Șimleu Silvaniei (; hu, Szilágysomlyó, german: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in

Sălaj County Sălaj County () (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania. It is bordered to the nort ...

Crișana Crișana ( hu, Körösvidék, german: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Roma ...

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

with a population of 14,436 people (2011 census). It is located near the ancient

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

n fortress Dacidava. Three villages are administered by the town: Bic (''Bükk''), Cehei (''Somlyócsehi'') and Pusta (''Csehipuszta'').

History

Ancient times

Before the Roman conquest of

, Șimleu was a political, social and administrative Dacian centre, of high importance. Seven

Dacian fortresses The history of Dacian warfare spans from c. 10th century BC up to the 2nd century AD in the region defined by Ancient Greek and Latin historians as Dacia, populated by a collection of Thracian, Ionian, and Dorian tribes. It concerns the armed con ...

, some with associated settlements, were arranged in an arc shape around the hills of Șimleu. They had a strategic role in supervising the trade along the

salt road A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it. From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd m ...

coming from areas around Napoca,

Potaissa Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europ ...

, and modern

Dej Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...

, and heading to

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

. The centre of an early ''

Gepidia The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion ...

'', on the plains northwest of the Meseș Mountains, appears to have been located around Șimleu Silvaniei, where early 5th-century precious objects of Roman provenance have been unearthed.

Middle Ages

The town was mentioned in 1258 as ''Wathasomlyowa.'' The name means "Wata's mountain"; the name Wata is of Old Turkish origin, while ''somlyowa'' is an archaic Hungarian word for mountain(side). The town belonged to the

Báthory family The Báthory family ( pl, Batory) was a Hungarian noble family of the Gutkeled clan. The family rose to significant influence in Central Europe during the Late Middle Ages, holding high military, administrative and ecclesiastical positions in ...

, whose ancestral castle stood here. The castle was built by

Miklós Miklós () is a given name or surname, the Hungarian form of the Greek (English ''Nicholas''), and may refer to: In Hungarian politics * Miklós Bánffy, Hungarian nobleman, politician, and novelist * Miklós Horthy, Regent of the Kingdom of Hun ...

, voivode of Transylvania in the early 13th century and was first mentioned in 1319. After the Báthory family built a mansion in the town in 1592, the castle became deserted and today lies in ruins. The

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

was built in 1534 by Transylvania's voivode Báthory István and his wife Telegdy Katalin with the occasion of their son's birth. Holy Trinity Statue was built in 1772. The

Reformed church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

was rebuilt between 1729 and 1736. The

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

was built in 1876. The

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

was occupied by

Giorgio Basta Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt, Gjergj Basta or Gheorghe Basta (1550 – 1607) was an Italian general, diplomat, and writer of Arbëreshë origin, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591– ...

from Zsigmond Báthory in 1600. It was occupied by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1660 and was part of

Varat Eyalet Varat Eyalet (also known as Pashaluk of Varat or Province of Varat; ota, ایالت وارد; Eyālet-i Vārad) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed in 1660. Varat Eyalet bordered Ottoman Budin Eyalet in the west, ...

until 1692. In 1703 it was occupied by

Kurucs Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti-Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national ind ...

. From 1876 to 1920, Șimleu Silvaniei was part of the

Szilágy County Szilágy (Romanian: Sălaj) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania. The capital of the county was Zilah (present-day Zalău in Romania). Geography Szilágy county shared ...

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. The

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

Vicariate of Șimleu Silvaniei was formed in 1910 and in 1817 the vicariate opened its own school. George Tatu (1810-1824), Georgiu Abraham (1824-1828), Isidor Alpini (1828-1835), Alexandru Sterca-Șuluțiu (1836-1850), Demetriu Coroianu (1850-1873), Alimpiu Barboloviciu (1873-1914), Alexandru Ghetie (1914-1922), Emil Bran (1926-1932), Petru Cupcea (1932-1940), Cornel Darabant (1940-1945), Gheorghe Țurcaș (2004-2009) served as vicars of Șimleu Silvaniei. The old Greek Catholic church was destroyed by a storm in 1866. Notre Dame Church was built between 1871 and 1873. In 1919, the Simion Bărnuțiu National College, the first

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

high school in

was founded here, and today the town is home to three high schools. In 1940, Șimleu Silvaniei, along with the rest of

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

, was given to Hungary through the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

imposed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and Fascist Italy; Romania regained the area in 1944. Since 1997, inside Bic Monastery, there is the wooden church from Stâna; built in 1778 it has a rectangular plan with nave and pronave.

Holocaust

The Cehei ghetto operated within the town's administrative area. The ghetto was one of the Nazi-era ghettos for European Jews during World War II. It was active in the spring of 1944, following

Operation Margarethe Operation Margarethe (''Unternehmen Margarethe'') was the occupation of Hungary by German Nazi troops during World War II that was ordered by Adolf Hitler. Course of events Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from ...

