Pecica

Pecica (Pécska; Petschka; Печка/Pečka) is a town in Arad County, western Romania. In ancient times it was a Dacian fortress called Ziridava and today it is an important archeological site. Situated at 25 km from Arad, it was declared a town in 2004. Its administrative territory extends into the Arad Plateau. The town administers three villages: Bodrogu Vechi (Óbodrog), Sederhat (Szederhát) and Turnu (Tornya).

Population
At the 2021 census, Pecica had a population of 11,950. At the 2011 census, the town had 11,885 inhabitants; of those, 62.2% were Romanians, 28% Hungarians, 8.4% Roma, 0.36% Serbs, 0.33% Slovaks, and 0.7% of other or undeclared nationalities.

History
Due to the abundance of archaeological finds of the zone an important historic period known as the Periam-Pecica culture was named after the settlement. The history of the localities Pecica, Bodrogu Vechi, Sederhat and Turnu is closely connected with the events making highly memorable the entire zone of the Arad Plateau.

The first mention in documents of the locality dates back to 1335 when it was known as Petk. Sederhat was registered only in 1913, Turnu in 1333 under the name of Mok, while Bodrogu Vechi in 1422 under the name of Bodruch. It has a complex political history with periods of Ottoman rule, periods of Habsburg monarchy, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Romania. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it became part of the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary up until the Treaty of Trianon. Since then the town has been part of Romania.

Economy
Although the economy of the town is prevalent agricultural, the secondary and tertiary economic sectors have also developed recently. Besides agriculture, the industry of petrol and rock-gas is also well represented. The initiation of the frontier crossing point at Turnu and the trimming of the thermal water springs should be the most important chances for the economic development of the town.

Tourism
Tourist attractions include the Roman Catholic Church, the Pecica Cultural Center, and the "Lunca Mureșului" park.

Notable residents

 * Kuno von Klebelsberg (1875–1932), Hungarian politician, minister of interior and minister of culture
 * Roman Ciorogariu (1852–1936), Romanian Orthodox bishop, journalist and educator
 * Marius Cihărean (born 1975), Romanian weightlifter
 * Mircea Petescu (1943–2018), Romanian footballer and coach

Sister cities

 * 🇧🇪 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Belgium
 * 🇭🇺 Battonya, Hungary