Leliceni ( hu, Csíkszentlélek or colloquially ''Szentlélek'', meaning "Holy Spirit",
Hungarian pronunciation:) 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 ...
,
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
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 ...
.
Component villages
The commune is composed of four villages:
History
The main village was first mentioned in 1251 by its Hungarian name as ''castrum Zenth Lelewk''. In 1602, it was recorded as ''Szentlélek'' and in 1913 as ''Csikszentlélek''. Its original Romanian names was ''Cic-Sânlelec'' which was later Romanianized to the current official name.
[Transylvanian Toponym Book](_blank)
The villages forming the commune belonged to
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 ...
district 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 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, they became part of
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 ...
and fell within
Ciuc County
Ciuc County was a county (Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania. Its capital was Miercurea Ciuc. Its name was derived from the former county of the Kingdom of Hungary, Csík.
History
Prior to World War I, the territory of the county bel ...
during the interwar period. In 1940, the second Vienna Award granted the Northern Transylvania to Hungary and the villages were 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
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 ...
, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-Hungarian Autonomous Province. In 1968, the province was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County.
The most important component village of the commune is Misentea ( hu, Csíkmindszent, or colloquially ''Mindszent'',
Hungarian pronunciation:, ''meaning "All Saints"''). It was first recorded as ''Omnes Sancti'' in 1332. The village, composed of scattered houses at that time, had already existed in the era of the
Árpád dynasty
The Árpád dynasty, consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds ( hu, Árpádok, hr, Arpadovići). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingd ...
. It was burned down by Ottoman troops in 1661 when half of the village people perished. In 1719, it was hit by a plague. Biblical names are given for the parts of the village, which is explained by the fact that a 19th-century local priest is said to have replaced the Szekely placenames given under the ancient decimal tribal system by biblical names. Its school was already in operation as early as in 1590. In 1910, it had 1190 Hungarian inhabitants. Today, the wood industry provides the main economic activity.
200px, left, Misentea fortified church
200px, left, Misentea landscape
![Fitód](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Fit%C3%B3d.JPG)
Péter Pál Domokos discovered here the local songbook compiled by János Bochkor between 1716 and 1739.
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 2,002; of which 96.75% or 1,937 are
Hungarian.
Formerly part of
Sâncrăieni
Sâncrăieni ( hu, Csíkszentkirály or colloquially ''Szentkirály'', Hungarian pronunciation: , german: Heilkönig, both meaning "holy king" and referring to King St Stephen of Hungary) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. Composed of a sin ...
commune, the 4 villages broke off in 2004 with a population of 1,721.
Landmarks
* Built in the 14th century and expanded in the 15th century, its church received its present form in 1806. Its
winged altar
A winged altarpiece (also ''folding altar'') or winged retable is a special form of altarpiece ( reredos, occasionally retable), common in Northern and Central Europe, in which the central image, either a painting or relief sculpture (or some c ...
was made by the order of the Czakó-family in 1510 as proven by the inscription it bears: „Insignia Filiorum Czakó 1510. Insignia Regis Ungarie”. It is now in the
Hungarian National Museum
The Hungarian National Museum ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is not to ...
in Budapest. The church bell is from 1511. In front of the church, an old linden tree stands under which the Székelys used to discuss their business according to ancient pagan customs,
* next to the church is a 500-year-old winter linden (Tilia cordata), which was voted "
European Tree of the Year
The European Tree of the Year is an annual contest held to find the most 'loveable tree' in Europe.
The contest is held by the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA), an organization supported by the European Land Owners Association and the ...
"
''2011 - European Tree of the Year: Lime in Leliceni''
/ref> in 2011.
* At the side of the main road stands the so-called "Bloody Face" or "Red Picture", a 5.5-meter-high cone-shaped monument erected in memory of the 1694 Tatar invasion when the Székelys
The Székelys (, Székely runes: 𐳥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗), also referred to as Szeklers,; ro, secui; german: Szekler; la, Siculi; sr, Секељи, Sekelji; sk, Sikuli are a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. ...
defeated the intruders,
* On the Paphalála (Priest’s Death) hill, there used to be a Chapel. The hill gained its name from the decapitation of dean János Gyergyai by order of royal judge Kelemen Mikes that took place here in 1697. The dean was shortened for having entered into a marriage.
Notable people
* Péter Ágoston, jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
monk and famous preacher, was born here in 1617
* Vazul Bándi, historian of the Csíksomlyó Grammar School, was born here in 1847
* István Nagy, painter, born in Csíkmindszent (Misentea) in 1873
* Attila Ambrus
Attila Ambrus (born October 6, 1967), alias The Whiskey Robber, is a Hungarian bank robber and professional ice hockey player. He became notorious during the 1990s for committing a string of undercover "gentleman robberies" in and around Budapest, ...
, bank robber
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...
and professional ice hockey player, born in Fitod in 1967
Twinning
* Pusztaederics
Pusztaederics is a village in Zala 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 to t ...
, 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 ...
* Fülöpjakab
Fülöpjakab is a city in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a ci ...
, Hungary
* Mindszent
Mindszent is a town in Csongrád county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city ...
, Hungary
References
External links
www.mindszent.go.ro (Misentea website)
{{1st Székely Infantry Regiment
Communes in Harghita County
Localities in Transylvania
Székely communities