Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Călătorii istorice pe Valea Someşului. Ghid turistic (Satu Mare, 2014)
Botiz
Botiz Approaching from North-east, the closest settlement to the county seat is Botiz. The earliest written mention of the village dates from 1364. During the 14th century the owner of the village was the Móric family, later it became the Drágfi’s domain. Aftger their extinction, the Báthori family was the owner of an important part of the village. The closeness to the castle of Satu Mare was determinant in the history of the settlement, mainly because of the destructions caused by the troops crossing the village. During the 17th century, when the attacks became more often, Botiz was deserted for a few years. On September 20th 1672, a battle took place in the outskirts of the village between the imperial troops from the castle of Satu Mare and the rebel Kurutz army. The soldiers were massacred in the battlefield. Among them there were numerous students of the Calvinist College. Their mass grave is called today Students’ Hill, and it became a place of pilgrimage. In 1914 a monument commemorating the students that lost their lives in the battle was raised in the village’s cemetery. Botiz is the birth place of András Batizi, proselytizer, psalmist and predicator, one of the most significant personalities of the Reformation movement. Ştefan Anderco (1906-1989) was born at Botiz, too. He was lawyer, doctor of legal sciences, and the last leader of the Romanian National Peasants Party, who was the Prefect of Satu Mare in 1944 and 1945. The churches of Botiz belong to five confessional communities. The Orthodox church Archangels St. Michael and Gabriel was built in 1886, on the place of an old wooden church from the middle of the 18th century. The Greek-Catholic church Apostles St. Peter and Botiz • Batiz Vedere aeriană • Légifelvétel • Aerial view 57
