Bistria

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This article is about a city in Romania. For other uses, see Bistria (disambiguation).
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in
Romanian. (August 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. [show]

Municipality of Bistria
County capital

Coat of arms

Location of Bistria

Coordinates:

4780N 24300ECoordinates:
E

Country

Romania

4780N 24300

County

Bistria-Nsud County

Status

County capital

Government
Mayor

Ovidiu Creu (PSD)

Population (2012)
Total

70,493

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Website

http://www.primariabistrita.ro/

Bistria (Romanian pronunciation: [bistritsa] ( listen); German: Bistritz, archaicNsen;

[1]
Hungarian: Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistria-Nsud County, in
northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistria River. The city has a population of
approximately 70,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda (Windau; Vinda), Srata
(Salz; Sfalva), Sigmir (Schnbirk; Szpnyr), Sltinia (Pintak; Pintk), Unirea (Wallendorf;Aldorf)
and Viioara (Heidendorf; Beseny).
Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology

2 History
o

2.1 World War II

2.2 Recent events

3 Climate

4 Demographics

5 Main sights

6 Popular culture

7 Transportation

8 Tourism
o

8.1 Natural reservations

8.2 Resorts

8.3 Museums and exhibitions

9 Natives

10 Sport
o

10.1 Teams

10.2 Natives

11 International relations
o

11.1 Twin towns - sister cities

12 References

13 External links

Etymology[edit]
The town was named after the Bistria River, whose name comes from
theSlavic word bystrica meaning "fast-moving water".

History[edit]
The earliest sign of settlement in the area of Bistria is in Neolithic remains.
The Turkic Pechenegs settled the area in 12th century following attack from Cumans. Transylvanian
Saxons settled the area in 1206 and called the region "Nsnerland".[citation needed] A large part of settlers
were fugitives, convicts and poor people looking for lands and opportunities. [2] The destruction
of Markt Nosa ("Market Nsen") under the Mongols of central Europeis described in a document
from 1241. Situated on several trade routes, Bistria became a flourishing medieval trading post.
Bistria became a free royal town in 1330. In 1353 it gained the right to organize an annual 15day fair, as well as a sealcontaining the coat of arms of an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak. In
1465, the city's fortifications had 18 defensive towers and bastions defended by the local guilds. It
was also defended by a Kirchenburg, or fortified church. The town was badly damaged by fire five
times between 1836 and 1850.[3] The church suffered from fire in 1857, when the tower's roof and the
bells were destroyed. The roof was rebuilt after several years. Fires in the nineteenth century also
destroyed much of the city's medieval citadel.
A Jewish community developed in Bistria after the prohibition on Jewish settlement there was lifted
in 1848. The community was Orthodox with a strong Hasidic section, but there were also Jews who
adopted German and Hungarian culture. A Zionistyouth organization, Ivriyah, was founded in Bistria
in 1901 by Nissan Kahan, who corresponded with Theodor Herzl and there was significant support
for the Zionist movement in the town between the two world wars. A large yeshivah flourished under

the direction of the rabbi of Bistria, Solomon Zalman Ullmann, in the first part of the twentieth
century.[4]
The city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. On December 1 that year, Transylvania
united with Romania, and Romanian Army troops entered Bistria on December 5.
[5]
the reverted briefly to Hungarian control between 1940 and 1944 and was reintegrated into
Romania after World War II.[4]

World War II[edit]

During World War II, the Hungarian authorities deported several dozen Jewish families in 1941 from
Bistria to Kamenets-Podolski in the Ukraine, where they were killed by Hungarian soldiers. The
Jews of Bistria, as elsewhere in Hungary, were subjected to restrictions, and Jewish men of military
age were drafted for forced labor service. In May 1944, the Jewish population was forced into
the Bistria ghetto, set up at Stamboli Farm, about two miles from the city. The ghetto consisted of a
number of barracks and pigsties. At its peak, the ghetto held close to 6,000 Jews, including those
brought in from the neighboring communities in Beszterce-Naszd County. Among these were the
Jews
of Borgbeszterce, Borgprund,Galacfalva, Kisilva, Marosborg, Nagyilva, Nagysaj, Naszd, rad
na, and Romoly. The ghetto was liquidated with the deportation of its inhabitants to Auschwitz in two
transports on June 2 and June 6, 1944.[4][6]

Recent events[edit]
On June 11, 2008, the tower and roof of the church caught fire when three children who went to steal
copper set it on fire while playing.[7] The main part of the church suffered just a little damage and is
not in much danger, the interior being intact. It is speculated that both bells residing in the tower (one
dating from the 15th century, the other from the 17th) might have melted.

