Ditrău (; or ''Gyergyóditró'' ) is a commune in

Harghita County Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county (județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

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 Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. It is composed of three villages: Ditrău, Jolotca (''Orotva''), and Țengheler (''Csengellér'' or ''Cengellér''). The commune sits near the river Martonca, above sea level. The highest point of Ditrău is the Piricske height. Ditrău was first registered in 1567, as Gitró, with 26 gates. There is a significant syenite reserve near the village.

History

The villages belonged first to the Székely seat of Gyergyószék, which was subsequently absorbed into

Csíkszék Csíkszék () was one of the Székely seats in the historical Székely Land. It administered two sub-seats (Hungarian: ''fiúszék'', Latin: ''sedes filialis''), namely Gyergyószék and Kászonszék. It was divided on the natural borders of t ...

, until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when they fell within the

Csík County Csík (Hungarian, in Romanian: ''Ciuc'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Csíkszereda (now Miercurea Ciuc). Geograp ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. After the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. The Allies of World War I intended ...

of 1919 and

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

of 1920, the villages became part of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

and fell within Ciuc County during the interwar period. In 1940, the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all o ...

granted Northern Transylvania to Hungary and the villages were held by Hungary until the fall of 1944. After Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned in March 1945. Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the

Magyar Autonomous Region The Magyar Autonomous Region (1952–1960) (Romanian: ''Regiunea Autonomă Maghiară'', Hungarian: ''Magyar Autonóm Tartomány'') and Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region (1960–1968) were autonomous regions in the Romanian People's Republic (later ...

, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the region was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County. From January to March 2020, a xenophobic incident occurred between the local population and two Sri Lankan immigrants who worked at the bakery Ditrói Pékség.

Demographics

The

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

has a Székely ( Hungarian) majority. According to the 2002 census it has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 5,480 of which 98.87% or 5,418 are Hungarian.

Economy

The village was formerly known for its mining activity – the ditroit, a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

-like

sodalite Sodalite ( ) is a tectosilicate mineral with the formula , with royal blue varieties widely used as an ornamental gemstone. Although massive sodalite samples are opaque, crystals are usually transparent to translucent. Sodalite is a member of t ...

stone used in

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

Tourist attractions

* Szent Katalin Church, built in 1653. * Near Szent Katalin Church there is a 75m high church built between 1908 and 1913, which is known locally as the "big" church. This is the second highest

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 * C ...

in this

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. Its

cost 800,000

Austro-Hungarian korona The crown (german: Krone, hu, korona, it, Corona, pl, korona, sl, krona, sh, kruna, cz, koruna, sk, koruna, ro, coroană) was the official currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 (when it replaced the florin as part of the adoption of the ...

Notable natives and residents

* István Kovács (1911–2011), Hungarian Communist politician *

Tivadar Puskás Tivadar Puskás de Ditró (in older English technical literature: Theodore Puskás) (17 September 1844 – 16 March 1893) was a Hungarian inventor, telephone pioneer, and inventor of the telephone exchange. He was also the founder of Te ...

(1844–1893), Hungarian inventor of the telephone exchange

Twinnings

* Bátaszék,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Budajenő Budajenő (german: Jeine) is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the ...

Kamut Khorasan wheat or Oriental wheat (''Triticum turgidum'' ssp. ''turanicum'' also called ''Triticum turanicum''), commercially known as Kamut, is a tetraploid wheat species. The grain is twice the size of modern-day wheat, and has a rich, nutty ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ditrau Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania Székely communities