Rucăr

Rucăr is a commune located in the north-eastern part of Argeș County, Romania, situated in the Carpathian Mountains. The commune is composed of two villages, Rucăr and Sătic, and its population as of 2021 was 5,259. Historically important for its role as a border region between Wallachia and its neighboring countries, it is today popular with tourists from Bran Castle.

== Etymology == In the earliest documents in which it is mentioned, Rucăr is referred to as Ruffa Arbor or Rot Bom, both meaning "red tree" in Latin and German, respectively. Early Slavic and Romanian documents use the names Rukel, Rukal, or Rucal, translated as the same. Historian Gheorghe Pârunță suggests that the area was named "after the copper leaves of the extensive beech forests that existed at that time."