Coronini
Encyclopedia
Coronini is a commune in Caraş-Severin County
, western Romania
, with a population of 1,878. Part of the region of Banat
, it includes Coronini and Sfânta Elena villages. Situated on the Danube
and the border with Serbia
, part of the mountainous area known as Clisura Dunării
, Coronini holds several archeological sites, which trace its history back to the Bronze Age
. The locality is also home to a medieval fortress built by rulers of the Hungarian Kingdom
. A center for immigration from the Czech lands
in the early 19th century, Sfânta Elena is among the traditional places founded by and associated with the Czech-Romanian community
.
Coronini as a whole was transformed by 20th century political changes, industrialization and economic fluctuations: Coronini village became a center for the mining industry, while Sfânta Elena was heavily affected rural-urban migration, and eventually by voluntary resettlement in the Czech Republic
. During the 1990s, the commune became ill-famed as a hub for contraband
in petroleum product
s.
, where these meet the Danube
, and in proximity to the Clisura Dunării and Iron Gates areas. Facing Serbia on the right bank of the Danube, it is also close to a canyon
formed by the Alibeg River
. The Sfânta Elena area is located on a karstic plateau
, which groups sinkhole
s and limestone pavement
s, features also present in neighboring areas (Berzasca
, the Mudaviţa Seacă Valley
, etc.). The area has also been described as fault plain, part of the Banat Mountains
graben
(itself known as Coroniniului or Lászlóvára).
Coronini lends its name to the Coronini-Bedina
nature reserve
, which covers 3,864.80 hectare
s. It is also, with Sicheviţa
, the proposed site of a new nature reserve, Feţele Dunării ("Facets of the Danube"), which is supposed to cover some 1,100 hectares.
According to the 2002 census, the commune is home to 1,355 Romanians
and 514 Czechs
. Most inhabitants are Romanian Orthodox
(1,120 people), while 382 are Baptist
and 368 Roman Catholic
.
domain (see Roman Dacia
). It houses several archeological sites, which focus on cave painting
s and dwellings Basarabi culture
(8th-7th centuries BC), as well as the mines of Vărad (intensively used from the Bronze Age as a source of gold
, silver
, copper
, lead
and iron
). Among the oldest artifacts found in the village are Hallstatt
tools (discovered in 1972) and a bronze vessel with 178 silver coins, predating the Roman expeditions. Coronini was also the site of Halstatt funerals, probably related to those found on Moldova Veche sites. The Roman period itself is attested by a denarius
issued under Emperor
Alexander Severus
.
The medieval period, when Banat was part of the Kingdom of Hungary
, left several traces on Coronini's landscape. The location houses the 15th century Saint Ladislaus (Hungarian: Szentlázló; historical Hungarian
: Zenthlázlówára) fortress, part of the historical sites in the Iron Gates Natural Park area. Archeological investigation carried out in 1970-1973 found that it was built on top of Dacian
fortifications and newer walls erected in the 6th-7th century, and that the Hungarian building was probably erected in tandem with a similar one in Golubac
. The decision to construct Saint Ladislaus is thought to have come directly from King
Sigismund
, whereas other Banat fortresses from the period were inaugurated by his vassal Pipo of Ozora
. The medieval period also produced new cave paintings and traces of habitation in the caves, some of which are superimposed over their Basarabi culture predecessors. Also then, the village came to house a quarry
.
Known successively as Lászlóvára and Pescari, the locality was in turn part of the Habsburg domains
, the Austrian Empire
, Austria-Hungary
and, following Banat's 1918 union
, Romania. It came to rely on the copper industry throughout the communist period
, a factor which prevented its population from migrating into Timişoara
and other towns. It was, with Moldova Nouă
town, one of two only spots in Clisura Dunării area not to register a significant loss in population.
