Alba Iulia (Hungarian Gyulafehérvár; German Karlsburg), city in central Romania, capital of Alba County, on the Mures River. Industries include machine building, leatherworking, and winemaking. The city consists of an upper town, or citadel, constructed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI between 1716 and 1735; and a lower town, which contains a noted cathedral and the Batthyaneum, a museum founded in 1794 and the site of Romania's first observatory. Constructed in the 11th century, the cathedral was rebuilt in the 15th century in the Gothic style. A library, an observatory, and a museum are in the Batthyaneum. Alba Iulia occupies the site of the Roman colony Apulum, and many Roman relics are in the museum. The tomb of the 15th-century Hungarian patriot János Hunyadi is in Alba Iulia. Population 72,969 (1994 estimate).
