Tomești ( hu, Csíkszenttamás, or colloquially ''Szenttamás'', 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, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. 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. I ...

, 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 named after Saint Thomas. The commune is composed of a single village, Tomești.

Location

The village is located 22 km north of Miercurea-Ciuc along the

Olt River The Olt (Romanian and Hungarian; german: Alt; la, Aluta or ', tr, Oltu, grc, Ἄλυτος ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average discha ...

History

Its name was first mentioned in 1333 when, a ''sacerdos de Sancto Toma'', a priest from St Thomas was mentioned. In 1441, it is recorded by its Hungarian names as ''Zenth Thamas'', in 1549 as Szent Tamás. Until 1919, its Romanian name was ''Sântămas''. Transylvanian Toponym Book
/ref> The village was part of the

region of the historical

province. It 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 t ...

district until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when 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 and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

of 1920, it became part of

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 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 o ...

granted Northern Transylvania 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 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-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the province was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County.

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Hungarian ( Székely) majority. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 2,553 of which 99.37% or 2,537 are Hungarian. Formerly part of Cârța commune, the village broke off in 2004.

Landmarks

*The ruins of the tower of the old village church (Csonkatorony) built in the era of the Árpád dynasty stands 1 km from the village. *The new Roman Catholic church was built in baroque style in 1778. The church has preserved several art objects from the 15th century which used to belong to the old church. The most notable among them is a representation of the Blessed Virgin made in the 15th century. The church is surrounded by a fortified wall. * The Feneketlen Lake (Bottomless Lake) which is fed by the water of hot springs is located at the foot of the church hill.

Twinnings

The village is twinned with * Forráskút,

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, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Gyenesdiás Gyenesdiás is a village in Zala County, Hungary. Gyenesdiás is located on the north shore of Lake Balaton, next to the town of Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by other alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on ...

, Hungary * Tét, Hungary Josephinische Landaufnahme pg163

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomesti, Harghita Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania Székely communities