Cǎpleni, Satu Mare

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Căpleni (Hungarian: Kaplony, German: Kaplau) is a commune situated in the north-west of Romania in Satu Mare County, on the state-border with Hungary.

[edit] Inhabitants

Based on the 2002 census, the population is 3135, consisting of 2844 Hungarians, 99 Germans, 100 Roma, 91 Romanians.

[edit] Tourism

The neogothic Roman-Catholic Church (since 1080) contains the famous crypt of the Károlyi earls and the Franciscan Abbey. The church is over 900 years old, mentioned for the first time in 1080, several times demolished by earthquakes, rebuilt, at least confided to the Franciscan Monks by the Karolyi-family (barons 17th century, earls since the 18th century), with the attached famous crypt of the Karolyi family, containing several valuable bronze coffins and a precious one-piece marble cross (P. Bazzanti, Italy). There are 2 other (smaller) churches in the village and 2 recent built modern churches, one Lutheran and one Catholic. There are 3 school buildings, 2 kindergarten buildings, a doctors practice, and a guesthouse.

[edit] History

Căpleni is strongly tied with the history of the Ecsed-swamp, the former greatest swamp in the carpatic basin (at the end of the 19th century it had a length of 50 km and a width of 30 km around the Crasna river). In medieval times the swamp was a hideaway for the local population during the Turkish and Tatars invasions. Some of the surrounding villages disappeared forever after the repeated invasions and destructions (Bobâld, Cozard, Vada). At the end of the 19th century in a land clearance project of Maria Theresia the main part of the swamp was desecrated and canalized causing the loss of the various flora and fauna in the region.