Lăpuș (formerly ''Lăpușul Românesc''; ) is a commune in

Maramureș County Maramureș County () is a county (județ) in Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Máramaros megye'', in Ukrainian language, Ukrainian as Мараморо́щ ...

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 composed of a single village, Lăpuș.

Geography

The commune is located in the southern part of the county, east of the town of

Târgu Lăpuș Târgu Lăpuș (; , , ) is a town in Maramureș County, northern Transylvania, Romania. It administers thirteen villages: Boiereni (''Boérfalva''), Borcut (''Borkút''), Cufoaia (''Kohópatak''), Dămăcușeni (''Domokos''), Dobricu Lăpușului ...

, the center of the ethnographic region. It is situated at an altitude of , in a hilly area to the west of the

Țibleș Mountains The Țibleș Mountains (, or ''Széples'') are a volcanic mountain range located in Maramureș County, in northern Romania. They belong to the Vihorlat-Gutin Area of the Inner Eastern Carpathians. They are located at the southern border of h ...

, on the banks of the Lăpuș River. Lăpuș is crossed by

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

DJ109F, which starts in Târgu Lăpuș and ends in Cavnic, about to the north. The county seat,

Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; ; ; ) is a Municipiu, city along the Săsar, Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramureș, a subregion of Transylvania. It is situated about from Buchare ...

, is to the northwest.

History

Etymologically, its name appears to come from the Hungarian ''lápos'' (i.e., "flatland, bog, muddy place"), or from Proto-Slavic ''ло̀пӯх‎'', a widespread name for burdock and other broad-leaf plants. Its existence is attested, under the name of ''Dragosfálva'', in 1293, in an edict through which the land of ''Lápos'' is given by the

King of Hungary The King of Hungary () was the Monarchy, ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Magyarország apostoli királya'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

to one Denis Tomaj, from the nation of the

Patzinaks The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks, , Middle Turkic: , , , , , , ka, პაჭანიკი, , , ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pečenezi, separator=/, Печенези, also known as Pecheneg Turks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia who ...

, although there are traces of habitation in the area as early as the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(see ''

Prehistory of Transylvania The Prehistory of Transylvania describes what can be learned about the region known as Transylvania through archaeology, anthropology, comparative linguistics and other allied sciences. Transylvania proper is a plateau or tableland in northwe ...

''). The village was a notable anti-communist resistance area after World War II (1949–1953). Lăpuș has a beautiful old , built at the end of the 17th century, that was restored between 2002 and 2004.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Lăpuș had a population of 3,278, with an absolute majority (95%) of ethnic

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, ...

Natives

* (1931 – 2019), anti-communist resistance leader in the Țibleș Mountains

Notes

External links

Older black and white pictures from Lăpuș
– Photos by Magne Antonsen

Communes in Maramureș County Localities in Transylvania {{maramures-geo-stub