. The deportations from Cehei took place in three transports: May 31 (3,106), June 3 (3,161) and June 6 (1,584), with a total of 7,851 Jews sent to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Some 1,200 Sălaj Jews survived the Holocaust but later emigrated from Romania, so that by the 2000s, under fifty Jews remained in the county.

Population

According to the 1910 census, from 6,885 inhabitants 6,030 were Hungarians (87,58%) and 759 were Romanians (11,02%). According to the census from 2011, there were 14,436 people living within the city. Of this population, 66.77% are ethnic

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...

, while 22.87% are ethnic

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

, 9.82% ethnic

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, and 0.51% others.

Politics

2012 election

The Șimleu Silvaniei Council, elected in the 2012 local government election, is made up of 17 councilors, with the following party composition: 7-

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, 4-

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, 3-

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...

, 2- National Liberal Party, and 1-

People's Party – Dan Diaconescu The People's Party – Dan Diaconescu ( ro, Partidul Poporului – Dan Diaconescu; abbreviated PP-DD) was a populist political party in Romania created in 2011 by television presenter Dan Diaconescu. In June 2015 it merged into the National Uni ...

.Alegerile locale in Sălaj, rezultate finale!
/ref>

2008 election

The mayor Septimiu Țurcaș was elected in the second round of 2008 local government election.

2004 election

The mayor Septimiu Țurcaș was elected for the first time in 2004 local government election as a member of the Democratic Liberal Party and re-elected in 2008 and 2012.

Mayors

* József Udvari * Octavian Guțu (b. February 23, 1946) was elected in 2000. * Septimiu Țurcaș (b. September 6, 1968) was elected in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. * Mihai-Cristian Lazar was elected in 2021.

Flora and fauna

Cehei Pond Nature Reserve is a protected area with aquatic vegetation and fauna within the town's administrative area.

Sights to see

* Cehei Pond (18.20 ha) * Castle ruins * Báthory mansion (16th century) *

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(1532) * Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum * Wooden Church, Cehei

Natives

Liviu Antal Liviu Ion Antal (born 2 June 1989) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga I club CS Mioveni. He was the top goalscorer of the 2013–14 Liga I, as he netted fifteen times for Vaslui which was relegated at the end ...

* Andrew Cardinal Báthory *

Christopher Báthory Christopher Báthory ( hu, Báthory Kristóf; 1530 – 27 May 1581) was voivode of Transylvania from 1576 to 1581. He was a younger son of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó. Christopher's career began during the reign of Queen Isabella Jagiellon, who ...

Sophia Báthory Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: *Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places * Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpo ...

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) ...

* György Bölöni *

Zoltan Farmati Zoltan Farmati ( hu, Farmati Zoltán; 9 July 1924 – 3 January 2006) was a Romanian association football defender. Between 1947 and 1953 he played 21 matches for the national team, including one at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Domestically he most ...

Elly Gross Elly Berkovits Gross (born February 14, 1929) is a Holocaust survivor and author of several Holocaust related books of poetry and prose. She currently resides in the United States, where she is a frequent invited speaker at museums and schools arou ...

* Gisella Grosz *

Miklós Nyiszli Miklós Nyiszli (17 June 1901 – 5 May 1956) was a Hungarian prisoner of Jewish heritage at Auschwitz concentration camp. Nyiszli, his wife, and young daughter, were transported to Auschwitz in June 1944. Upon his arrival, Nyiszli vo ...

Joe Pasternak Joseph Herman Pasternak (born József Paszternák; September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood "Golden Age" of musicals at MGM Studios, producing many successfu ...

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Șimleu Silvaniei is twinned with:

Climate

Șimleu Silvaniei has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Cfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Gallery

File:Șimleu Silvaniei-church1.jpg, Greek Catholic Church File:Szilágysomlyó-ref church2.jpg, Reformed Church File:Szilágysomlyó-cat church-Bathory.jpg, Roman Catholic Church File:RO SJ Simleu 2.jpg, Orthodox Church File:Szilágysomlyó-park.jpg, Central park File:ASTRA in Simleu Silvaniei, August 1908.jpg, ASTRA group picture at Notre Dame Church, Șimleu Silvaniei, August 1908

Notes

References

* * *

Note

''This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article from the

Hungarian Wikipedia The Hungarian Wikipedia ( hu, Magyar Wikipédia) is the Hungarian/Magyar version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Started on 8 July 2003, this version reached the 300,000-article milestone in May 2015.

on 18 March 2007''.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simleu Silvaniei Towns in Romania Shtetls Czech communities in Romania Populated places in Sălaj County Localities in Crișana Holocaust locations in Romania