Carani

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Carani

County

Timiş County

Status

Village

Mayor

, since [[|]]

Population (2002)

1,700

Geographical coordinates

45°54′38″N, 21°09′51″E

Carani (German: Mercydorf, Hungarian: Merczyfálva, Mercifálva) is a village in Timiş County, Banat, Romania. Administratively, it is part of the commune of Sânandrei.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Tourist attractions
4 Bibliography
5 External links

[edit] Geography

View of Carani

The village of Carani is located 18 km north of Timişoara, on the DJ692 county road. 3 km to the east lies the National Road DN69, to which Carani is linked by a local road. Additionally, it is accessible by rail, having its own station on the Timişoara - Arad line. 5 km to the north lies the village of Călacea; to the east the village of Corneşti; to the south the centre of Sânandrei commune; and to the west, Hodoni. The Caran River passes through.

[edit] History

Carani was built in 1735 by Italian colonists brought by the Habsburg Monarchy as part of a massive effort to populate the Banat with Western Europeans. It was one of the first villages for colonists, founded and inhabited exclusively by Italians, being the only majority-Italian settlement in the entire Banat. The inhabitants grew silkworms, having been brought there in order to start silkworm production in the Banat.

The village was founded under the name of Mercydorf ("Mercy's village"), in honour of General Claudius Florimund Mercy, who was charged with administering the Banat. Later, new waves of colonists arrived – French people and Germans from Alsace-Lorraine. The first came around 1752, then in 1763, so that by 1770, the village was substantially French in character. Religious services were held in three languages: Italian, French and German. However, with time, the village grew more German, in line with the rest of the Banat. By the end of the 18th century, Carani was already a Banat Swabian village.

In 1930, Sânandrei commune as a whole was 79.6% German. By 2002, it was over 92% Romanian, so Carani too has probably lost most of its non-Romanian population.