Breaza

The town is situated in the foothills of the Baiu and Bucegi mountains, at an altitude of about 450 m (1,480 ft). It lies on the banks of the river Prahova, towards the southern end of the Prahova Valley. Breaza is located in the northwestern part of the county, 42 km (26 mi) from the county seat, Ploiești.

The town's name is derived from a Slavic word, breza, meaning "birch tree".^[3]

The town was first documented in an act of 1503, mentioning a certain trader of Breaza called "Neagoe". In 1622 the land of Breaza was divided between four boyars and in 1717, the new ruler of Wallachia, Nicolae Mavrocordat gave the Breaza estate to boyar Iordache Crețulescu. The land was divided by the agrarian reform of 1921 and in 1935 it was declared a spa.

One of the main occupations is farming, and traditional needlework, but many inhabitants also commute to work in the neighboring towns of Comarnic and Câmpina. Tourism is also important for the local economy, and many locals rent out rooms in the summer months.

Due to its naturally beautiful surroundings, being located among rolling hills, the town has long been popular with inhabitants of Bucharest, who tend to have vacation homes here. Among the people who had second residences in Breaza were Adrian Păunescu.^[4]

It is also the site of a folk art museum and a military high school [ro].

• Ion Cavași (born 1953), alpine skier
• Constantin Dăscălescu (1923–2003), communist politician who served as Prime Minister from 1982 to 1989
• Rareș Dogaru (born 2003), footballer
• Florian Enache (born 1971), bobsledder
• Dumitru Focșeneanu (1935–2019), bobsledder
• Gheorghe Ionescu-Sinaia [ro] (1888–1969), general
• Nicolae Pescaru (1943–2019), football player and manager

Breaza has a humid continental climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification).