Lupșa
commune in Alba County, Romania
Lupșa (German: Wolfsdorf; Hungarian: Nagylupsa) is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of 23 villages: Bârdești, Bârzan, Curmătură, După Deal, Geamăna, Hădărău, Holobani, Lazuri, Lunca, Lupșa, Mănăstire, Mărgaia, Mușca, Pârâu-Cărbunări, Pițiga, Poșogani, Șasa, Trifești, Văi, Valea Holhorii, Valea Lupșii, Valea Șesii, and Vința.
The commune is located in Țara Moților, on the slopes of Muntele Mare to the north and the Metaliferi Mountains to the south. The area has a specific mountain relief developed on crystalline schists and metalliferous rocks. It ranges in height between 550 m (1,800 ft) in the meadows of the river Arieș (which traverses it for 19 km) to 1,350 m (4,430 ft) in Geamăna. Lupșa is on the DN75 Turda–Câmpeni national road, 95 km (59 mi) from Alba Iulia, the county seat, 15 km from the city of Câmpeni, and 9 km from Baia de Arieș, the nearest town.
In 1978, the communist regime opened the Roșia Poieni copper mine near Geamăna, which at the time had over 1,000 residents. In 1986, production from the mine caused the formation of a muddy lake, which gradually submerged almost the entire village. By 2015, at most 15 people remained. The main objective is a partly submerged church, which has become a tourist attraction.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lupșa” as commune in Alba County, Romania. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as commune in Alba County, Romania. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 23, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q12696316. Authority coordinates are 46.366, 23.194. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1986 and 2015.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. 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 “Lupșa”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lupșa primary sources, Lupșa archive and Lupșa 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 “Lupșa”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lupșa” 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.