Climate[edit]
[hide]Climate data for Bistria

Month

Record high C (F)

Average high C (F)

Daily mean C (F)

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

13.2

17.8

25.3

27.9

31.1

(55.8)

(64)

(77.5)

(82.2)

(88)

0.1

3.0

9.3

15.7

(31.8)

(37.4)

(48.7)

(60.3)

5.0

2.1

3.1

(23)

(28.2)

(37.6)

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

34.0

35.2

34.9

32.0

27.1

(93.2

(95.4

(94.8

(89.6

(80.8

20.7

23.2

24.7

24.6

21.0

15.4

(69.3

(73.8

(76.5

(76.3

(69.8

(59.7

9.1

14.3

17.0

18.3

17.6

13.5

(48.4)

(57.7

(62.6

(64.9

(63.7

(56.3

Nov

Dec

Year

21.6

15.1

35.2

(70.9)

(59.2)

(95.4)

8.0

1.8

13.9

(46.4)

(35.2)

(57)

8.0

3.2

1.8

7.9

(46.4

(37.8)

(28.8)

(46.2)

Average low C (F)

Record low C (F)

Average precipitation mm
(inches)

Average snowfall cm
(inches)

Avg. precipitation days ( 1.0

mm)

Mean monthly sunshine hours

9.6

6.1

1.6

3.5

(14.7)

(21)

(29.1)

(38.3)

33.8

33.2

(28.8)

(27.8)

46

31

34

57

(1.81)

(1.22)

(1.34)

(2.24)

13.9

14.3

9.8

(5.47)

(5.63)

67.3

22.0
(7.6
)

5.7
(21.7)

7.9

11.0

(46.2

(51.8

12.2
(54)

11.7

8.0

3.0

(53.1

(46.4

(37.4

3.0

0.3

3.2

2.4

4.6

9.0

(26.6

(32.5

(37.8

(36.3

(23.7

(15.8

76

97

87

68

43

41

(2.99

(3.82

(3.43

(2.68

(1.69

(1.61

2.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

(3.86)

(0.79)

(0)

(0)

(0)

(0)

(0)

11

12

10

92.8

147.9

171.1

225.9

232.5

259.6

258.0

196.3

Source: NOAA[8]

Demographics[edit]
Historical population
Year

Pop.

1891

9,100

1900

12,155

+33.6%

3.5

0.4

5.2

2.9

(31.3)

(22.6)

(37.2)

24.0
(11.2)

26.6
(15.9
)

33.8
(28.8)

47

50

677

(1.85)

(1.97)

(26.65)

3.8

7.2

54.5

(1.5)

(2.83)

(21.46)

11

107

167.5

78.3

48.8

1,946

(1.38
)

1912

13,236

+8.9%

1930

14,128

+6.7%

1941

16,282

+15.2%

1948

15,801

3.0%

1956

20,292

+28.4%

1966

25,519

+25.8%

1977

44,339

+73.7%

1992

87,710

+97.8%

2002

81,467

7.1%

2004

82,400

+1.1%

2011

70,493

14.5%

Source: Census data, Encyclopedia Judaica

The population of the city numbered 9,100 in 1891, of whom 718 (8%) were Jews; 12,155 in 1900 of
whom 1,316 (11%) were Jews; 14,128 in 1930 of whom 2,198 (16%) were Jews; and 16,282 in 1941
of whom 2,358 (14%) were Jews. 1,300 Jews resettled in Bistria in 1947 and included survivors
from the camps, former residents of neighboring villages, and others liberated from the Nazi
concentration camps. The Jewish population declined steadily as a result of emigration to Israel, the
United States, and Canada. By 2002, only about 15 lived in the city.[4]
According to the last census, from 2011, there were 70,493 people living within the city of Bistria,
[9]
making it the 30th largest city in Romania. The ethnic makeup was as follows:

Romanians: 64,214 (91.09%)

Hungarians: 4,109 (5.82%)

Roma: 1,644 (2.33%)

Germans (Transylvanian Saxons): 304 (0.43%)

Other: 0.16%

Bistria in 1911

Main sights[edit]

The renovated Evangelical Church, whose roof was heavily damaged in a fire in 2008

The Synagogue

The main attraction of Bistria's central square is the Lutheran church, which was built by
the Transylvanian Saxons and originally constructed in the 14th century in Gothicstyle but later
remodeled between 15591563 by Petrus Italus with Renaissancefeatures. It was renovated in
1998.
The Bistria-Nsud County Museum, located in a former barracks, contains Thracian,Celtic, and
German artifacts.

Popular culture[edit]
In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, the character Jonathan Harker visits Bistria and stays at the Golden
Krone Hotel (Romanian: Coroana de Aur). Although no such hotel existed when the novel was
written, a hotel of the same name has since been built for tourists.
In the PlayStation 2 game Shadow Hearts, Bistria (where it is spelled "Biztritz") was a major place
and home to the role-playing character Keith Valentine.

Transportation[edit]
The major cities directly linked by trains to this city are Bucharest via a night train, andClujNapoca via several trains. Access from Bistria to major railway lines is generally through
connections in Dej or Beclean, although some other trains stop at the nearby railway junction
of Srel.
Bistria also serves as a midway point for C&I, a transport service, and is a changing point for people
traveling between Suceava, Satu Mare, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Sighioara,Trgu Mure, and Braov.
Nearest airport is Cluj-Napoca Airport, which is located 110 kilometres (68 miles). from Bistria.

Tourism[edit]

Arcalia Dendrological Park (17 km (11 mi) from Bistria) it hosts over 150 species of trees
(Japanese acacia, silver fir trees, Caucasian spruce fir)

Colibita Lake (artificial dam, situated in Bargau Mountains)

Lakes Lala Mare and Lala Mic (glacier lakes, below Ineu top)

Natural reservations[edit]

National Park in the Rodna Mountains (37