Lupeni ( hu, Farkaslaka, Hungarian pronunciation: , meaning "Wolf's Home") 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 Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It lies in the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. ...

, an ethno-cultural region in eastern

Geography

Lupeni is situated on the Feernicul ( hu, Fehér Nyikó) stream, 13 km northwest of

Odorheiu Secuiesc Odorheiu Secuiesc (; hu, Székelyudvarhely, ; german: Odorhellen) is the second largest municipality in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. In its short form, it is also known as ''Odorhei'' in Romanian and ''Udvarhely'' in Hungarian. The Hun ...

on the road to

Corund Corund ( hu, Korond, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, in the "Salt Region" (''Ținutul Sării'' or ''Sóvidék''). Corund is fa ...

and

Sovata Sovata (; hu, Szováta; Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a town in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (''Kopac''), Ilieși (''Illyésmező''), and Săcădat (''Szakadát''). In 2004, the vill ...

. The usually small ''Fehér Nyikó'' stream became so swollen in the catastrophic floods of 2005 when 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) of rain fell in the space of two hours, that three people lost their lives when they were swept away as the water rose over four meters.

Component villages

The commune is composed of nine villages:

History

The commune was historically part of the Székely seat of

Udvarhelyszék Udvarhelyszék (; formerly called ''Telegdiszék'') was one of the Székely seats in the historical Székely Land. Situated on the western part of the Székely Land, it was the main seat ( hu, anyaszék, la, sedes principalis, ''sedes capitalis' ...

until 1876. After the administrative reform in the Kingdom of Hungary it became a part of the

Udvarhely County Udvarhely (german: Oderhellen) 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 ''Székelyudvarhely'' (now Odorheiu Secuiesc). Geogr ...

until 1918. In 1920, the villages, like the rest of Transylvania, formally passed with the

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 (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...

from Hungarian to Romanian control. The commune was temporarily incorporated into Hungary, between 1940 and 1944, along with

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 ...

under 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 ...

. Between 1952 and 1960, it formed part of the

Hungarian Autonomous Province 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 ...

, then, of the Mureș-Hungarian Autonomous Province until it was abolished in 1968. Since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County.

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Székely ( Hungarian) majority. According to the 2002 census it has a population of 4,434 of which 99.28% or 4,402 are Hungarian. In 2004, half of the population of the village was engaged in charcoal burning as their principal business.Transylvanian Toponym Book
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Notable people

Lupeni is the birthplace of the famous Hungarian writer

Áron Tamási Áron Tamási (born: János Tamás; 20 September 1897 – 26 May 1966) was a Hungarian writer. He became well known in his native region of Transylvania and in Hungary for his stories written in his original Székely style. Biography Born to ...

(1897–1966), known for such works as ''Címeresek'' and the ''Ábel'' trilogy.

Landmarks

* The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church was built between 1842 and 1848 in

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

style in the honour of

Saint John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...

* The grave of

(1897–1966), Székely writer, can be seen between two Turkey oaks behind the church, his memorial is the work of Jenő Szervátiusz and Tibor Szervátiusz. Today, his birthhouse is open to the public as a museum.

Twinnings

The commune is twinned with: *

Ajak Ajak is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, Ajak first appeared in ''Eternals (comics), The Eternals'' #2 (August 1976), he was created by Jack Kirby. The character is usuall ...

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, Croatia a ...

Lengyeltóti Lengyeltóti is a town in Somogy county, Hungary. The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region. Settings The town can be found south from Fonyód, along the highway to Somogyvár, the old seat of the county. The highway went from th ...

Kemence Kemence is a village in Pest county, 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 t ...

Gallery

Image:Josephinische Landaufnahme pg160.jpg, As ''Palfalva'' (Păuleni) and ''Firtos Varallya'' (Firtuşu) on Josephinische Landaufnahme, 1769-73 Image:Josephinische Landaufnahme pg177.jpg, As ''Farkaslaka'' (Lupeni), ''Kecset'' (Păltiniş), ''Kis Falu'' (Satu Mic) and ''Szent Lélek'' (Bisericani) on Josephinische Landaufnahme, 1769-73

References

{{Communes of Harghita County Communes in Harghita County Székely communities Localities in Transylvania