petroleum refineries. The manufacture of the wooden bottles used by the peasantry in Hungary and in the Balkan States is carried on. Brasov was founded in 12II by the Teu tonic Order expelled in 1225. It was refounded soon after by Saxon settlers, remaining a main Saxon centre until modern times. Originally situated in the plain, it was withdrawn into the valley after the first Turkish invasions, about A.D. 1400. It played a leading part in the introduction of the Reformation in Transyl vania in the 16th century. The town was almost completely destroyed by the big fire of 1689. During the revolution of 1848-49 it was besieged by the Hungarians under General Bem from March to July 1849, and several engagements between the Austrian and the Hungarian troops took place in its neighbour hood. On account of its position it is an excellent tourist centre, being surrounded by beautiful mountains and having several mineral baths in the vicinity.