# Ghimeș-Făget

Ghimeș-Făget (Hungarian: Gyimesbükk, pronounced:, or sometimes Nagy-Gyimes) is a commune in Bacău County, Romania. It is the only commune in the county that lies in the historical region of Transylvania.
The commune, the seat of which is the village of Făget, is composed of six villages: Bolovăniș (Bálványospataka), Făget (Bükk), Făgetu de Sus (Felsőbükk), Ghimeș (Gyimes), Răchitiș (Rakottyástelep), and Tărhăuși (Tarhavaspataka).

## History

The village was part of the Székely Land region of the historical Transylvania province. It was first mentioned in 1600 as Gijmes. The area of the commune belonged to Csíkszék until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when it fell within the Csík County of the Kingdom of Hungary. During that time, it was a border village between Hungary and Romania and as such, it had an important and large railway station designed by Hungarian architect Ferenc Pfaff. The main building of the station was 102 m (335 ft) long and 13 m (43 ft) wide, comparable in size and elegance with the railway stations of Szeged and Fiume.
In late August 1916, Romania entered World War I on the side of the Allies; the Romanian 4th Army under the command of Constantin Prezan crossed into Transylvania at Ghimeș-Făget and fought against the armies of Austria-Hungary and Germany, but had to retreat by mid-October (see Northern front of the Battle of Transylvania). At the end of the war, the village was occupied by the Romanian Army between 13 and 20 November 1918. Shortly thereafter, the Union of Transylvania with Romania was proclaimed. During the Hungarian–Romanian War of 1918–1919, Ghimeș-Făget passed under Romanian administration; after the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, like the rest of Transylvania, it became part of the Kingdom of Romania. During the interwar period, the commune became part of plasa Frumoasa in Ciuc County. In 1940, the Second Vienna Award granted Northern Transylvania to Hungary and the commune was held by Hungary until September 1944. The territory of Northern Transylvania remained under Soviet military administration until March 9, 1945, after which it became again part of Romania.
In 1950, as part of a wider administrative reform, the commune was transferred from Ciuc County to Bacău Region. In 1968, the region was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Bacău County. School education in the Hungarian language was abolished in 1965. Local teacher and school director András Deáky advocated for teaching in Hungarian and re-organized it after 1990. He also established a Hungarian language library from donations of the public.

## Demography

At the 2011 census, the commune had a population of 5,094; out of them, 2,578 (51%) were Hungarians, 2,282 (45%) were Romanians, 101 (2%) were Roma and 48 (1%) were Csángós. 59% had Hungarian as first language, and 39% Romanian. As to religion, 59% of the commune population were Roman Catholic, while 39% of them belonged to the Romanian Orthodox Church. At the 2021 census, Ghimeș-Făget had a population of 4,928; of those, 53.51% were Hungarians and 42.57% Romanians.

## Landmarks

* On the right side of the Ghimeș-Palanca Pass, on the pre-World War I Hungarian-Romanian border, the ruins of the Rákóczi Castle can be seen. It was built in 1626 upon the order of the prince Gabriel Bethlen. Later, it was strengthened several times, but today, it is in ruins.
* The old Roman Catholic church was built in 1782, its registers are kept as from 1785.
* The new Roman Catholic church was built in 1976, thanks to the efforts of parish priest Gergely Dani, it is decorated with frescoes made by Magda Lukásovics.
* In its vicinity, 3 stone landmarks of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can still be seen (beyond the Rákóczi Castle, following the ridge).
* At the foot of the Rákóczi Castle stands the railway guard house no. 30, the easternmost railway guardhouse of the pre-World War I Kingdom of Hungary.
* A Csango country house set up by the ethnographer Maria Tankó Antalné.