Șcheii Brașovului ( hu, Bolgárszeg, german: Belgerei or more recently ''Obere Vorstadt''; traditional Romanian name: ''Bulgărimea'', colloquially ''Șchei'') is the old ethnically

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

neighborhood of

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

, a city in southeastern

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, Romania. This

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

-like section of the town is mostly made up of small houses built along narrow roads with gardens and small fields on the slopes of the Tâmpa Mountain.

History

Until the 17th century, the inhabitants of Șchei were forbidden from owning property inside the city walls. The people living in the Șchei could only enter the town at certain times and had to pay a

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic), the historic practice of charging for road use ** Shadow toll, ...

at the

Catherine's Gate Catherine's Gate ( ro, Poarta Ecaterinei, german: Katharinentor, hu, Katalin-kapu) in Brașov, Romania, was built by the Tailors’ Guild, in 1559 for defensive purposes instead of an old gate destroyed by a flood in 1526. It is named after St. ...

for the privilege of selling their produce inside the town. Catherine's Gate was the only entrance for the

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...

— they were not allowed to use the other four entrances, such as the

Șchei Gate Șchei Gate ( ro, Poarta Șchei) in the Șcheii Brașovului neighborhood of Brașov, Romania, is right next to Catherine's Gate. It was built in between 1827 and 1828 in order to let through heightened traffic. The much bigger Catherine's Gate was ...

. It was in Șchei that Brașov's

first Romanian School The First Romanian School ( ro, Prima școală românească) is located on the grounds of the 16th-century St. Nicholas Church, itself located in the historic district of Șcheii Brașovului, in what is now Brașov, Romania. This is the first s ...

was established, next to the

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

. Researchers maintain the

Șchei ''Șchei'' ( bg, шкеи, ''shkei'') was an old Romanian and Albanian exonym referring to the Bulgarians, especially in Transylvania and northern Wallachia. As a name, it has been preserved in the names of towns colonized in the 14th century by ...

were ethnic Bulgarians who later adopted the Romanian language and ethnic identity. The neighborhood's name has been recorded through the ages as follows: ''Bolgarszek'' (1611), ''Scheu Brașovului'', ''orașul Schei lângă Cetatea Brașovolui'' (1700), ''Bolgarsek, Șchei de lângă Brașov'' (1701), ''Șchiiaii Brașovului'' (1708), ''Bolgaria Brașovului'' (1723), ''Șchei lângă cetate Brașovului unde-i zic Bolgara, Șchiai'' (1724), ''obștea din Bolgarseghi'' (1773), ''sărăcimea obștii Bolgarsegului'' (1774), ''Bolgarsec, Biserica Bolgarseghiului'' (1813), ''Bolgarsechi'' (1816), ''Bolgarsăchiu'' (1817), etc. According to Radu Tempea's ''Istoria besérecei Șchéilor Brașovului'' manuscript of 1899, the Bulgarians arrived in Brașov in the late 14th century, more exactly 1392. Their arrival is linked to the reconstruction of the

Black Church The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their ...

, which had been destroyed by the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

in the 13th century, the reconstruction beginning 1385. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Bulgarian population of Șcheii Brașovului had been gradually Romanianized. An 1829 statistic on the population of Bolgárszeg, which stated the neighbourhood had a population of 5,829, did include ''Bulgari'' ("Bulgarians") in the list along with ''Valachi'' ("

"), but noted no people of that ethnicity.Милетич, p. 19.

Gallery

File:Poarta Schei Brasov 2.jpg,

File:Petocile Brasov.JPG, Typical street in Șcheii Brașovului File:First Romanian school Brasov.JPG,

First Romanian School The First Romanian School ( ro, Prima școală românească) is located on the grounds of the 16th-century St. Nicholas Church, itself located in the historic district of Șcheii Brașovului, in what is now Brașov, Romania. This is the first s ...

File:Brasov, san nicola 01.JPG, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church File:Sf Treime Brasov 2.jpg, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church File:Solomon cliffs2.JPG, Solomon Cliffs (Pietrele lui Solomon) in Șcheii Brașovului File:CascadaPLS.jpg, Waterfall at Solomon Cliffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheii Brasovului Districts of Brașov Bulgarian communities in Romania

History

See also

Gallery

References