Zăbala

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = ROU
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Zăbala
|official_name=Zăbala
Zabola
image_shield=


subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Covasna County
subdivision_type2=Status
subdivision_name2=Autolink|Communes of Romania|Commune
settlement_type=Commune|
leader_title=Mayor
leader_name=Attila Péter Ádám
|leader_party=Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
area_total_km2=
population_as_of=2002
population_total=4814|latd=45|latm=54|lats=0|latNS=N|longd=26|longm=11|longs=0|longEW=E|
website=

Zăbala or Zabola ( _ro. Zăbala; Hungarian: "Zabola") is a commune in Covasna County, Romania comprising of 4 villages:
*Peteni/Székelypetőfalva
*Surcea/Szörcse
*Tamaşfalău/Székelytamásfalva
*Zăbala/Zabola

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Székely Hungarian majority. According to the 2002 Census it has a population of 4,814 of which 76.55% or 3,685 are Hungarian.

Name

The name of "Zabola" means "bridle", i.e. the straps of leather that are put around the head of a horse to allow the rider to control it.

In the course of various battles with the Tatars, the villages north and south of Zabola were destroyed by the Tatars. However, the inhabitants of Zabola were capable of holding the Tatars in check and survived, as if they had put bridles around the Tatars horses in order to control them and their riders.Outside the village lies the "Tatárhalom" (Tatar Hill); some historians think the Tatars that were killed in action were buried there..

Famous people

*Count Imre Mikó, minister and reformer
*Kelemen Mikes, born in Zagon and grew up in Zabola, in 1690 he became freedom fighter against Habsburg, escaped to Poland, France and at least Turkey. He is referred to as the "Hungarian Goethe" who became famous after writing "Letters from Turkey" in Rodosto where he lived in exile with the Transylvanian Prince Rákóczi until 1761. With his letters from Rodosto, Kelemen Mikes laid the foundations of the Hungarian prosaic literature, and he is regarded as the first Hungarian prosaic author.
*Count Kelemen Mikes (1800-1829), freedom fighter in 1848/1849 , became a Hussar colonel, died at the age of 29, hit by the first cannon ball fired by the Russian army in 1849. He became a martyr to the Székler resistance movement.
*Mikes Armin (1867 - 1944)

Things to see

*Mikes Castle and park, which dates back to around 1500. It was once a fortified building with a tower in front. On the first floor all the ceilings were covered (currently painted over) with frescoes. The castle in its current form dates back to 1867. It features a 34 ha English park.
*Csángó museum

External links

* [http://www.zabola.com Mikes Castle]