Aleșd

Aleșd ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Langx, Template:Langx) is a town in Bihor County, western Romania. It administers three villages: Pădurea Neagră (Feketeerdő), Peștiș (Sólyomkőpestes), and Tinăud (Tinód).

Geography

The town is located in the east of the county, near the border with Cluj County, at the foot of the Apuseni Mountains. It lies on the banks of the river Crișul Repede, where the Vadu Crișului – Aștileu Canal connects with the river. The river Izvor flows into the Crișul Repede near Aleșd; the river Secătura flows into the Izvor in Peștiș village.

Aleșd is located on the CFR main railway line between Oradea and Bucharest. Consequently, it is served by frequent rapid and intercity (IC) trains from Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Arad, and Timișoara. Aleșd is located in the eastern part of Bihor County, on national road DN1 (European route E60), at a distance of Template:Cvt from Oradea and Template:Cvt from Cluj-Napoca.

History

At first Aleșd was on the shores of the Crișul Repede River (meaning ”The fast river”), in its floodplain. In the first half of the 18th century, the population moved to the terrace on the right bank of the Crișul Repede, in the place that it occupies today. The move was made to escape the frequent floods.

After the break-up of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, the Hungarian town passed under Romanian administration during the Hungarian–Romanian War of 1919, and became part of the Kingdom of Romania in April 1920. During the interwar period, the town became the headquarters of plasa Aleșd of Bihor County. As a result of the Second Vienna Award, it was returned to Hungary in August 1940, staying under Hungarian administration until October 1944, towards the end of World War II. Following the administrative reform of 1950, it became the seat of Aleșd raion within Bihor Region (renamed Oradea Region in 1952 and Crișana Region in 1960). In 1968, the old territorial division into județe was reinstituted, and the Aleșd reverted to being part of Bihor County, and was declared a town that year.

Population

At the census from 2011, the town had a population of 9,619, made up of Romanians (63.9%), Hungarians (16.04%), Roma (12.73%), Slovaks (6.59%), and others (0.42%).<ref>Romanian 2002 Census</ref> According to the 2021 census, Aleșd has a population of 9,662; of those, 58.86% were Romanians, 15,63% Roma, 11.44% Hungarians, 6.06% Slovaks, and 7.8% of unknown ethnicity.<ref name="RPL2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Administration

The town of Aleșd is run by a mayor and a local council composed of 17 councilors. The mayor, Ioan Coloman Todoca, from the National Liberal Party, was elected in 2016.

Notable residents

• Zsolt Bodoni, painter who lives in Oradea and was born in 1975 in Aleșd.
• Miklós Radnóti (1909–1944), poet and teacher who served his labor draft during World War II in Aleșd.
• Ilie Bolojan, liberal politician, the current acting President of Romania.

Gallery

• Alesd - reformed church.jpg

  Reformed church

• Élesd - Ortodox templom.JPG

  Orthodox church

• Alesd - Roman-Catholic Church.jpg

  Roman Catholic church

• Élesd - Görög katolikus templom.JPG

  Greek-Catholic church

• Alesd - Baptist prayer hall.JPG

  Baptist prayer hall

• Alesd - The old Erzsebet Hotel.jpg

  The old Erzsébet Hotel

• Alesd - Létai-house.jpg

  Létai House

• Élesd - Vasútállomás.jpg

  Train station