Siret (; german: Sereth; hu, Szeretvásár; uk, Серет, Seret; yi, סערעט, Seret) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical tow ...

, northeastern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

. It is situated in the historical region of

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 7,721 inhabitants, according to the 2011 census. It is one of the oldest towns in Romania and was the capital of the medieval

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

during the late 14th century. Furthermore, the town administers two villages: Mănăstioara and Pădureni.

Administration and local politics

Town council

The town's current local council has the following political composition, according to the results of the

2020 Romanian local elections Local elections were held in Romania on 27 September 2020. Initially planned for June 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Government of Romania to postpone the elections to a date no later than 31 December 2020, and extending all ...

Geography

The town of Siret is located at the north-eastern limit of Suceava County, from the border with Ukraine, being one of the main border passing points in the north of the country, having both a road border post and a rail connection. The rail is on a standard gauge on the Romanian side and continues as a Russian-style

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

into Ukraine. Siret (actually the nearby border passing point called VicșaniVadul Siret) is one of the few places in Romania which provides a gauge change equipment, allowing transportation without transfer. Siret is situated at the half distance between

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also #Names, other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the Romania–Ukraine border, borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this ...

and

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, on the right banks of Siret River. The European route E85 crosses the city.

History

During the period 1211–1225, on a hill near Siret a fortress was built by the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. The town and the Teutonic castle were destroyed by the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

in 1241. The first document of Siret dates back to 1339, according to some historical sources. Seret is mentioned as a Russian city in Wallachia in the List of Russian cities (1370-1390). The town was the capital of the former principality of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

, in the late 14thcentury. The Russian Imperial Army occupied the town in 1770, and, as a consequence, an epidemic of cholera broke out. Together with the rest of

, Siret was under the imperial rule of the Habsburg monarchy (later

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

) from 1775 to 1918. During the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1774-1918) Siret was a city with a number of important Ukrainian institutions (branches of the

Ruska Besida in Bukovina Ruska may refer to: Places Slovak villages *Ruská *Ruská Bystrá *Ruská Kajňa *Ruská Poruba *Ruská Voľa *Ruská Volová *Ruská Nová Ves Other *Rava-Ruska, a city in Ukraine *Ruska Bela, a city in Bulgaria *Ruska, a village in Seliatyn, ...

and the Ukrainska Shkola society; the

Ukrainian Bursa Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

, etc.). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Siret was captured on 3April 1944 by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the course of the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive.

Religions

Given the 14th century decline of the

Byzantine empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

as Orthodox regional superpower-ally and Latin mendicant orders missions since the 13th century, the prince

Bogdan I of Moldavia Bogdan I, or Bogdan the Founder ( ro, Bogdan Întemeietorul), was the first independent ruler, or voivode, of Moldavia in the 1360s. He had initially been the voivode, or head, of the Vlachs in the Voivodeship of Maramureș in the Kingdom of ...

obtained virtual independence in 1359 as founding ''

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

'' (autonomous prince), seeking aid and protection from Poland, welcomed Latin missionaries, Francescans (founding a monastery at Siret in 1340) and Dominicans. His son and indirect successor Lațcu of Moldavia (1365-1373) promised Rome his and the people's conversion to Catholicism and asked

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the o ...

to send missionaries and erect a Latin diocese in his principality's capital, Siret, which happened in 1371, initially directly subject to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

until 1412 when it was made suffragan of the Archbishopric of Lviv (Lwów in Polish; now in Ukraine). Siret Holocaust memorial, Holon cemetery, Israel

This

Roman Catholic Diocese of Siret The Roman Catholic Diocese of Siret was a Latin bishopric in medieval Moldavia. Antecedents Since the 13th century, missionaries of the mendicant orders, Franciscans and Dominicans, created several Latin Catholic communities in present Romania, ...

started to decline in 1388 when prince

Petru of Moldavia Petru (Peter) I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivo ...

transferred the Moldavian voivode's capital from Siret to

, and was effectively suppressed, but from circa 1418, the Holy See erected another Moldavian bishopric, the

Diocese of Baia Baia (german: Baja, Stadt Molde, or Moldenmarkt; hu, Moldvabánya; lat, Civitas Moldaviae) is a commune in Suceava County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, northeastern Romania with a population of 6,793 (2002 census).Vizhnitz dynasty was named rabbi and opened a yeshiva. During the interwar period, there was activity by Zionist youth movements. On June20, 1941, just before Romania's entry into World WarII, the authorities of the Ion Antonescu regime forced the Jews of Siret to march to Dornești before transporting them to

Craiova ) , official_name = Craiova , image_skyline = , image_caption = From left: Dolj County Prefecture • Constantin Mihail Palace • Bibescu Manor House • Carol I National College • Museum of Oltenia • University of Craiova , i ...

and Calafat and finally

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

(''see The Holocaust in Romania''). Soviet troops liberated 460 Siret Jews there in 1944; 400 of them subsequently left for Palestine. Today, most of the population is Romanian Orthodox, with Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Greek-Catholic, and several Evangelical Christian minorities.

Demographics

Siret reached its peak population in 1992, when more than 10,000 people were living within the town limits. In 2016, Siret had a population of 10,000 inhabitants. According to the 2011 census data, 7,721 inhabitants lived in Siret, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census, when the town had a population of 9,329 inhabitants. In 2011, of the total population, 95.85% were ethnic Romanians, 2.55%

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...

, 0.72% Poles, 0.42%

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

(

Bukovina Germans ''Buchelanddeutsche'' , native_name_lang = , image = , image_caption = , image_alt = , image_upright = , total = , total_year = , total_source = , total_ref = , genealogy ...

