Beclean (; Hungarian and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Bethlen'') is a town in

Bistrița-Năsăud County Bistrița-Năsăud () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as ''Beszterce-Naszód megye'', and in German language, German as ''Kreis Bistritz-N ...

, in north-eastern

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 ...

. The town administers three villages: Coldău (''Goldau''; ''Várkudu''), Figa (''Füge''), and Rusu de Jos (''Alsóoroszfalu'').

Geography

The town lies on the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern Carpathians, Eastern, Southern ...

, at the confluence of the river

Someșul Mare The Someșul Mare (''Great Someș'', Hungarian: ''Nagy-Szamos'') is a river in north-western Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukrain ...

with its affluent, the Șieu. It is located in the western part of the county, at a distance of from the town of Năsăud and from the county seat,

Bistrița (; , archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , ) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of 78,877 inhabitants as of 2021 and administers s ...

; the city of Dej is to the west, in

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 ...

History

The town of Beclean is the ancestral seat of the Hungarian

Bethlen family The House of Bethlen is the name of two Hungarian ancient noble families, ''Bethlen de Iktár'' and ''Bethlen de Bethlen''. Although both families have similar coat of arms, they have no proven mutual ancestry. Both can trace their noble lineage ...

. In 1850, the town had 1,475 inhabitants, of which 805 were

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, ...

, 327

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 ...

, 163

Jews 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 ...

, 163 Roma, 5

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, and 12 of other ethnicities. At the 2011 census, it had 10,628 inhabitants; of those, 81.6% were Romanians, 14.2% Hungarians, and 3.7% Roma. At the 2021 census, Beclean had a population of 11,260.

Transportation

Beclean is the site of an important railway junction (the

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

is called Beclean pe Someș), where secondary routes to

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; or ''Siget''; , ; ; ), until 1960 Sighet, is a city in Maramureș County near the Iza River, in northwestern Romania. Geography Sighetu Marmației is situated along the Tisa river o ...

and

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

diverge from the main

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on 1 October 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. CFR as an entity existed from 1880, even though the first ra ...

railway line 400 from

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; ; ; or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the region of Maramureș, broadly part of Transylvania ...

. The town is traversed by two national roads: (part of

European route E58 European route E 58 is a road part of the International E-road network. It begins in Vienna, Austria, and passing through Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova, ends in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. It is approximately long. Since 2014, a pa ...

), which joins Dej in

, and , which joins Beclean to Cârlibaba in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...

. Additionally, county road DJ172A connects it to

Gherla Gherla (; ; ) is a municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 19,873 as of 2021. Three villages are administered by the city: ...

in Cluj County, while road DJ172F provides an alternate route to Dej.

Education

Beclean is home to four high schools: the Petru Rareș National College, the Henri Coandă Technological High School, the Beclean Agricultural Technological High School, and High School Nr. 1. There is also a middle school, the Grigore Silași Gymnasium.

Natives

* (born 1968), theater director * Károly Bárányos (1892–1956), Hungarian politician * György Bernády (1864–1938), mayor of Târgu Mureș * Cornel Cornea (born 1981), footballer * Cristian Costin (born 1998), footballer * (1836–1897), Greek Catholic priest and philologist * Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash (born 1948), Israeli general

References

External links

{{Bistriţa-Năsăud County Populated places in Bistrița-Năsăud County Localities in Transylvania Towns in Romania Monotowns in Romania Jewish communities in Romania