Hațeg

Hațeg lies in a basin surrounded by the Southern Carpathians, at the centre of a district of Romanian communities and noble families. A royal castle guarded the approaches to the basin, and its castellan represented the voivode of Transylvania. A district of Hațeg is recorded in the fourteenth century, when assemblies of local knezes dealt with disputes and obligations. The small town and its surrounding villages preserved institutions rooted in this mountain country while forming part of the Kingdom of Hungary.