), 0.28%

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

( Lipovans). Siret is the eleventh most populated urban locality in

Notable natives

* Yitzhak Artzi - Israeli politician *

Elisabeth Axmann Elisabeth Axmann (Siret, 19 June 1926 – Cologne, 21 April 2015) was a Romanian writer, art and literature critic. She spent her childhood in Bukovina, Moldavia and Transylvania. Axmann moved to Germany in 1977. Selected works * ''Spiegelufer. ...

- Romanian-German poet * Leo Katz (1892–1954) - writer and journalistMatch, Richard (July 20, 1947).
Trouble in Sereth
. Review of ''Seedtime'' by Leo Katz. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved July 20, 2019. *

Mykhailo Mykhailyuk Ilkovych Mykhailo Ilkovych Mykhailyuk ( uk, Миха́йло І́лькович Михайлю́к) (born 1 October 1940) is a Romanian poet, novelist, and literary critic of Ukrainian ethnicity. Biography He was born on 1 October 1940 in the town of Siret ...

- Ukrainian poet *

Elisabeta Lipă Elisabeta Lipă (; née Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals. She holds the re ...

- Romanian rower *

Ivan Pavlovich Maksimovich Ivan Pavlovich Maksimovich ( uk, Іван Павлович Максимович) (1864 - May 4, 1931) was a Ukrainian colonel of the UGA. Biography Early life He was born in the city of Seret in Bukovina (now in Romania) in the family of Pavel M ...

- Ukrainian Colonel of the UGA * Victorin Ursache - Romanian archbishop *

Antin Varivoda Antin Varivoda ( uk, Анті́н Вариво́да, Antin Varyvoda) (10 January 1869 - 12 March 1936) was a Ukrainian Commander of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, and Colonel of the Ukrainian Galician Army. Biogr ...

- Ukrainian Commander of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen; Colonel of the Ukrainian Galician Army

International relations

Siret is a member of the Douzelage, a unique

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are ...

association of 24 towns across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

. This active program began in 1991, and regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals. Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three additional towns ( Agros in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

Škofja Loka Škofja Loka (; german: Bischoflack) is a town in Slovenia. It is the economic, cultural, educational, and administrative center of the Municipality of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Geography Škofja Loka lies ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

, and Tryavna in Bulgaria).

Twin towns – sister cities

Siret is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Altea, Spain - 1991 * Bad Kötzting, Germany - 1991 * Bellagio, Italy - 1991 * Bundoran, Ireland - 1991 * Granville, France - 1991 * Holstebro, Denmark - 1991 * Houffalize, Belgium - 1991 * Meerssen,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

- 1991 * Niederanven, Luxembourg - 1991 *

Preveza Preveza ( el, Πρέβεζα, ) is a city in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the regional unit of Preveza, which is part of the region of Epir ...

, Greece - 1991 * Sesimbra, Portugal - 1991 * Sherborne, United Kingdom - 1991 * Karkkila, Finland - 1997 *

Oxelösund Oxelösund is a locality and the seat of Oxelösund Municipality in Södermanland County, Sweden with 11,488 inhabitants in 2018. It is located less than south from the city centre of its larger neighbour Nyköping, with the two urban areas for ...

, Sweden - 1998 * Judenburg, Austria - 1999 *

Chojna Chojna (german: Königsberg in der Neumark; csb, Czińsbarg; la, Regiomontanus Neomarchicus "King's Mountain in the New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szcze ...

, Poland - 2004 * Kőszeg, Hungary - 2004 *

Sigulda Sigulda (; german: Segewold, pl, Zygwold, russian: Сигулда) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the Primeval forest, primeval Gauja river valley. Because o ...

, Latvia - 2004 * Sušice, Czech Republic - 2004 * Türi, Estonia - 2004 * Zvolen, Slovakia - 2007 *

Prienai Prienai () is a city in Lithuania situated on the Nemunas River, south of Kaunas. In 2011 the city had 9,867 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from a surname ''Prienas''. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city. Histo ...

, Lithuania - 2008 *

Marsaskala Marsaskala ( mt, Wied il-Għajn), also written as Marsascala and abbreviated as M'Skala, is a seaside town in the South Eastern Region of Malta which has grown around the small harbour at the head of Marsaskala Bay, a long, narrow inlet also kno ...

, Malta - 2009 *

Dębica Dębica (; yi, דעמביץ ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been i ...

, Poland

Gallery

File:Statuia Margaretei Muşat1.jpg, Statue of Margareta Mușat in downtown Siret File:Scoala Petru Musat din Siret2.jpg, Petru Mușat High School File:Spitalul din Siret.jpg, The Chronic Diseases Hospital File:Gara veche din Siret.jpg, The Old Train Station File:Casa Iacob Zadik din Siret.jpg, Iacob Zadik House File:Casa S.F.Marian din Siret1.jpg, Simion Florea Marian House File:Bustul lui Simeon Florea Marian din Siret.jpg, Simion Florea Marian Statue File:Teodor V. Ştefanelli2.jpg, Teodor V. Ștefanelli Statue File:Biserica Nasterea Sf. Fecioare Maria din Siret2.jpg, The Roman Catholic Church File:Biserica Schimbarea la Faţă din Siret.jpg, The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church File:Biserica Sf. Constantin si Elena din Siret1.jpg, The Old Evangelical Church (now Orthodox) File:Templul evreiesc din Siret3.jpg, The Jewish Temple