Braºov, formerly Stalin City (Hungarian, Brassó), city in central Romania and capital of Braºov County, in the foothills of the Transylvanian Alps. The city is a commercial and manufacturing centre, and an important railway junction. Manufactured goods include transport equipment, machinery, chemicals, musical instruments, and textiles, especially woollen goods. Agricultural produce is processed here, and oil from the surrounding area is refined. Braºov is also a popular winter-sports centre and holiday resort. Places of interest in the city include the remains of a citadel built in 1553, a 14th-century Gothic Protestant church, the 13th-century Church of St Bartholomew, and the town hall (1420). Two important cultural buildings are the Braºov Regional Library, which has collections of ancient manuscripts from the region, and a museum of history housed in the 15th-century building of the first Romanian school. The University of Braºov (1971) also is here. Braºov was founded in 1211 by the Teutonic Knights and later occupied by Germans, who changed its name to Kronstadt. The town became a centre of Protestantism and was the most important commercial town in the principality of Transylvania.

In 1867 all of Transylvania, including Braºov, was incorporated into Hungary, and in 1920, by the Treaty of Trianon, the region passed to Romania. From 1950 to 1960 the city was called Stalin City after the eponymous Soviet leader. Population 312,481 (1999 estimate).