Type: | commune |
County: | Bistrița-Năsăud |
Tiha Bârgăului | |
Leader Name: | Vasile Șut |
Leader Party: | PSD |
Leader Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
Coordinates: | 47.2333°N 24.75°W |
Elevation: | 545 |
Area Total: | 242.34 |
Area Footnotes: | [1] |
Population Total: | auto |
Postal Code: | 427355 |
Area Code: | +(40) 263 |
Tiha Bârgăului (Hungarian: Borgótiha) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Ciosa (Csószahegy), Mureșenii Bârgăului (Marosborgó), Piatra Fântânele (Báránykő), Tiha Bârgăului, and Tureac (Turjágó).
The commune is situated at a mean altitude of, in the foothills of the Bârgău and Călimani mountain ranges of the Carpathians. It lies on the banks of the rivers Bârgău and Ilva. The villages of Ciosa and Mureșenii Bârgăului are part of The Highlands section of the Via Transilvanica long-distance trail.[2]
Tiha Bârgăului is located in the eastern part of Bistrița-Năsăud County, from the county seat, Bistrița, on the border with Suceava County. It is traversed west to east by national road (part of European route E58), which starts in Dej and ends in Suceava. The road crosses into Western Moldavia through the Tihuța Pass, at an altitude of, just east of Piatra Fântânele village. The pass was made famous by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, where, termed as the "Borgo Pass", it was the gateway to the realm of Count Dracula; a bust of Stoker can be found in Piatra Fântânele. The nearest train station is in Prundu Bârgăului, to the west.[1]
Close to the Tihuța Pass is the, which dates from 1928. The ensemble is dominated by a metal cross; built in 2010, this is the tallest such structure in Romania.[3]
At the 2021 census, the commune had a population of 6,443; of those, 87.3% were Romanians and 6.1% Roma.[4]