Following the 1989 Revolution
and the onset of Romania's transition
, Pescari became the center of public attention during the 1990s embargo
imposed by the United Nations
on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (see Yugoslav Wars
). Profiting from this situation, it became a main hub for a clandestine Romanian traffic with oil products, which were transported over the border and into present-day Serbia. Allegedly, the Pescari villagers made regular nightly trips with such items, meeting their Serb counterparts on the middle course of the Danube. After the end of the conflict, the population came to rely on subsistence agriculture
, ecotourism
and fishing for income. It again made the news in 2008, when a German
tourist to Coronini captured a giant catfish
, weighing in at almost 100 kilograms.
"; ; ) was founded by Czech
settlers in 1824, during the Imperial Austrian rule over the region (see Czechs of Romania
). It is the oldest Czech settlement in the region, and the only such locality in Romania to hold both a Lutheran
and a Roman Catholic
church side by side. The first Czechs to settle southern Banat were invited by János Magyarly, a merchant from the town of Oraviţa
, and worked in the forestry
business. Their decision to leave Bohemia
was motivated by the poverty the region faced upon the end of the Napoleonic Wars
. First arrivals came from towns in and around the Bohemian Forest
(Plzeň, Klatovy
, Domažlice
), followed later by families from Beroun
, Čáslav
, Chrudim
, Hořovice
or Příbram
.
They original village they founded was named Svatá Alžběta ("Saint Elisabeth
") and located some 2 kilometers away from the present-day locality; founded in 1823, it was disestablished in 1847 for lack of water. Both villages had been named after Magyarly's two daughters, marking the Czech community's good relationship with its employer, but, in 1827, the latter abruptly ended the business venture, and left with all the tools used in forestry. This reportedly left Sfânta Elena's inhabitants faced with a dire situation: some took their families back into the Czech lands
, others joined the Austrian-led Grenz infantry
operating on the Military Frontier
. Others still worked on road projects, some as far afield as Serbia
. With time, the local Czech group became religiously distinct from other communities: more than half of the population discarded Lutheranism in favor of Baptist
denominations (see Baptist Union of Romania
). This was allegedly a reaction against the ethnic Hungarian
Lutheran clergy, perceived as enforcers of Magyarization
policies, with the churchgoers opting instead for a Slovak Baptist preacher.
The village and the rest of Banat were united with Romania
upon the end of World War I
. Between 1830 and 1930, the population had increased from 338 to 916 people. In 1924, a textile factory was set up by a Czech businessman, and it employed most of the female Czech workforce before closing down in 1938. Agriculture declined under the communist regime, when most men were employed in industrial fields (primarily at the mines opened near Moldova Nouă).
After the December Revolution
toppled Romanian communism (and the Velvet Revolution
emancipated Czechoslovakia
), many inhabitants of the village left Romania and settled in what became the Czech Republic
—with population numbers dropping back to 350 persons. A new Czech-language school was opened in 1998, but attendance had fallen from 150 to 70 pupils in the space of 6 years. The mines employing Sfânta Elena's population were closed down in 2004, as part of Romania's economic transition. After that date, the village continued to face economical and social problems, including lack of plumbing
and sewage
facilities.
Caras-Severin County
Caraș-Severin is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Banat and few villages in Transylvania, with the county seat at Reșița.-Demographics:The county is part of the Danube-Kris-Mureș-Tisza euroregion....
, western Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, with a population of 1,878. Part of the region of Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, it includes Coronini and Sfânta Elena villages. Situated on the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and the border with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, part of the mountainous area known as Clisura Dunării
Clisura Dunarii
Defileul Dunării, locally known also as Clisura Dunării is a geographical region in Romania. It is located in southern Banat, along the northern bank of the river Danube...
, Coronini holds several archeological sites, which trace its history back to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. The locality is also home to a medieval fortress built by rulers of the Hungarian Kingdom
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. A center for immigration from the Czech lands
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
in the early 19th century, Sfânta Elena is among the traditional places founded by and associated with the Czech-Romanian community
Czechs of Romania
The Czechs are an ethnic minority in Romania, numbering 3,938 people according to the 2002 census. The majority of Romanian Czechs live in the south-west of the country, with around 60% of them living in Caraş-Severin County, where they make up 0.7% of the population.As an officially recognised...
.
