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Gherla(Armenian: Հայաքաղաք Hayakaghak, German: Neuschloss or Armenierstadt, Hungarian: Szamosújvár or Örményváros) is a city in Cluj County ,Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located 45 km from Cluj-Napoca on the Somesul Mic River, and has a population of 20,203.
The locality was first recorded in 1291, as a village named Gherlahida (probably derived from the Slavic word grle, meaning "ford"). The second name was Armenian, Հայաքաղաք Hayakaghak, meaning "Armenian city"; it gave the Medieval Latin and Greek official name Armenopolis, as well as the German alternative name Armenierstadt. Later, the name of Szamosújvár was used in official Hungarian records, meaning "the new town on the Someş".
The modern city was built in the early 18th century by Armenians, successors of the Cilician Armenian diaspora, who had originally settled in Crimea and Moldavia, and moved to Transylvania sometime after 1650. After a two years' campaign by the Armenian-Catholic Bishop Oxendius Vărzărescu, they converted from the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Armenian Catholic Church.
The locality was first recorded in 1291, as a village named Gherlahida (probably derived from the Slavic word grle, meaning "ford"). The second name was Armenian, Հայաքաղաք Hayakaghak, meaning "Armenian city"; it gave the Medieval Latin and Greek official name Armenopolis, as well as the German alternative name Armenierstadt. Later, the name of Szamosújvár was used in official Hungarian records, meaning "the new town on the Someş".
The modern city was built in the early 18th century by Armenians, successors of the Cilician Armenian diaspora, who had originally settled in Crimea and Moldavia, and moved to Transylvania sometime after 1650. After a two years' campaign by the Armenian-Catholic Bishop Oxendius Vărzărescu, they converted from the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Armenian Catholic Church.
