Dudeștii Vechi

Dudeștii Vechi (until 1964 Beșenova Veche; Banat Bulgarian: Stár Bišnov; ; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Cheglevici, Colonia Bulgară and Dudeștii Vechi (commune seat). It also included Vălcani until 2005, when it was split off to form a separate commune. Dudeștii Vechi is mostly populated by Banat Bulgarians (Palćene), a regional minority group of ethnic Bulgarians that profess Roman Catholicism, who came from northern Bulgaria, and who are descendants of Paulicians that settled in the area around 1738.

Geography

thumb|left|View from the north of Dudeștii Vechi

Dudeștii Vechi is located in the western extremity of Timiș County. The nearest town is Sânnicolau Mare, 11 km away. Dudeștii Vechi lies in the Aranca Plain, the lowest sector of the Mureș Plain. The Aranca Plain has a monotonous relief, of low plain, with wide and straight interfluves, interrupted, in some places, by high mounds. The origin of these mounds is either anthropic (Neolithic tumuli) or structural (the presence in the subsoil of "pits" of stronger sandy clays or local "swellings" of the clay, due to a higher local groundwater level).

Climate

The climate is temperate continental, with Western European and sub-Mediterranean influences. The former are felt by the predominance of western and northwestern air currents and the reduction of the climatic contrast between winter and summer, and the sub-Mediterranean influences, determined by the southwestern air currents from the Adriatic Sea, determine a "taming" of winter rigors. In the historical past, forested lands occupied much larger areas, but were cleared. Depending on its characteristics, determined by the living environment (soils, the presence of watercourses, human intervention, by plowing, grazing or land improvement works, etc.), the vegetation can be divided into three categories: woody vegetation, grassy vegetation and swamp vegetation.

The woody vegetation is represented by bushes and trees that have developed on reproductive lands, along canals, ditches, roads and railways. Some of the characteristic species are: poplar, willow, locust, oak, elm, hazelnut, dog rose, blackthorn, lilac, privet, etc. (or 1213 according to other sources). Beșenova, as it was called at that time, belonged to the Cenad Fortress, enjoying privileges and having the right, from 1331, to organize weekly markets. Other Bulgarians settled in Lovrin, but from there, in 1742, 200 families moved to Beșenova. In 1779, Beșenova Veche was included in Torontál County and was governed by the laws of the Austrian state, in a permissive, democratic style, using the Bulgarian language in relations with its countrymen. In 1787, when Gjura Lebanovici was mayor of Beșenova, the village was raised by Joseph II to the rank of town and was given the right to hold a weekly market every Thursday and, twice a year, on 15 May and 15 November, a fair. By religion, most inhabitants are Roman Catholics (63.6%), but there are also minorities of Orthodox (24.69%) and Pentecostals (1.82%). For 7.49% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

{| class="toccolours"

! align="center" colspan="2" style="background:#ccccff;" | Census

! align="center" colspan="5" style="background:#ccccff;" | Ethnic composition

! Year !! Population !! Romanians !! Hungarians !! Germans !! Roma !! Bulgarians

| 1880 || 7,903 || 55 || 335 || 1,167 || – || –

| 1890 || 8,172 || 69 || 308 || 1,346 || – || –

| 1900 || 7,781 || 56 || 433 || 1,454 || – || –

| 1910 || 7,829 || 114 || 643 || 1,267 || – || –

| 1920 || 7,816 || 23 || 557 || 1,269 || – || –

| 1930 || 8,191 || 111 || 824 || 1,246 || 229 || 5,744

| 1941 || 8,226 || 268 || 709 || 1,127 || – || –

| 1956 || 7,448 || – || – || – || – || –

| 1966 || 7,155 || 502 || 769 || 475 || 160 || 5,203

| 1977 || 6,299 || 672 || 545 || 309 || 88 || 4,658

| 1992 || 5,130 || 832 || 296 || 52 || 290 || 3,623

| 2002 || 4,481 || 1,022 || 274 || 42 || 166 || 2,931

| 2011 || 4,203 || 1,122 || 159 || 27 || 222 || 2,439

| 2021 || 3,827 || 1,506 || 128 || 23 || 236 || 1,631

Politics and administration

The commune of Dudeștii Vechi is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 13 councilors. The mayor, Bono Cucalan, from the Social Democratic Party, has been in office since 2016. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties:

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Party

! Seats

! colspan="5" | Composition

| style="background-color:" |

| Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania || 5

| style="background-color:" |

| Social Democratic Party || 5

| style="background-color:" |

| National Liberal Party || 1

| style="background-color:" |

| Alliance for the Union of Romanians || 1

| style="background-color:" |

| Force of the Right || 1

| style="background-color:" |

Education

The school in Dudeștii Vechi was founded in 1745 by the Bulgarian settlers with the help of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the oldest school of the Bulgarian diaspora and the only school in Romania where Bulgarian language is taught to all grades. As of 2004, education in Bulgarian was optional, but efforts were made to transform the school into a bilingual one.

Dudeștii Vechi

Geography

Climate

Politics and administration

Education

See also

References