Coronini as a whole was transformed by 20th century political changes, industrialization and economic fluctuations: Coronini village became a center for the mining industry, while Sfânta Elena was heavily affected rural-urban migration, and eventually by voluntary resettlement in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. During the 1990s, the commune became ill-famed as a hub for contraband
Contraband
The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....
in petroleum product
Petroleum product
Petroleum products are useful materials derived from crude oil as it is processed in oil refineries.According to crude oil composition and demand, refineries can produce different shares of petroleum products. The largest share of oil products is used as energy carriers: various grades of fuel...
s.
Location and demographics
The Coronini commune is located on the foothills of the Southern CarpathiansSouthern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...
, where these meet the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, and in proximity to the Clisura Dunării and Iron Gates areas. Facing Serbia on the right bank of the Danube, it is also close to a canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
formed by the Alibeg River
Alibeg River (Danube)
The Alibeg River is a small tributary of the Danube in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971...
. The Sfânta Elena area is located on a karstic plateau
Karst topography
Karst topography is a geologic formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, but has also been documented for weathering resistant rocks like quartzite given the right conditions.Due to subterranean drainage, there...
, which groups sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
s and limestone pavement
Limestone pavement
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling block of paving...
s, features also present in neighboring areas (Berzasca
Berzasca
Berzasca is a commune in Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region of western Romania with a population of 3,123 people. It is composed of five villages: Berzasca, Bigăr , Cozla, Drencova and Liubcova. At the 2002 census, 70.5% of the commune's inhabitants were Romanians, 14.2% Czechs, 10.8% Serbs...
, the Mudaviţa Seacă Valley
Mudavita Seaca River
The Mudaviţa Seacă River is a tributary of the Valea Mare River in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971-Maps:...
, etc.). The area has also been described as fault plain, part of the Banat Mountains
Banat Mountains
The Banat Mountains are a number of mountain ranges in Romania, considered part of the Western Romanian Carpathians group.The Banat Mountains consist of:* the Banat Mountains per se, which include:...
graben
Graben
In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch. Graben is used for both the singular and plural....
(itself known as Coroniniului or Lászlóvára).
Coronini lends its name to the Coronini-Bedina
Bedina River
The Bedina River is a tributary of the Cerna River in Romania.-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti* Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Râurile României - Bucureşti 1972]...
nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
, which covers 3,864.80 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s. It is also, with Sicheviţa
Sichevita
Sicheviţa is a commune in Caraş-Severin County, western Romania with a population of 2732 people. It is composed of nineteen villages: Brestelnic, Cameniţa, Cârşie, Cracu Almăj, Cruşoviţa, Curmătura, Frăsiniş, Gornea, Liborajdea, Lucacevăţ, Martinovăţ, Ogaşu Podului, Sicheviţa, Streneac, Valea...
, the proposed site of a new nature reserve, Feţele Dunării ("Facets of the Danube"), which is supposed to cover some 1,100 hectares.
According to the 2002 census, the commune is home to 1,355 Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
and 514 Czechs
Czechs of Romania
The Czechs are an ethnic minority in Romania, numbering 3,938 people according to the 2002 census. The majority of Romanian Czechs live in the south-west of the country, with around 60% of them living in Caraş-Severin County, where they make up 0.7% of the population.As an officially recognised...
. Most inhabitants are Romanian Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
(1,120 people), while 382 are Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and 368 Roman Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Romania
The Roman Catholic Church in Romania is a Latin Rite Christian church, part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome. Its administration is centered in Bucharest, and comprises two archdioceses and four other dioceses...
.
Coronini village
The history of Coronini leads back beyond the period when the Banat area was an Imperial RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
domain (see Roman Dacia
Roman Dacia
The Roman province of Dacia on the Balkans included the modern Romanian regions of Transylvania, Banat and Oltenia, and temporarily Muntenia and southern Moldova, but not the nearby regions of Moesia...
). It houses several archeological sites, which focus on cave painting
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
s and dwellings Basarabi culture
Basarabi culture
The Basarabi culture was an archeological culture in Romania, dated between 8th - 7th centuries BC. It was named after Basarabi, a village in Dolj County, south-western Romania, nowadays an administrative component of the Calafat municipality....
