Frasin () is a town 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 ...

, mountainous northeastern

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 situated in the historical region of

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

. Frasin is the thirteenth-largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 5,817 according to the 2021 census. It was declared a town in 2004, along with seven other localities in Suceava County. The town administers the former village of Bucșoaia (which became a neighborhood in 2004), Doroteia, and Plutonița (with the status of associated villages).

Administration and local politics

Town council

The town's current local council has the following political composition, according to the results of the

2020 Romanian local elections Local elections were held in Romania on 27 September 2020. Initially planned for June 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Government of Romania to postpone the elections to a date no later than 31 December 2020, and extending al ...

Geography

Frasin is surrounded by the Bukovina Ridges of the Obcinele Mari, on the banks of the

Moldova River The Moldova (, ) is a river in Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia. It is a right tributary of the river Siret. The river rises from the Obcina Feredeu Mountains of Bukovina in Suceava County and joins the Siret in Cotu Vameș, east ...

, between

Câmpulung Moldovenesc Câmpulung Moldovenesc (; formerly spelled ''Cîmpulung Moldovenesc'') is a municipiu, city in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Câmpulung Moldovenesc is the fourth largest urban settleme ...

and

Gura Humorului Gura Humorului (; Hebrew and Yiddish: גורה חומורולוי - ''Gure Humuruluei'' or גורא הומאָרא - ''Gura Humora''; German and Polish: ''Gura Humora'') is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the hi ...

, on

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 ...

. The town of

is only 7 km away. Frasin is connected to the Romanian national railway system by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

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 ...

–

Vatra Dornei Vatra Dornei (; ; ; ) is a city in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Vatra Dornei is the fifth largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 12,578 inhabitants, according to ...

railway.

History

In 1785, Frasin was known as a hamlet. One big step towards its development for Frasin took place in 1816 when a

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

factory was built. Frasin was declared a town in 1850. Until 1918, Frasin was part of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

(the province of Bukovina remained an Austrian crown land () after the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

), in the

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , , Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'') is a municipiu, city in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is attested on the Fra Mauro map fro ...

district, one of the nine ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' of the province.Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm Klein, 1967

Tourism

Frasin is located in the historical region of Bukovina where visitors can admire several painted medieval churches with World Heritage status. One of the most popular is

Voroneț Monastery The Voroneț Monastery is a medieval monastery in the Romanian village of Voroneț, now a part of the town Gura Humorului. It is one of the famous Painted churches of northern Moldavia, painted monasteries from southern Bukovina, in Suceava Co ...

, built in 1488. Another asset of the area are the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s, such as the

primeval forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

of Slătioara ("Codrul secular Slătioara") and the forests of the Giumalău Mountains.

Natives

Radu Mareș Radu Mareș (March 3, 1941 – March 26, 2016) was a Romanian prose writer and journalist. Bibliography * ''Anna sau pasărea paradisului'' (1972) * ''Vine istoria'' (1972) * ''Cel iubit'' (1975) * ''Caii sălbatici'' (1981) * ''Pe cont propriu ...

(1941–2016), prose writer and journalist

Notes

External links

*
Frasin Town Hall official site
*
Frasin School
*
Suceava County site – Frasin web page
{{Authority control Towns in Romania Populated places in Suceava County Localities in Southern Bukovina