When was Aleșd first mentioned in writing?
1291
The oldest surviving written mention of Aleșd dates from 1291, 735 years ago.
Older than 93% of the 5,588 localities with a firm first mention.
Source: Wikidata (CC0), Suciu (1967–68), Documenta Romaniae Historica, Wikipedia; the date is the one the project picks
Where was Aleșd 100 million years ago?
27°–32° N
In the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth, the ground under Aleșd lay at 27°–32° north, depending on the plate-tectonic model (the project compares three). Today it is at 47.1° N. It has moved 1,912–2,392 km since.
The latitude band then; today at 47.1° N.
Source: Plate models Müller 2019, Merdith 2021 and PALEOMAP; GeoNames localities (CC BY 4.0)
3Mountains on the horizon
Which mountains can you see from Aleșd?
1,836 m
The highest summit in view from Aleșd is Vlădeasa, 1,836 m high and 45 km away. In all, 7 summits above 1,000 m are in view.
Against Moldoveanu, Romania's highest summit (2,544 m).
The calculation takes the terrain, the curvature of the Earth and the bending of light into account, out to 450 km, from 30 m above the ground (the roof of a ten-storey block).
Source: Terrain from Mapzen/AWS Terrain Tiles, summits from OpenStreetMap; the calculation is the project's
How far is the sea from Aleșd?
573 km
The sea is 573 km away in a straight line. Space begins 100 km straight up (the Kármán line), so from Aleșd space is nearer than the sea.
98% of Romanians live within 573 km of the sea.
The distance starts from a point inside the commune or town.
Source: Natural Earth (public domain), GHSL 2025 population (JRC, CC BY 4.0)
Where do you come out if you dig a tunnel through the Earth from Aleșd?
1,468 km
Dig a straight tunnel through the centre of the Earth from Aleșd and after about 12,740 km you come out in the South Pacific Ocean, at 47.1° S, 157.6° W. The nearest land from there is 1,468 km away: the Chatham Islands (New Zealand).
The tunnel passes through no other town: below you there is only rock, then the Earth's core.
Source: Natural Earth (public domain); ellipsoid geometry as in the project
What peak ground acceleration does RTC 18-2026 list for Aleșd?
0.10 g
For the conventional scenario with a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years, Table A.1 of RTC 18-2026, MDLPA's methodology for drawing up seismic-risk maps (in force from 11 October 2026), lists a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.10 g for Aleșd. This value describes seismic hazard at locality level; it does not assess the risk or safety of any particular building.
91% of Romanians live in localities where the table gives a higher PGA value; 9% live in localities with the same value.
Source: MDLPA Order 1,037/2026, RTC 18-2026, Annex A, Table A.1 (Official Gazette 771 bis, 11 Sep 2026)
7Castles and manor houses
What is the nearest castle or manor house to Aleșd?
under 1 km
The nearest noble residence on Romania's List of Historic Monuments is Castelul Bathyanyi, in Aleșd, less than 1 km away (1830). Within 25 km there are 7 residences; within 50 km there are 23 residences.
A conac is the manor house of a boyar or noble, a castle is fortified; a culă is an Oltenian tower house.
Source: List of Historic Monuments (National Heritage Institute), processed by the Castele project
What is the nearest hospital to Aleșd?
135 beds
Aleșd has a hospital with inpatient beds: 135 beds in 2024, public and private.
A straight line is not the road.
Source: INS: hospital beds (SAN102C, 2024) and population (POP107D, 2023); the calculation is the project's
What is the nearest airport to Aleșd?
40 km
The nearest of the 17 airports with passenger traffic is Oradea, 40 km away in a straight line. 256,945 passengers passed through it in 2025, 11th among the country's airports.
49% of Romanians live closer to an airport.
Passengers are counted on landing and on take-off.
Source: Romanian Airports Association (2025 statistics), OurAirports (public domain); INS 2021 census population