Bocicoiu Mare

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bocicoiu Mare (Hungarian: Nagybocskó or Újbocskó) is a village in Maramureş County, Romania. It lies 9 kilometres east of Sighetu Marmaţiei; across the Tisza River from Velykyy Bychkiv, Ukraine. It is a communal centre, forming a commune with Tisa, Crăciuneşti and Lunca la Tisa.

[edit] History

The village was first mentioned in 1373, by the name Boshko. Its name derives from a Slavic word meaning "bull". From 1556 it belonged to the Báthory family. By 1711 a mansion already stood here. After the failed revolution led by Francis II Rákóczi, Germans settled down in the area.

The village was known as Németbocskó ("German Bocskó", later called Újbocskó or "New Bocskó") and was united with two villages (Nagybocskó and Kisbocskó; "Greater" and "Smaller" Bocskó) across the river, forming a greater village called Nagybocskó. This village had thus three parts: Újbocskó, which forms today's Bocicoiu Mare, and Kisbocskó and Nagybocskó, which form today's Velykyy Bychkiv.

In 1910 the village had 5955 inhabitants: 3078 Ukrainians, 1646 Hungarians and 1177 Germans. It belonged to the Hungarian county of Máramaros. After World War I the village was split in two, and the river became a natural border of the two countries (with Velykyy Bychkiv in Czechoslovakia until 1945, before being incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR).

In 1992 Bocicoiu Mare commune had 4681 residents: 2922 Ukrainians, 1349 Romanians, 385 Hungarians, 22 Roma and 3 Germans.