Mărginimea Sibiului () is an area which comprises 18

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

n localities in the south-western part of

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county () of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat () is the namesake town of Sibiu (). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben megye'', and in German as ''Kreis Hermannstadt''. Under the ...

, in southern

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, all of them having a unique ethnological, cultural, architectural, and historical heritage.

Position

The area is situated in the immediate vicinity of the cradle of Saxon Civilisation in

– the city of

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, and has an area of over limited by the river Sadu in the south and the

Săliște Săliște ( or ''Selischte''; ) is a town in Sibiu County, in the centre of Romania, west of the county capital, Sibiu. Declared a town in 2003, it is the main locality in the Mărginimea Sibiului area. Geography The town is situated at the ed ...

in the north. The villages are situated around the valleys of different rivers which flow from the Cindrel Mountains through the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern Carpathians, Eastern, Southern ...

. The region comprises the following villages and towns: * Boița * Fântânele * Galeș * Gura Râului * Jina * Orlat * Poiana Sibiului * Poplaca * Rășinari * Râu Sadului * Rod * Sadu *

(town) * Sibiel * Tălmaciu (town) * Tălmăcel * Tilișca *

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...

Brief history

The oldest known settlement was a village called ''Ruetel'' dating to 1204, granted by King Emeric of Hungary to a certain ''John the Latin and his fellow heretics'' as per the charter recopied in June 2, 1469, which became Rășinari in 1488, followed by Tălmaciu (1318), Orlat (1322), and

(1354). Throughout their history, some of these settlements were sometimes (along with the Țara Făgărașului) fiefs of the rulers of the Romanian principality of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

. An important event in the area was the establishment in the 18th century by

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

of the ''1st Romanian border regiment'' at Orlat. Also, Boița was a border village, at the end of the passageway along the

Olt River The Olt ( Romanian and Hungarian; ; or ', , ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average discharge at the mouth is . It originates in the Hă ...

Occupations

Predominantly, the people were

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

s who continuously crossed the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

, maintaining the essential link between the Romanian communities to the north and south of the mountains. Activities closely related to shepherding, such as wool and leather manufacturing, are still well maintained in the area to this day.

Characteristics

The area has a rich variety of customs related to different times in the year and in life. To this day, it is a custom to wear the traditional folk costume – black and white, with a particular round shaped hat without borders worn by the men at the most important occasions. Painting on glass is a tradition in this area, strongly connected to the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

which is by far the main religion of the inhabitants. The architecture is strongly influenced by the Saxons, with big imposing houses, with an internal yard well closed on all sides. Wood was traditionally the main material used in construction, but bricks have replaced it in the last hundred years; today, only a small number of wooden houses can be found.

Places to see

The oldest church in the area can be found at

; it is a painted church dating to 1674. Other old churches are the wooden church from Poiana Sibiului (1771) and the church from Tălmăcel (1776). In Rășinari and Săliște there are some small village museums and also memorial houses. Emil Cioran is the best-known personality to have been born in this area. Additionally, Octavian Goga, a Romanian poet and a politician from the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

period, along with more than six Romanian academicians, are natives of this area. There is a museum in Sibiel dedicated to glass-painted icons. Close to Tilișca there can be found the remains of a

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 ro ...

n citadel, situated on a hilltop with a panoramic view towards the

. A more modern museum can be found in Sadu, the place where the first electrical hydro-power plant was built in 1896 – the third one in Europe.

References

External links

http://www.ruraltourism.ro/marg/html/margen.html
* Cornel Mișinger, Monografia Satului Fântânele (Cacova) din Mărginimea Sibiului, Casa de Presă și Editură Tribuna, Sibiu, 2006, . * Victor Voicu-Vedea, Ioan Părean, Mărginimea Sibiului. Ghid de turism rural, Editura Salgo, Sibiu, 2008, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Marginimea Sibiului Historical regions of Transylvania Geography of Sibiu County Mocani