Bözödújfalu

Bözödújfalu is a Hungarian Székely village from Transylvania, Romania. It was first mentioned in 1566. Its medieval church was famous for its carved wooden Maria-statue that had belonged to the most precious Maria-statues of Transylvania. (Now it is displayed elsewhere.) Now, the church is under water.

It was the center of the Székely Sabbatarians in the 17th century: only the Transylvanian religious tolerance allowed the local birth of this small protestant religion. The last of the Transylvanian Sabbatarians lived here until most of them got converted to the Jewish faith in 1868.

The Germans destroyed them in World War II. The village was populated by mostly Hungarians in the 20th century. There is a Memorial Statue in the village and you can read this text on it, written by Sükösd Árpád in 1995:

“The village of Bözödújfalu rests in peace on the bottom of the lake. The inhabitants of its 180 houses are scattered in the world and still mourn their village. The evil executioners of the communist dictatory destroyed it and flooded it and thus they have wiped out an outstanding religious-historical community where families of different faith and nationality had lived in mutual love, peace, and respect for long centuries. Now the prayers of the Roman Catholic, Unitarian, Greek Catholic, and Székely Sabbatarian residents have all quiesced. Let this place be the symbol of peace between religions.”


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Here are a few pictures of the church of Bözödújfalu: