Pesac ( hu, Pészak; german: Pesak) is a

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 ...

Timiș County Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...

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 ...

. Part of

Periam Periam (until 1925 Periamoș; german: Perjamosch; hu, Perjámos; sr, Перјамош, Perjamoš) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Periam, and also included Pesac until it broke off as a separate commun ...

commune until 2007, it is composed of a single village, Pesac.

History

The first recorded mention of Pesac dates from 1399, when it is mentioned in a Hungarian diploma as ''Puerseegh''. In 1426 it is attested with the name ''Pwrsegh'', and in 1549 ''Persek''. After this period it does not appear mentioned anywhere. Today's locality was re-established in 1768, by settling here the inhabitants of the neighboring village Sânpetru Sârbesc (present-day

Sânpetru Mare Sânpetru Mare ("Greater St. Peter"; hu, Nagyszentpéter or ''Rácszentpéter''; german: Großsanktpeter or ''Ratzsanktpeter''; sr, Велики Семпетар, Veliki Sempetar) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of two vill ...

) due to frequent floods and unfavorable land for agriculture. The first inhabitants were the Romanians from Sânpetru who settled on the estate of Iosif Bayzath. He offered them land to build their houses. The new locality was named ''Pesak''. Historian Ioan Lotreanu claims that the first inhabitants were the Romanians from Sânpetru who left there because they did not get along with the Serbs. After the establishment of the locality, the documents speak of ''Pesak'' as a Serbian locality. It had a Serbian name, and the

Slavonic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...

was used in the church. However, in 1774, i.e. six years after its establishment, Pesac already appears in the documents of the land book of the

Cenad Cenad ( hu, Nagycsanád, during the Dark Ages ''Marosvár''; german: Tschanad; sr, Чанад, Čanad; la, Chanadinum) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cenad. The village serves as a customs point on t ...

constituency, on which it depended as ''walachisches ort'' ("Vlach village"). It is therefore impossible that the village was Romanianized in such a short time, as it was Romanian from the very beginning. From 1778

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

was incorporated into Hungary, so that from 1779, Pesac commune was part of

Torontál County Torontál (, , , ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now divided between Serbia and Romania, except for a small area which is part of Hungary. The capital of the county was Nagybecskerek (, , ), t ...

. In 1799 Bayzath colonized 62 families of Romanian serfs from the parts of

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, further strengthening the Romanian element. Later, Bayzath's brother colonized Germans from neighboring villages at Pesac. They held a significant share of the population until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when their numbers began to decline sharply.

Demographics

Pesac had a population of 1,990 inhabitants at the 2011 census, down 8% from the 2002 census. Most inhabitants are

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...

(88.84%), with a minority of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

(5.63%). For 4.72% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

(82.66%), but there are also minorities of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

s (7.29%),

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

s (2.06%) and

Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...

s (1.01%). For 4.72% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

References

{{Authority control Communes in Timiș County Localities in Romanian Banat