Baia Mare
capital of Maramureș County, Transylvania, in north-western Romania
Baia Mare (US: BAH-yə MAR-ə, Romanian: [ˈbaja ˈmare] ; Hungarian: Nagybánya; German: Frauenbach; Latin: Rivulus Dominarum) is a city in northwestern Romania, the capital and largest municipality of Maramureș County. It lies on the Săsar River and serves as an important economic, cultural, and educational centre of the historical region of Maramureș, a subregion of Transylvania.
Located south of the Igniș Mountains and Gutin Mountains, Baia Mare is situated approximately 600 kilometres (370 miles) northwest of Bucharest, 70 kilometres (43 miles) from the border with Hungary, and 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the border with Ukraine. According to the 2021 Romanian census, Baia Mare had a population of 108,759 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities in northern Romania.
The municipality administers four villages: Blidari (Kőbánya), Firiza (Felsőfernezely) and Valea Neagră (Feketepatak).
Simon Hollósy, a young Hungarian painter, taught new Western European techniques in his Baia Mare studio, influencing many artists of the region.
Baia Mare was designated as the Romanian Youth Capital between 2 May 2018 and 1 May 2019. It is also considered the greenest municipality in Romania, offering about 133 square metres of green space per inhabitant.
History
Prehistory
The city's development on the middle course of Săsar River, in the middle of a plateau with a warm Mediterranean-like climate, has facilitated living conditions since the Palaeolithic.
Ancient times
During the Bronze Age the region was inhabited by Thracian tribes.
“Baia Mare” enters the record as capital of Maramureș County, Transylvania, in north-western Romania. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Baia, Mare and capital can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Baia Mare” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Baia, Mare and capital provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q185280. VIAF identifies the subject as 148962013. The Library of Congress control number is n83143850. Authority coordinates are 47.657, 23.572. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2018 and 2019.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Baia Mare”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Baia Mare primary sources, Baia Mare archive and Baia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Baia Mare”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Baia Mare” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.