The commune is located in the central-east part of the county, at the northeastern edge of the Transylvanian Plateau. It lies on the banks of the river Bistrița, a river sometimes referred to as Bistrița ardeleană or Bistricioara. The river Bârgău flows through the commune and discharges there into the Bistrița.
Although the information about the remote past of the Bârgău Valley is scarce and fragmented, the archaeological remains reveal that the valley was inhabited since the end of the Neolithic Age or the beginning of the Bronze Age. After the conquest of Dacia by the Romans and its colonization, the Roman rule extended to the western border of the Bârgău Valley. After the withdrawal of the Roman rule, the region was crossed by different migratory peoples of Slavic (from the 7th century) and Turkic origin, who left names in the local toponymy (e.g., the Slavic origin names of Bistrița, Tiha, Miroslava).[citation needed]
In the 13th and early 14th century, after it entered into and organized Transylvania as a vassal voivodeship, the Hungarian crown sought to also control the mountain valleys of Transylvania. The Bârgău region is attested for the first time with the occasion of these attempts. The first documentary attestation of the Bârgău, appearing under the name Borgo, dates back to 1317, when a committee of officials of the Doboka and Szolnok counties made a division of properties in the Bârgău Mountains between the related nobility familiesBethlen and Apaffy.[citation needed]
Current affairs
The Heniu Prundu Bârgăului is a women's football club based in the commune. Founded in 2013, the club plays in Liga I, the first tier of the Romanian women's football system. The Heniu stadium has a capacity of 500.[2][3]