Lechința (; ) is a commune 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 ...

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 seven villages: Bungard (''Baumgarten bei Bistritz''; ''Szászbongárd''), Chiraleș (''Kyrieleis''; ''Kerlés''), Lechința, Sângeorzu Nou (''Sankt Georgen''; ''Szászszentgyörgy''), Sâniacob (''Jakobsdorf bei Bistritz''; ''Szászszentjakab''), Țigău (''Zagendorf''; ''Cegőtelke''), and Vermeș (''Wermesch''; ''Vermes'');

Geography

The commune is situated 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 ...

, in the

Nösnerland The Nösnerland (, also known as ''Nösnergau''; ; ) is a historic region of northeastern Transylvania in present-day Romania centered between the Bistrița and Mureș rivers. In today's administrative boundaries, it is located in southern Bistr ...

, a historic region of northeastern Transylvania. It lies on the banks of the Lechința River. Lechința is located in the southern part of Bistrița-Năsăud County, 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 ...

and from

Beclean Beclean (; Hungarian language, Hungarian and German language, German: ''Bethlen'') is a town in Bistrița-Năsăud County, in north-eastern Transylvania, Romania. The town administers three villages: Coldău (''Goldau''; ''Várkudu''), Figa (''F� ...

. It is crossed by

county roads 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 (United States), county highway departm ...

DJ151 and DJ172E.

History

The

Battle of Kerlés The Battle of Kerlés () also known as the Battle of Cserhalom (), was an engagement between an army of Pechenegs and Ouzes commanded by OsulMedieval chronicles wrote that the invaders were Cumans or Pechenegs, or Cumans and Vlachs (or Romanian ...

occurred in Chiraleș village in 1068; an army of

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

and

Ouzes The Oghuz Turks (Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia. ...

commanded by Osul was defeated by the troops of King

Solomon of Hungary Solomon, also Salomon (; 1053–1087) was King of Hungary from 1063. Being the elder son of Andrew I, he was crowned king in his father's lifetime in 1057 or 1058. However, he was forced to flee from Hungary after his uncle, Béla I, dethroned ...

and his cousins, Dukes

Géza Géza () is a Hungarian given name and may refer to any of the following: As regnal or forename * Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians * Géza I of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza II of Hungary, King of Hungary * Géza, son of Géza II of Hungar ...

and

Ladislaus Ladislaus ( or according to the case) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: * Ladislaus of Hungary (disambiguation) * Ladislaus I (disambiguation) * Ladislaus II (disambiguation) * Ladislaus III (disambiguation) * La ...

Demographics

At the 2011 census, the commune had 5,678 inhabitants, 72% of which 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, ...

, 19.2%

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 ...

, 8.4%

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 ...

, and 0.2%

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 ...

. At the 2021 census, Lechința had a population of 5,469, of which 64.47% were Romanians, 20.24% Roma, and 6.73% Hungarians.

Notable residents

Ionuț Hlinca Ionuț Cristian Hlinca (born 5 June 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of ...

(born 1988), Romanian footballer *

George Mantello George Mantello (born György Mandl; 11 December 1901 25 April 1992), a businessman with various diplomatic activities, born into a Jewish family from Transylvania, helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust while working for the ...

(1901–1992), Jewish businessman who saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust while working as a diplomat for El Salvador

Economy

The

Lechința Solar Park Lechința Solar Park, a large thin-film photovoltaic (PV) power system, lies on a plot of land near the Lechința commune in Romania. The power plant is a 1.7-megawatt solar power system using state-of-the-art thin film technology, and was compl ...

is located in Lechința village. The Lechința wine region is one the northernmost such regions on the Transylvanian Plateau; it comprises wineries located in Lechința,

Teaca Teaca (,Tekendorf in Nordsiebenbürgen : Ortsmonographie; Ilse Schliessleder-Fronius, 1989 ) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Archiud (''Arkeden bei Bistriz'', ''Mezőerked''), Budurl ...

, Bistrița, and

Batoș Batoș (, Hungarian pronunciation: ; ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Batoș, Dedrad (''Dedrád''; ''Zepling''), Goreni (''Dedrádszéplak''; ''Ungarisch Zepling''), and Uila (''Vajola''; ''W ...

References

External links

* Communes in Bistrița-Năsăud County Localities in Transylvania {{BistriţaNăsăud-geo-stub