Mădăraș ( hu, Csíkmadaras or colloquially ''Madaras'', Hungarian pronunciation:) is a commune in Harghita County,

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, an ethno-cultural region in eastern

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 ...

. It is composed of a single village, Mădăraș.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1567 as ''Madaras'', meaning ''"birdy"''. Its name may have referred to the abundancy of birds in the area. Transylvanian Toponym Book
Its Romanian name derives from the Hungarian form. According to tradition, the village was in the beginning located in the ''Hámorkert'' (Iron Hammer Garden) part also known as ''Fejedelem Kertje'' (Dukes's Garden). Its residents used to be engaged in the mining of iron ore and mercury which was a royal monopoly. By the 18th century, the iron ore mine became exhausted, so the villagers started to deal with pottery and the village soon was famous for its potters which lasted until the end of the 19th century. More recently, thermal water sources has been discovered in the area and there are still unexploited iron ore and andezit occurrences, too. The village historically belonged to the Székely seat of

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 ...

until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when it fell within Csík County 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

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 ...

of 1920, it became part of

and fell within Ciuc County during the interwar period. In 1940, the second Vienna Award granted the

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 village was held by Hungary until 1944. After Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned and the commune became officially part of Romania in 1947. Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the Magyar Autonomous Region, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the province was abolished, and since then, it has been part of Harghita County.

Demographics

The commune has an absolute

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 ...

( Hungarian) majority. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 2,190; of which 99.27% or 2,174 are Hungarian. Formerly part of Dănești commune, the village broke off in 2004 with a population of 2,210.

Natives

* Ștefan Texe

Landmarks

*The Roman Catholic church was built between 1790 and 1796, but was consecrated only in 1828. Its tower dates back to 1769. *The St. Anthony Chapel stand in the Prince”s Garden. It was built in 1992 on the ruins of an old chapel. *The highest peak of the

Harghita Mountains The Harghita Mountains (in Hungarian Hargita, in Romanian ''Munții Harghita'') is a volcanic mountain range of the Căliman-Harghita Mountains in Harghita County of Romania, part of the Inner Eastern Carpathians. The range is about long and ...

(1801m) stands in its vicinity,

Twin cities

The village is twinned with: *

Apostag Apostag is a village and municipality in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. Croats in Hungary call this village ''Štagara''. Živko Mandić: Hrvatska imena naseljenih mjesta u Madžarskoj, Geog ...

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 ...

Madaras Madaras ( hr, Madaraš) is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, 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, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madaras, Harghita Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania Székely communities Place names of Hungarian origin in Romania