Cergău

Cergău (German: Schergied; Hungarian: Cserged) is a commune located in Alba County, Romania. It has a population of 1,747 and is composed of three villages: Cergău Mare (the commune centre; Magyarcserged), Cergău Mic (Bolgárcserged) and Lupu (Farkastelke).

Cergău Mic

The village of Cergău Mic was first mentioned in 1303 as Bolgarchergewd and in 1306 as Chergeod Bulgaricum. The first reference is the earliest evidence to the presence of the village's Bulgarian population. The prevalent theory is that Bulgarians arrived as refugees from the Vidin region (in modern northwest Bulgaria) and possibly from the Svishtov region (north central Bulgaria). These groups were originally of the Bogomil and Paulician sects respectively and were subject to religious persecution by the Eastern Orthodox authorities of the Second Bulgarian Empire. With their settlement in Transylvania, the Bulgarians of Cergău Mic adopted Roman Catholicism and subsequently Protestantism (Lutheranism) because they regarded these confessions as closest to their original beliefs among the denominations tolerated in Transylvania.