Țara Moților

Țara Moților (German: Motzenland), also known as Țara de Piatră ("The Stone Land") is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the upper basin of the Arieș and Crișul Alb River rivers. It covers parts of the Alba, Arad, Bihor, Cluj, and Hunedoara counties of Romania and a section of it forms the Apuseni Natural Park.

Farm in Arieșeni, Țara Moților

Țara Moților's inhabitants are known as "moți" (German: Motzen, Hungarian: mócok). Some scholars consider the 'moți' as descendants of the Celts, because of their blonde hair and blue eyes, elements more frequent here than among other Romanians; however, the hypothesis is not accepted by mainstream historians due to its lack of consistency. Other scholars believe that they are the descendants of Slavs, for the same very reasons, or of the Alans. Yet another group of scholars consider them the descendants of Germanic tribes (the Gepids). Due to their blonde hair and blue eyes, so far seventeen theories regarding their origins have been formulated.

The moți live in scattered villages at altitudes up to about 1,400 m (4,600 ft), higher than any other permanent settlements in Romania. The 'Țara Moților' traditionally begins at Bistra, just before Câmpeni, formerly called Topani by the moți themselves or Topesdorf by the Austrians, traditionally considered the unofficial capital of the moți, while the villages down the Arieș towards Turda such as Lupșa, Sălciua, etc. are inhabited by the Mocani. The moți were also known under the name of 'topi' (in German 'Die Zopfen'). Before the last change of the old administrative boundaries there existed an Arieș County in its own right.