Țara Călatei () is a region in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is one of the many areas in Western Romania with a significant Hungarian population, and is a stronghold of old Transylvanian Hungarian folk traditions.

Geography

Țara Călatei is a rural region situated just west of

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, spanning across western

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

and southern

Sălaj County Sălaj County (; ) (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a Counties of Romania, county (''județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of ...

. Its historical centre is the small town of Huedin. The region has an ethnically-mixed population, consisting mostly of

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

, and Roma; its

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

population suffered heavily during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. According to the

2011 Romanian census The 2011 Romanian census was a census held in Romania between 20 and 31 October 2011. It was performed by some 120,000 census takers in around 101,000 statistic sectors throughout the country established by the National Institute of Statistics ( ...

, ethnic Hungarians number about 20,000 people and form a minority of 30 percent of the total population.

Name

The region takes its name from the Călata people. The name formerly referred to a much larger territory; according to Lajos Kelemen's study on the history and monuments of Țara Călatei, the area reached from the Barcău River to the Crişul Repede River during the Middle Ages. The region as it is known today lies mainly west of Cluj-Napoca, although there are also some villages to the north and east as well which follow Kalotaszeg (Călata) customs. RO_CJ_Huedin_calvinist_church_22

The Hungarian community

Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority in the region, and make up a majority in some villages. The dominant religion amongst Hungarians in the region is

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

, with the exception of the village Leghia () which is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

; Huedin () also has a smaller Catholic church. The churches of the region are typically painted white and encircled by a wall. Typically, they feature a tetragonal bell tower with a pointed wooden spire. Christian services are generally segregated by gender and age. Female traditional clothing is distinguished through its highly colourful and ornate appearance, usually accented by pearl-laden headwear. Traditional clothing from the region is displayed in the ethnographic museums of both

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

. Locals continue to preserve, produce and wear this type of clothing on special occasions. The Hungarian Cultural Days of Cluj, an annual cultural festival held in August, features folk and cultural performances by artists from the region.

Țara Călatei in popular culture

The region was featured in the film ''Kalotaszegi Madonna'' ("Madonna from Țara Călatei", 1943), made in

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

, when it was a part

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946) The Kingdom of Hungary referred to retrospectively as the Regency and the Horthy era, existed as a country from 1920 to 1946 under the rule of Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary, who officially represented the Holy Crown of Hungary, Hungarian mon ...

between 1940–1944. The film takes place mainly in Cluj, but some scenes were shot elsewhere in the region.

Gallery

image:Magyarvalkó református temploma.jpg, Hungarian church of Văleni village image:Biserica de lemn din Agârbiciu.jpg, Romanian church of Agârbiciu, built during the 17th century image:Magyargyerőmonostori írásos hímzés.jpg, Cover of the churche's organ in Mănăstireni image:Fildu de Sus.NV.jpg, Romanian church of Fildu de Sus (in

) built during the 18th century.

References

External links

Kalotaszeg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tara Calatei Historical regions of Transylvania