Alțâna (german: Alzen; hu, Alcina) is a commune in the north of
Sibiu County
Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt).
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben m ...
,
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, and ...
, in the historical region of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. It is composed of three villages: Alțâna, Benești (''Bägendorf''; ''Bendorf'') and Ghijasa de Sus (''Obergesäß''; ''Felsőgezés'').
Alțâna was one of the most important villages of the
Transylvanian Saxon
The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ...
seat of
Nocrich.
History
In 1910 the Agnita to Sibiu railway line was completed with at station at
Alțâna and
Benești; however, the line was closed in 2001. An active restoration group has since been formed aiming to restore the entire line to working condition.
Name
The legend says that the first German villagers were led by ten "
greavi". These ten men counseled in the matter of how should they name the settlement and each of them wanted to use their name. In the end, they decided to name it Alzen, which means "all ten
Natives
* Adolf Gottschling (1841-1918), a professor at the Brukenthal College in Sibiu and one of the pioneers of meteorology in Transylvani
References
Communes in Sibiu County
Localities in Transylvania
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