(8th-7th centuries BC), as well as the mines of Vărad (intensively used from the Bronze Age as a source of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
). Among the oldest artifacts found in the village are Hallstatt
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
tools (discovered in 1972) and a bronze vessel with 178 silver coins, predating the Roman expeditions. Coronini was also the site of Halstatt funerals, probably related to those found on Moldova Veche sites. The Roman period itself is attested by a denarius
Denarius
In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...
issued under Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Alexander Severus
Alexander Severus
Severus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...
.
The medieval period, when Banat was part of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, left several traces on Coronini's landscape. The location houses the 15th century Saint Ladislaus (Hungarian: Szentlázló; historical Hungarian
History of the Hungarian language
Hungarian is an Ugric language. It has been spoken in the region of modern-day Hungary since the Magyar invasion of Pannonia in the late 9th century....
: Zenthlázlówára) fortress, part of the historical sites in the Iron Gates Natural Park area. Archeological investigation carried out in 1970-1973 found that it was built on top of Dacian
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
fortifications and newer walls erected in the 6th-7th century, and that the Hungarian building was probably erected in tandem with a similar one in Golubac
Golubac
Golubac is a village and municipality in north-eastern Serbia, on the right side of the Danube river. It is bordered by Romania to the east, Veliko Gradište to the west and Kučevo to the south...
. The decision to construct Saint Ladislaus is thought to have come directly from King
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
, whereas other Banat fortresses from the period were inaugurated by his vassal Pipo of Ozora
Pipo of Ozora
Pipo of Ozora was an Italian condottiero, general, strategist...
. The medieval period also produced new cave paintings and traces of habitation in the caves, some of which are superimposed over their Basarabi culture predecessors. Also then, the village came to house a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
.
Known successively as Lászlóvára and Pescari, the locality was in turn part of the Habsburg domains
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
and, following Banat's 1918 union
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
, Romania. It came to rely on the copper industry throughout the communist period
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, a factor which prevented its population from migrating into Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
and other towns. It was, with Moldova Nouă
Moldova Noua
Moldova Nouă is a town in southwestern Romania in Caraş-Severin County , in an area known as Clisura Dunării. It is located on the shores of the river Danube. In 2002, Moldova Nouă had a population of 13,917...
town, one of two only spots in Clisura Dunării area not to register a significant loss in population.
Following the 1989 Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
and the onset of Romania's transition
History of Romania since 1989
- 1989 revolution :1989 marked the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timişoara against the eviction of a Hungarian minister grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceauşescu régime, sweeping the dictator from power....
, Pescari became the center of public attention during the 1990s embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
imposed by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (see Yugoslav Wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
). Profiting from this situation, it became a main hub for a clandestine Romanian traffic with oil products, which were transported over the border and into present-day Serbia. Allegedly, the Pescari villagers made regular nightly trips with such items, meeting their Serb counterparts on the middle course of the Danube. After the end of the conflict, the population came to rely on subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...
, ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
and fishing for income. It again made the news in 2008, when a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
tourist to Coronini captured a giant catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, weighing in at almost 100 kilograms.
Sfânta Elena
The village of Sfânta Elena ("Saint HelenHelena of Constantinople
Saint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I...
"; ; ) was founded by Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
settlers in 1824, during the Imperial Austrian rule over the region (see Czechs of Romania
Czechs of Romania
The Czechs are an ethnic minority in Romania, numbering 3,938 people according to the 2002 census. The majority of Romanian Czechs live in the south-west of the country, with around 60% of them living in Caraş-Severin County, where they make up 0.7% of the population.As an officially recognised...
). It is the oldest Czech settlement in the region, and the only such locality in Romania to hold both a Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
and a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Romania
The Roman Catholic Church in Romania is a Latin Rite Christian church, part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome. Its administration is centered in Bucharest, and comprises two archdioceses and four other dioceses...
church side by side. The first Czechs to settle southern Banat were invited by János Magyarly, a merchant from the town of Oraviţa
Oravita
Oravița is a town in southwestern Romania, in Caraș-Severin County, with a population of 15,524 in 2000. Its theatre is a fully functional scaled down version of the Burgtheater in Vienna...
