Pecica (; hu, Pécska; german: Petschka; sr, Печка/''Pečka'') is a town in

Arad County Arad County () is an administrative division ( judeţ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center ...

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 ...

. In ancient times it was a

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

n fortress called

Ziridava Ziridava (''Ziridaua'', grc, italic=yes, Ζιρίδαυα) was a Dacian town located between Apulon and Tibiscum, mentioned by Ptolemy in the area of the Dacian tribe of Biephi (today's Romania, Banat region). Ancient sources Ptolemy's ...

and today it is an important archeological site.Barbara Ann Kipfer, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology'', p.428. Springer, 2000, Situated at from Arad, it was declared a town in 2004. Its administrative territory extends into the Arad Plateau. The town administers three villages: Bodrogu Vechi (''Óbodrog''), Sederhat (''Szederhát'') and Turnu (''Tornya'').

Population

According to the census of 2011 the population of the town counts 12,762 inhabitants. The ethnic composition is as follows: 62.2% Romanians, 28% Hungarians, 8.4% Roma, 0.33% Slovaks, 0.36% Serbs and 0.7% are of other or undeclared nationalities.

History

Due to the abundance of archaeological finds of the zone an important historic period known as the

Periam-Pecica culture The Prehistory of Transylvania describes what can be learned about the region known as Transylvania through archaeology, anthropology, comparative linguistics and other allied sciences. Transylvania proper is a plateau or tableland in northw ...

was named after the settlement. The history of the localities Pecica, Bodrogu Vechi, Sederhat and Turnu is closely connected with the events making highly memorable the entire zone of the Arad Plateau. PecicaCulCntr

The first mention in documents of the locality dates back to 1335 when it was known as Petk. Sederhat was registered only in 1913, Turnu in 1333 under the name of Mok, while Bodrogu Vechi in 1422 under the name of Bodruch. It has a complex political history with periods of Ottoman rule, periods of

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it became part of the

within

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

up until 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 ...

. Since then the town has been part of Romania.

Economy

Although the economy of the town is prevalent agricultural, the secondary and tertiary economic sectors have also developed recently. Besides agriculture, the industry of petrol and rock-gas is also well represented. The initiation of the frontier crossing point at Turnu and the trimming of the thermal water springs should be the most important chances for the economic development of the town.

Tourism

Tourist attractions include the Roman Catholic Church, the Pecica Cultural Center and the "Lunca Mureșului" park.

Notable residents

Kuno von Klebelsberg Count Kuno von Klebelsberg de Thumburg ( hu, Gróf thumburgi Klebelsberg Kuno Imre Aurél Ferenc; 13 November 1875 – 12 October 1932) was a Hungarian politician who served as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Culture of the Hungary bet ...

(1875–1932), Hungarian politician, minister of interior and minister of culture *

Roman Ciorogariu Roman Ciorogariu (; born Romul Ciorogariu; December 6, 1852–January 21, 1936) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian bishop within the Romanian Orthodox Church, as well as a journalist and educator. Biography Born in Pecica, he attended h ...

(1852–1936), Romanian

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 ...

bishop, journalist and educator *

Marius Cihărean Marius Cihărean (born 17 November 1975) is a featherweight weightlifter from Romania. He competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and won a bronze medal at the 1996 European Championships. He still competes in the masters category. His elder broth ...

(born 1975), Romanian weightlifter *

Mircea Petescu Mircea Petescu (15 May 1942 – 16 December 2018) was a Romanian professional footballer and coach.Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre () or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as well as th ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Battonya Battonya ( ro, Bătania; sr, Батања, Batanja) is a town in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Residents are Magyars, with minority of Serbs and Romanians. Geography It covers an area of 145.77 km ...

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 ...

References

External links

Official Portal of Pecica - Overview, including history

Pecica Historical Data at Arad County Council

Pecica Tourism and Historical Data at Arad County Council
{{LocalitiesArad Populated places in Arad County Towns in Romania Archaeological sites in Romania Hungary–Romania border crossings Localities in Crișana