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Bistrița (Bistrița-Năsăud County) in nine numbers: the sea, earthquakes, mountains in view, the hospital, first mention

Bistrița, Bistrița-Năsăud County · municipality · 78,877 residents (2021 census)

First written mention

When was Bistrița first mentioned in writing?

1241

The oldest surviving written mention of Bistrița dates from 1241, 785 years ago.

Older than 96% of the 5,588 localities with a firm first mention.

The sources do not fully agree; this is the date the project picks, with the other readings at the source.

First written mention of Romanian villages and townsOpen the project — First written mention of Romanian villages and towns, opens in a new tab

Source: Wikidata (CC0), Suciu (1967–68), Documenta Romaniae Historica, Wikipedia; the date is the one the project picks

100 million years ago

Where was Bistrița 100 million years ago?

26°–32° N

In the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth, the ground under Bistrița lay at 26°–32° north, depending on the plate-tectonic model (the project compares three). Today it is at 47.1° N. It has moved 1,922–2,330 km since.

The latitude band then; today at 47.1° N.

Where was your town 100 million years ago?Open the project — Where was your town 100 million years ago?, opens in a new tab

Source: Plate models Müller 2019, Merdith 2021 and PALEOMAP; GeoNames localities (CC BY 4.0)

Mountains on the horizon

Which mountains can you see from Bistrița?

2,303 m

The highest summit in view from Bistrița is Pietrosul Rodnei, 2,303 m high and 53 km away. In all, 14 summits above 1,000 m are in view, 7 of them above 2,000 m.

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).

Which mountains you can see from your townOpen the project — Which mountains you can see from your town, opens in a new tab

Source: Terrain from Mapzen/AWS Terrain Tiles, summits from OpenStreetMap; the calculation is the project's

The sea or space

How far is the sea from Bistrița?

431 km

The sea is 431 km away in a straight line. Space begins 100 km straight up (the Kármán line), so from Bistrița space is nearer than the sea.

81% of Romanians live within 431 km of the sea.

The distance starts from a point inside the commune or town.

How far are you from the sea? The coast vs spaceOpen the project — How far are you from the sea? The coast vs space, opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: Natural Earth (public domain), GHSL 2025 population (JRC, CC BY 4.0)

Through the Earth, under your feet

Where do you come out if you dig a tunnel through the Earth from Bistrița?

1,627 km

Dig a straight tunnel through the centre of the Earth from Bistrița and after about 12,740 km you come out in the South Pacific Ocean, at 47.1° S, 155.5° W. The nearest land from there is 1,627 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.

Which way, and how far below the horizon, loved ones abroad really areOpen the project — Which way, and how far below the horizon, loved ones abroad really are, opens in a new tab

Source: Natural Earth (public domain); ellipsoid geometry as in the project

Local seismic hazard

What peak ground acceleration does RTC 18-2026 list for Bistrița?

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 Bistrița. 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.

How strong? Where your town stands in an earthquakeOpen the project — How strong? Where your town stands in an earthquake, opens in a new tab

Source: MDLPA Order 1,037/2026, RTC 18-2026, Annex A, Table A.1 (Official Gazette 771 bis, 11 Sep 2026)

Castles and manor houses

What is the nearest castle or manor house to Bistrița?

7.4 km

The nearest noble residence on Romania's List of Historic Monuments is Castelul Lázár Imre, in Sărata, 7.4 km away (sec. XVIII, XIX). Within 25 km there are 9 residences; within 50 km there are 24 residences.

A conac is the manor house of a boyar or noble, a castle is fortified; a culă is an Oltenian tower house.

The castle stops at the Carpathians. The conac does not.Open the project — The castle stops at the Carpathians. The conac does not., opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: List of Historic Monuments (National Heritage Institute), processed by the Castele project

The nearest hospital

What is the nearest hospital to Bistrița?

1,129 beds

Bistrița has a hospital with inpatient beds: 1,129 beds in 2024, public and private.

A straight line is not the road.

When distance to the hospital starts to matterOpen the project — When distance to the hospital starts to matter, opens in a new tab

Source: INS: hospital beds (SAN102C, 2024) and population (POP107D, 2023); the calculation is the project's

The nearest airport

What is the nearest airport to Bistrița?

73 km

The nearest of the 17 airports with passenger traffic is Avram Iancu (Cluj-Napoca), 73 km away in a straight line. 3,582,134 passengers passed through it in 2025, 2nd among the country's airports.

80% of Romanians live closer to an airport.

Passengers are counted on landing and on take-off.

How many airports does Romania have? Map of all 17Open the project — How many airports does Romania have? Map of all 17, opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: Romanian Airports Association (2025 statistics), OurAirports (public domain); INS 2021 census population

More to discover about Bistrița

These projects open with this locality selected. Each keeps its own period and calculation method.

Sources and limits

The unit is the commune or town (3,181 in all). A commune is Romania's basic unit of local government: a seat village and usually a few others. Distances start from a central point of the unit; in a big town a neighbourhood can be a few kilometres from that point.
A village gets its commune's numbers. The first mention and the place 100 million years ago refer to the commune's seat village.
“Of Romanians” shares use the 2021 census (the hospital card uses the 2023 population of that project), so they match the project pages.
Each project has its full method. A missing number means the source has no firm value for that place; nothing was filled in.