Siculeni ( hu, Madéfalva, Hungarian pronunciation: ) 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 ...

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 ...

. The

Siculicidium The Massacre at Madéfalva took place at Csík-Mádéfalva, Grand Principality of Transylvania (today Siculeni in Romania). In Latin ''Siculicidium'' "murder of Székelys" was a mass murder committed against Székelys by the Habsburg army in 17 ...

took place here. The commune is composed of a single village, Siculeni. In 2004, four villages broke off to form

Ciceu Ciceu ( hu, Csíkcsicsó , or colloquially ) is a commune in Romania, located in Harghita County. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The commune is composed of two villages: *Ciaracio / Csaracsó *Cic ...

and

Racu Racu ( hu, Csíkrákos, , meaning "Place with the Crabs of Csík") is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. Component villages The commune is composed of two vill ...

Communes.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the commune has a population of 2,711. Of these, 94.46% were Hungarians and 5.49% Romanians.

History

The village was part of the

region of the historical

province. Its Hungarian name was first recorded in 1567 in the form of Amadeffalwa (Amadé's village), and in 1602 the village is already mentioned by a shortened forms as Madéfalva which became the names of the village. Later, until 1899 the official name of the city was Csík-Mádéfalva. The Romanian form of its name was Madefalău, The authorities renamed it for the current official name after 1919.Transylvanian Toponym Book
/ref> The

, or the ''Massacre at Madéfalva'' of January 7, 1764 took place here. 200 Székely were killed by Maria Theresa's Habsburg army as the local Székely

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

refused to join as recruits the newly organized borderguard regiments. Following the massacre, a great number of Székely people began to flee the region crossing the Carpathian Mountains into Bukovina and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

. The massacre's

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name is

, traditionally written as ''SICVLICIDIVM''. A monument in memory of the massacre was erected on October 8, 1905. The village administratively 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 it 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, the village 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 the Northern Transylvania to Hungary and the villages were held by Hungary until 1944. After Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned and the village became officially part of Romania in 1947. Always inside Romania, between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the so-called

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, Romania administration was organized in 42 counties, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County. The commune used to comprise several villages, but as from 2004 the village of

(Csicsó) forms an independent commune with the village of Ciaracio (Csaracsó). The village of

(Csíkrákos) along with the village of Satu Nou (Göröcsfalva) also forms an independent commune.

Gallery

Image:Madefalva Plate.JPG, Monument of the Siculicidium Image:Madefalva Szekelygate2.JPG, Székely gate Image:Madefalva Church.JPG, Church interior Image:Josephinische Landaufnahme pg179.jpg, The village on 18th century map

References

{{1st Székely Infantry Regiment Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania

Demographics

History

Gallery

See also

References