Valcău de Jos

Valcău de Jos (in Hungarian: Alsóvalkó) is a village in Sălaj County, Romania. It is the administrative centre to which the following villages belong: Valcău de Sus, Preoteasa, Ratovei, Lazuri and Sub Cetate. It is 14 km southwest of Şimleu Silvaniei.

History

Its name comes from the Slavic word vlk ("wolf"). Its Hungarian name Alsóvalkó means "Lower Valkó". Its castle was built in the late 13th century, and was unlawfully occupied by Dezső Elefánti in 1312. King Sigismund of Luxemburg laid a siege to it in 1404. In 1665 the Ottoman army destroyed it and it was not rebuilt again.

In 1910 the village had 900 residents with a Romanian majority and a significant Hungarian minority. Before it was ceded from Hungary to Romania in accord with the Trianon treaty, it belonged to the Kraszna district of Szilágy county of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1992 the communa of which Valcău de Jos is the administrative centre had 3599 inhabitants: 3273 Romanians, 201 Gypsies and 125 Hungarians.