Dârjiu (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () 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 population density of ...

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 lies in the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland (, , Old Hungarian script, Székely runes: 𐲥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗𐳌𐳞𐳖𐳇; and sometimes ; ; ) is a historic and ethnographic area in present-day Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hung ...

, an ethno-cultural region in 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 ...

. The commune is composed of two villages, Dârjiu (''Székelyderzs'') and Mujna (Székelymuzsna), both of which are on the route of the

Via Transilvanica Via Transilvanica 'The Transylvanian Trail' is a hiking trail that crosses the Transylvania, Bukovina and Banat regions of Romania, and is meant to promote their cultural, ethnic, historical and natural diversity. It was built between 2018 and ...

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

Name

The Hungarian name ''Székelyderzs'' was first mentioned as "De ers" in a papal list of tithes taken in 1334. In 1525, it was recorded as ''Ders'', while in 1760, it was already mentioned by its modern Hungarian name of ''Székely Derzs''. The name ''Derzs'' is thought to be from the Old Bulgar.Transylvanian Toponym Book

Demographics

At the 2011 census, the commune had a population of 1,036, of which 91.51% were

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 ...

, 5.69%

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 ...

, and 1.35%

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, ...

; 60.62% of the inhabitants were Unitarian, 20.46%

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

, 7.34%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 3.96%

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, and 1.83%

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

. At the 2021 census, Dârjiu had a population of 851; of those, 92.6% were Hungarians and 1.41% Romanians.

History

Unitariansm was an official religion in

from the 1583 Medgyes ( Mediaş) parliament. The first bishop was

Ferenc Dávid Ferenc Dávid (also rendered as ''Francis David'' or ''Francis Davidis''; born as Franz David Hertel, – 15 November 1579) was a preacher and theologian from Transylvania, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, and the leading f ...

, a local Hungarian-speaking

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

. The first appointed ruler of Transylvania was the Unitarian

John II Sigismund Zápolya John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

,Queen Isabella and King John
son of the Hungarian king

John Zápolya John Zápolya or Szapolyai (; ; ; ; 1487 – 22 July 1540), was King of Hungary (as John I) from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He wa ...

(1526–1541). The villages were historically part of the

region of

province. They belonged to

Udvarhelyszék Udvarhelyszék (; formerly called ''Telegdiszék'') was one of the Székely seats in the historical Székely Land. Situated on the western part of the Székely Land, it was the main seat (, , ''sedes capitalis'') for a significant period, being ...

district until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when they fell within the

Udvarhely County Udvarhely () was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was ''Székelyudvarhely'' (now Odorheiu Se ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. After the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War (; ) was fought between Hungary and Kingdom of Romania, Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the ...

of 1919 and the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

of 1920, they became part of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

and fell within plasa Odorhei of

Odorhei County Odorhei County was a county (Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania. The county seat was Odorheiu Secuiesc. Geography Odorhei County covered 2,977 km2 and was located in central part of Greater Romania, in eastern part of the historical ...

during the interwar period. In 1940, the

second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

granted the

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 ...

to Hungary and the villages were held by Hungary until September 1944, when Romanian and Soviet troops regained control during World War II. After a brief Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned in March 1945. Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the

Magyar Autonomous Region The Magyar Autonomous Region (1952–1960) (; ) and Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region (1960–1968) were autonomous Regions of the People's Republic of Romania, regions in the Romanian People's Republic (later the Socialist Republic of Romania). H ...

, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the region was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County.

Heartland of Unitarianism

Between 80,000 and 100,000 Unitarians live in the geographical region of Transylvania, mostly between

Sighișoara Sighișoara (; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich'', ''Šesburχ'', or ''Scheeßprich''; ; or ) is a Municipiu, city on the Târnava Mare, Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, central Romania. Located in the ...

and

Odorheiu Secuiesc Odorheiu Secuiesc (; , ; ) is the second largest municipality in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. In its short form, it is also known as ''Odorhei'' in Romanian and ''Udvarhely'' in Hungarian. The Hungarian name of the town "Udvarhely" mean ...

, more or less around Dârjiu. Further east, Hungarians are

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

with

Calvinist 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 Protestantism, Continenta ...

enclaves, e.g., in the former

Háromszék County Háromszék (''Three Seats''; Romanian: ''Trei Scaune'') was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Situated in south-eastern Transylvania, its territory is now in central Romania (in the c ...

, while the former

Csík County Csík (Hungarian, in Romanian: ''Ciuc'') was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Csíkszere ...

is solidly Roman Catholic.

Fortified church; mural art in the region

The village is home to the Dârjiu fortified church, a 13th-century fortified Unitarian Church, which is on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

The murals of the Unitarian church show the legend of

Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I (, , , ; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and Richeza of Poland, Queen of Hungary, Richeza (or Adela ...

. When the

Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...

broke into

, Ladislaus, still a Duke, along with his cousin ( King Salamon (Solomon) I) rode against them and freed from a Cuman a girl believed to be daughter of an aristocrat. Unfortunately enough, the girl did not support this act of the future saint. Further murals in the region are to be found at Unitarian churches in Mugeni, Crăciunel (Karácsonyfalva; part of Ocland commune), and smaller ones in Rugănești (Rugonfalva; part of

Șimonești Șimonești (, ) 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 fourteen villages: History The villages were historically ...

commune) and

Cristuru Secuiesc Cristuru Secuiesc (; , ) is a town in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The town administers two villages: Betești (''Betfalva''), part of Mugeni until 2004, and Filiaș (' ...

(Székelykeresztúr). The most significant murals in Saxon churches are those of Mălâncrav (German: Malmkrog, Hungarian: Szászszentlászló; part of

Laslea Laslea (; ) is a commune located in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Florești (''Felsendorf'', ''Földszin''), Laslea, Mălâncrav (''Malmkrog'', ''Almakerék''), Nou Săsesc (''Neudorf'', ''Apaújfalu''), ...

commune).

Twinning

Darány Darány is a village in Somogy County, Somogy county, Hungary. History According to ''László Szita'', the settlement was completely Hungarian in the 18th century. Demographics As of 2022, the town was 89.1% Hungarians, Hungarian, 3.4% Romani ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

The local Unitarian community has relationship with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA.

External links

The Unitarian fortified church

Gallery

Image:derzsx.jpg, Unitarian church Image:derzs6.jpg, Façade of the Unitarian church Image:derzs4.jpg, Murals on the St. Ladislaus legend Image:derzs3.jpg, Murals on the St. Ladislaus legend Image:derzs101.jpg, Fight of Ladislaus with the Cuman Image:derzs102.jpg, Death of the Cuman warrior Image:Josephinische Landaufnahme pg193.jpg, The village on the Josephinische Landaufnahme, 1769-1773

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darjiu Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania Székely communities