Tășnad (Romanian pronunciation:[təʃˈnad]; Hungarian: Tasnád, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈtɒʃnaːd]; German: Trestenburg) is a town in Satu Mare County, Crișana, Romania. It administers five villages: Blaja (Tasnádbalázsháza), Cig (Csög), Rațiu (Ráctanya), Sărăuad (Tasnádszarvad), and Valea Morii (Tasnádmalomszeg).
The town lies on the banks of the river Santău. At about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the center lies the Tășnad geothermal Spa, known in Romania and abroad for its thermal waters.
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1850
5,213
—
1880
5,185
−0.5%
1890
5,684
+9.6%
1900
6,636
+16.7%
1910
7,603
+14.6%
1920
7,551
−0.7%
1930
7,737
+2.5%
1941
8,124
+5.0%
1956
8,231
+1.3%
1966
8,859
+7.6%
1977
9,934
+12.1%
1992
10,399
+4.7%
2002
10,188
−2.0%
2011
8,411
−17.4%
2021
8,058
−4.2%
Source: Census data
At the 2011 census, there were 8,411 people living within the city; of those, 51.1% were ethnic Romanians, while 36.2% are ethnic Hungarians, 11.4% ethnic Romani, and 1,1% others.[3] At the 2021 census, Tășnad had a population of 8,058, of which 50.48% were Romanians, 27.93% Hungarians, and 14.36% Roma.[4]
As of 2022, the city contains the Reformed Church, a Baptist Church, the Orthodox cathedral, a Roman Catholic church, and a Greek Catholic church.[5]
Dr. Abraham Fuchs wrote a comprehensive historical book about Tășnad as it was up to World War II. The book is in Hebrew and describes the vibrant Jewish life in this small town up until its destruction in 1944.[6]
History
At the archaeological site of Tășnad-Sere in the Spa-area, finds from the Neolithic Körös, Pișcolt, and Baden cultures have been made as well as remains from the late Iron Age and the migration period (Chernyakhov culture). Since 2012, Ulrike Sommer from the UCL Institute of Archaeology in London has conducted excavations of the Körös site together with the Satu Mare Museum.[7] Until 1876, Tășnad was part of Közép-Szolnok County when it was incorporated in the newly formed Szilágy County of the Kingdom of Hungary.