Alsófelsőszentmihály (Mihai Viteazu)

Alsófelsőszentmihály (Mihai Viteazu) is part of a beautiful area, situated on the eastern region of the Western Carpathians, in the valley of the Aranyos River, where the Torockó Hills meet the Transylvanian Basin. It is situated at the left side of the Aranyos river, at about 5 km from Torda and 35 km from Kolozsvár, along the road E81 and DN 75.

The village, which embraces Alsófelsőszentmihály, Mészkő and Sinfalva lays on the southern side of Kolozs county shire, and on the western border of  the Transylvanian Basin. The total territory of the village is 47,53 km².       

From all the villages Alsófelsőszentmihály was the first to be mentioned in an official document as Zent-Mihelfalwa in 1170. Since it does not appear in the gift deed of Aranyosszék, we may assume that during the Mongolian invasions the village was destroyed. Not long after the Szekler’s migration it was refounded. In the 1332–1335 papal-tithe-registry it already appears as a respectable and independent village. The name points to the fact that the village was renewed by the Szeklers from Csík.

The Unitarian church was built in the second half of the 17^th century. At the beginning of the 1880s, given the gradually growing number of the inhabitants, the church had to be enlarged. The tower was built between 1816 and 1819. 

According to the official census of 2002 there were 5,749 inhabitants in the village: 4,094 Romanians (71.21 per cent), 1,575 Hungarians (27.39 per cent), 75 Gypsy (1.30 per cent) and 1 Ukrainian (0.01 per cent). The Romanian inhabitants of the village belonged to the Orthodox Church, the Hungarian population was either Calvinist or Unitarian or Roman Catholic.

One of the inhabitants’ greatest prides is the mixed choral society, which goes back to the 19th century. It was reestablished in 1990 with 58 members. In the past 15 years it had 157 performances at home and abroad.

The majority of the population has a traditional agricultural way of life, growing mostly vegetables. The meadow of the Aranyos River was always appropriate for cultivation. They sell their vegetables at the nearby markets – especially at Torda (Turda) and Kolozsvár (Cluj). This is the principal source of income for the inhabitants even nowadays. Since the selling proved to be increasingly harder, the farmers established an entreprise called Aranyoskert. It has 141 founding members from 12 localities, and professionals hired trying to find the best marketing methods solutions. 

Tourists from all over the country and abroad come here, and Alsófelsőszentmihály also appears on the international tourist maps. The nearby Torda Gorge is a famous tourist attraction. The nature was very generous with the village, and blessed it with fertile land and with basic materials for cement and gypsum making. The abundant fountains, the surrounding woods are valuable assets and also indispensable preconditions for quality leisure and resting.