Socol (, , ) is a commune in

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

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 ...

(in the '' Clisura Dunării'' area of

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

). It is composed of five villages: Baziaș (Базјаш, ''Báziás''), Câmpia (Луговет, ''Néramező''), Pârneaura (Прњавор), Socol, and Zlatița (Златица, ''Néraaranyos''). ''Sokol'' means "falcon" in Serbian. The commune is officially bilingual, with both

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

being used as working languages on public signage and in administration, education, and justice.

Demographics

At the 2011 census, the population of the commune numbered 1,933 people and included 52.9%

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

, 36.8%

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, ...

, 5.6%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, 3.7%

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

, and 0.6%

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 ...

. At the 2021 census, Socol had a population of 1,602; of those, 49.13% were Romanians, 38.39% Serbs, and 2.75% Czechs.

Baziaș

Baziaș is a village of Socol commune, notable as the place where the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

enters Romania, and where, in 1854, the first railway line was opened on the territory of present-day Romania—the line ran from Baziaș to

Oravița Oravița (; ; ; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Oravica, separator=/, Оравица) is a town in the Banat region of Romania, in Caraș-Severin County, with a population of 9,346 in 2021. Its theater is a fully functional scaled down version of the old Burgth ...

, at a time when the area was under

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

administration. The village has a significant Serbian heritage, being the site of

Baziaș Monastery Socol (, , ) is a Commune in Romania, commune in Caraș-Severin County, Romania (in the ''Clisura Dunării'' area of Banat). It is composed of five villages: Baziaș (Базјаш, ''Báziás''), Câmpia (Луговет, ''Néramező''), Pârneaur ...

, said to have been founded in 1225 by

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

while on a brief refuge there, and rebuilt several times.Baziaș
at Enciclopedia Banatului The local forest includes several protected plant species.

Natives

Miodrag Belodedici Miodrag Belodedici (; ; born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a sweeper (association football), sweeper. Nicknamed ''The Deer'' due to his elegant Tackle (football move), tackles, he ...

(born 1964), a former world-class soccer player *

Petru Dumitriu Petru Dumitriu (; 8 May 1924 – 6 April 2002) was a Romanian-born novelist who wrote both in Romanian and in French. Biography Dumitriu was born in Baziaș, in the Banat region of Romania. His father was a Romanian army officer and his moth ...

(1924–2002), novelist

References

{{Caraș-Severin County Communes in Caraș-Severin County Localities in Romanian Banat Serb communities in Romania Czech communities in Romania Place names of Slavic origin in Romania

Demographics

Baziaș

Natives

See also

References