Dudeştii Vechi

Dudeştii Vechi Stár Bišnov
—  Commune  —
Coat of arms
Location of Dudeştii Vechi
Coordinates: 46°03′N 20°29′E
Country	Romania
County	Timiş County
Status	Commune
Government
• Mayor	Georgi Nakov (Bulgarian Union of the Banat)
Area
• Total	95.64 km2 (36.93 sq mi)
Population (2005)
• Total	5,789
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.e-primarii.ro/~dudestiivechi/index.php

Banat Bulgarian Roman Catholic church in Dudeştii Vechi (Stár Bišnov)

Dudeştii Vechi (until 1968 Beşenova Veche; Bulgarian: Стар Бешенов / Star Beshenov; Banat Bulgarian: Stár Bišnov; German: Altbeschenowa; Hungarian: Óbesenyő) is a commune in Timiş County, Romania. Dudeştii 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. At the 2002 census, the total population of the commune numbered 5,789 people.

Languages

The commune is officially bilingual, with both Romanian and Bulgarian being used as working languages on public signage and in administration, education and justice.

Religion

The majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic.

Villages

The commune is composed of three villages: Cheglevici (German: Keglewitschhausen, Hungarian: Keglevichháza, Serbian: Кеглевић), Colonia Bulgară and Dudeştii Vechi. It also included Vălcani village until 2005, when it was split off to form a separate commune.

Colonia Bulgară (Banat Bulgarian: Telepa, German: Bulgarische Kolonie, Hungarian: Bolgartelep) was founded as Telepa by Roman Catholic Banat Bulgarian colonists in 1846. In 1910, it had a population of 714 Bulgarians. In 1930, the population was 830, of which 353 Bulgarians, 338 Hungarians, 123 Germans, 13 Romanians and 3 Roma. In the 1940 census, the Bulgarians were not recognized as a separate ethnic group by Ion Antonescu's regime, and the population was 729, of which 314 "others", 295 Hungarians, 107 Germans and 13 Romanians.

Culture

The school in Dudeştii 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. [1]

The village also has an imposing Roman Catholic church.

Population

Location of Dudeştii Vechi commune

2002

According to the 2002 Romanian census, the commune (also including three other villages) had a population of 5,807, a slight majority of which were Banat Bulgarians:

• Banat Bulgarians = 2,987 (51.44%)
• Romanians = 2,368 (40.78%)
• Magyars = 330 (5.68%)
• Roma = 62
• Germans = 44
• Serbs = 16

2005

According to official 2005 calculations, the population of the municipality had dropped to 4,486.

Historical population

Table

Census		Ethnic distribution
Year	Population	Romanians	Banat Bulgarians	Germans	Magyars	Roma	Serbs	Jews	Slovaks	Rest
1880	11,690	2,754	n.d	1,295	1,101	n.d	n.d	n.d	n.d	6,366
1910	12,638	3,121	n.d	1,403	2,152	n.d	n.d	n.d	n.d	5,962
1941	11,334	2,661	n.d	1,206	1,187	n.d	n.d	n.d	n.d	6,280
1948	11,620	2,754	5,771	1,327	1,415	232	53	34	20	-
1956	9,653	2,340	5,610	478	995	210	6	5	7	-
1977	8,030	2,221	4,669	319	694	109	6	2	5	9
1992	6,409	1,996	3,633	57	379	305	11	1	9	17
2002	5,807	2,368	2,987	44	330	62	16	−	−	−

Chart and Table

Population trend (Growth/Downtrend)

See also

• Timiş County
• Banat
• Banat Bulgarians

External links

• 2002 census data
• Star Bisnov, Dudeştii Vechi website