Dudeştii Vechi

Dudeștii Vechi Stár Bišnov
Commune
Banat Bulgarian Roman Catholic church in Dudeștii Vechi (Stár Bišnov)
Coat of arms
Location of Dudeștii Vechi
Coordinates: 46°03′N 20°29′E / 46.050°N 20.483°E / 46.050; 20.483Coordinates: 46°03′N 20°29′E / 46.050°N 20.483°E / 46.050; 20.483
Country	Romania
County	Timiș
Status	Commune
Government
• Mayor	Bono Cucalan (PNL)
Area
• Total	95.64 km2 (36.93 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	4,203
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.e-primarii.ro/~dudestiivechi/index.php

Dudeștii Vechi (Bulgarian: Стар Бешенов / Star Beshenov; Banat Bulgarian: Stár Bišnov) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. Dudeștii Vechi is mostly populated by Banat Bulgarians (Palćene), a regional minority group of ethnic Bulgarians that profess Roman Catholicism, who came from northern Bulgaria, and who are descendants of Paulicians that settled in the area around 1738. At the 2011 census, the total population of the commune numbered 4203 people.

Until 1968, it was known as Beșenova Veche. In Bulgarian, it is known as Стар Бешенов / Star Beshenov, in Banat Bulgarian as Stár Bišnov, in German as Altbeschenowa, in Hungarian as Óbesenyő, and in Serbian as Старо Бешеново / Staro Bešenovo.

The commune is officially bilingual, with both Romanian and Bulgarian being used as working languages on public signage and in administration, education and justice.

The majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic.

The commune is composed of three villages: Cheglevici (Banat Bulgarian: Téglivič, German: Keglewitschhausen, Hungarian: Keglevichháza, Serbian: Кеглевић), Colonia Bulgară and Dudeștii Vechi. It also included Vălcani village until 2005, when it was split off to form a separate commune.