, and worked in the forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
business. Their decision to leave Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
was motivated by the poverty the region faced upon the end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. First arrivals came from towns in and around the Bohemian Forest
Bohemian Forest
The Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
(Plzeň, Klatovy
Klatovy
Klatovy is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.Klatovy is also the seat of the Municipality with Extended Competence and Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority.- History :Klatovy was founded during 1260–1263 by Přemysl Otakar II....
, Domažlice
Domažlice
Domažlice is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.Domažlice is also a Municipality with Extended Competence and a Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority within the same borders.-History:...
), followed later by families from Beroun
Beroun
Beroun is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area. It is located 30 km southwest of Prague and has a population of 18,930 . It lies on the confluence of Berounka and Litavka rivers.Despite its small size, it is an...
, Čáslav
Cáslav
Čáslav is a town in eastern part of Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.- History :History of Čáslav begins after year 800 with founding of citadel and settlement called Hrádek. Near Hrádek, new town with huge square was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in 1250...
, Chrudim
Chrudim
Chrudim is a city in eastern Bohemia, in the Pardubice region of the Czech Republic.The oldest archaeological findings which provide first signs of the settlement in this area date back to the 5th millennium BC. Various cultures succeeded one on another in the territory of today’s town of Chrudim...
, Hořovice
Horovice
Hořovice is a small town in Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is the administrative and economical center of surrounding area. Its most known building is Hořovice Castle.- History :...
or Příbram
Príbram
Příbram is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 35,147. The city is located on the Litavka river and the foothills of Brdy, 60 kilometers south-west of Prague, the country's capital...
.
They original village they founded was named Svatá Alžběta ("Saint Elisabeth
Elizabeth (Biblical person)
Elizabeth is also spelled Elisabeth or Elisheva...
") and located some 2 kilometers away from the present-day locality; founded in 1823, it was disestablished in 1847 for lack of water. Both villages had been named after Magyarly's two daughters, marking the Czech community's good relationship with its employer, but, in 1827, the latter abruptly ended the business venture, and left with all the tools used in forestry. This reportedly left Sfânta Elena's inhabitants faced with a dire situation: some took their families back into the Czech lands
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
, others joined the Austrian-led Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
operating on the Military Frontier
Military Frontier
The Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
. Others still worked on road projects, some as far afield as Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. With time, the local Czech group became religiously distinct from other communities: more than half of the population discarded Lutheranism in favor of Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
denominations (see Baptist Union of Romania
Baptist Union of Romania
The Baptist Union of Romania is an alliance of Baptist churches for cooperative ministry in Romania. Since independent churches have no legal standing in Romania, the Baptist Union also provides a mediatorial relationship between churches and government.The first modern-era Baptists in Romania...
). This was allegedly a reaction against the ethnic Hungarian
Hungarians in Romania
The Hungarian minority of Romania is the largest ethnic minority in Romania, consisting of 1,431,807 people and making up 6.6% of the total population, according to the 2002 census....
Lutheran clergy, perceived as enforcers of Magyarization
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
policies, with the churchgoers opting instead for a Slovak Baptist preacher.
The village and the rest of Banat were united with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
upon the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Between 1830 and 1930, the population had increased from 338 to 916 people. In 1924, a textile factory was set up by a Czech businessman, and it employed most of the female Czech workforce before closing down in 1938. Agriculture declined under the communist regime, when most men were employed in industrial fields (primarily at the mines opened near Moldova Nouă).
After the December Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
toppled Romanian communism (and the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
emancipated Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
), many inhabitants of the village left Romania and settled in what became the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
—with population numbers dropping back to 350 persons. A new Czech-language school was opened in 1998, but attendance had fallen from 150 to 70 pupils in the space of 6 years. The mines employing Sfânta Elena's population were closed down in 2004, as part of Romania's economic transition. After that date, the village continued to face economical and social problems, including lack of plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
and sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
facilities.