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 ...

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, a ...

. It is composed of three villages: Ditrău, Jolotca (''Orotva''), and Țengheler (''Csengellér'' or ''Cengellér''). The commune sits near the river

Martonca The Martonca ( hu, Martonka-patak, from the name "''Martin''") is a left tributary of the river Mureș in Transylvania, Romania. It discharges into the Mureș near Subcetate Subcetate ( hu, Gyergyóvárhegy, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: ...

, 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 Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). Some syenites contain larger proport ...

reserve near the village.

History

The villages belonged first to the

Székely Székely may refer to: *Székelys, Hungarian people from the historical region of Transylvania, Romania **Székely Land, historic and ethnographic area in Transylvania, Romania * Székely (village), a village in northeastern Hungary *Székely (sur ...

seat of Gyergyószék, which was subsequently absorbed into Csíkszék, 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 Stephe ...

. 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 formal ...

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 Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

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 Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n immigrants who worked at the bakery Ditrói Pékség.

Demographics

The commune has a

( 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 ...

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 metamorpho ...

-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 th ...

stone used in

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form 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 Press 2009 and ...

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 * Ch ...

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 and t ...

. Its

cost 800,000 Austro-Hungarian koronas.

Notable natives and residents

* István Kovács (1911–2011), Hungarian Communist politician * Tivadar Puskás (1844–1893), Hungarian inventor of the telephone exchange

Twinnings

Bátaszék Bátaszék (german: Badeseck, sr, Батсек, Batsek) is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. The majority residents are Hungarians, with a minority of Serbs. "The oldest tree of Bátaszék" won the title of European Tree of the Year 2016. Th ...

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

* Budajenő,

* Kamut,

References

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