Hunedoara
From Dacian iron forges to the Balkans' biggest steel works to post-industrial collapse - all beneath Corvin Castle's Gothic towers.
Hunedoara County exists because Dacian iron ore and Gothic ambition created one of Europe's largest castles and the Balkans' biggest steel works. Iron extraction here dates to the Iron Age; archaeologists found over a ton of large iron lens and eight Dacian metallurgic furnaces. The Roman province capital Ulpia Traiana Dacica Sarmizegetusa lies within the county. John Hunyadi began Corvin Castle in 1446 - a Gothic-Renaissance fortress now among Romania's Seven Wonders, where Vlad the Impaler was allegedly imprisoned. During the 14th-15th centuries, Hunedoara's swords and spears were renowned across Europe. The Communist era transformed the county: the Hunedoara Steel Works became the Balkans' largest, population peaked at 89,000 as workers arrived from across Romania. By 1988, the works produced millions of tons. After 1989, collapse came swiftly: workforce dropped from 20,000 (1993) to 800 (2011); 90-meter chimneys were demolished; production suspended in 2019. Today Hunedoara has Romania's highest unemployment (9.6% vs 5.5% national) despite being its most urbanized county (75%). Corvin Castle draws tourists to a deindustrialized landscape. By 2026, heritage tourism will grow while the county struggles with post-industrial transition.