Șimleu Silvaniei (; , ) is a town in

Sălaj County Sălaj County (; ) (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a Counties of Romania, county (''județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of ...

Crișana Crișana (, , ) is a geographical and historical region of Romania named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Romania, the term is sometimes extended to include areas ...

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 ...

with a population of 13,948 people (2021 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 ro ...

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, 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 Prehistory, prehistoric and Recorded history, historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it. Fro ...

coming from areas around Napoca,

Potaissa Turda (; , ; ; ) is a Municipiu, 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 European route E81, and from nearby Câmpia ...

, and modern Dej, and heading to

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

. The centre of an early ''

Gepidia The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, 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 and language of the G ...

'', on the plains northwest of the

Meseș Mountains The Meseș Mountains (, ) are a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Apuseni Mountains. The highest peak is , at . The mountains are located in Sălaj and Cluj counties, south of Zalău and northwest of Cluj-Napoca. The ...

, 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 House of Báthory () was an old and powerful Hungarian nobility, 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 ...

, whose ancestral castle stood here. The castle was built by Miklós, 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

was rebuilt between 1729 and 1736. The

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

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 Kingdom of Naples, Italian general, diplomat, and writer of Arbëreshë people, Arbëreshë Albanian origin, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to com ...

from Zsigmond Báthory in 1600. It was occupied by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

in 1660 and was part of

Varat Eyalet Varat Eyalet (also known as Pashaluk of Varat or Province of Varat; ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed in 1660. Varat Eyalet bordered Ottoman Budin Eyalet in the west, Temeşvar Eyalet in the southwest, Egir ...

until 1692. In 1703 it was occupied by Kurucs. From 1876 to 1920, Șimleu Silvaniei was part of the

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

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. The

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

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 spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

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 (, ) 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 the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

, was given to Hungary through the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

imposed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

; 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 In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by the Wehrmacht. This invasion was formally known as Operation Margarethe (Unternehmen Margarethe). Course of events Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from 1942, had the kno ...

. 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, or Oświęcim, 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 consisted of Auschw ...

. 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

At the 2021 census, Șimleu Silvaniei had a population of 13,948. According to the census from 2011, there were 14,436 people living within the town; of those, 66.77% were ethnic

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

, while 22.87% were ethnic

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

, 9.82% ethnic Romani, and 0.51% others. At the 1910 census, out of 6,885 inhabitants, 6,030 were Hungarians (87,58%) and 759 were Romanians (11,02%).

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, 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 Form ...

, 3-

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; , RMDSZ ; , UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian minority of Romania. Officially considering itself a federation of minority interests ra ...

, 2- National Liberal Party, and 1-

People's Party – Dan Diaconescu The People's Party – Dan Diaconescu (; abbreviated PP-DD) was a left-wing populist and socialist political party in Romania created in 2011 by television presenter Dan Diaconescu. In June 2015 it merged into the National Union for the Progress ...

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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

Notable people

* Andrew Báthory (ca.1562–1599) a

Cardinal-deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

and

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania (, , , Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1 ...

in 1599. * Christopher Báthory (1530–1581)

voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. ;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. ; ) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary from the 12th century to the 16th century. Appointed by the King of Hun ...

from 1576 to 1581. * Sophia Báthory, (died 1680), notable member of the Somlyó branch of the

. *

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...

(1533–1586) Prince of Transylvania, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586). * (1882–1959), Hungarian writer and journalist. * Zoltan Farmati (1924–2006) a Romanian footballer with 219 club caps and 21 for

. * Elly Gross (born 1929) a Holocaust survivor and public speaker in the United States. * Gisella Grosz (1875–1942) a Hungarian classical pianist. *

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 ...

(1901–1956) a Hungarian prisoner of Jewish heritage at

. *

Joe Pasternak Joseph Herman Pasternak (born József Paszternák; September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was a Hungarian-American film producer in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Pasternak spent the Hollywood Musical film, "Golden Age" of musicals ...

(1901–1991) a Hungarian-American film producer in Hollywood. * Liviu Antal (born 1989) a Romanian footballer with 400 club caps.

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 cold ...

(''Cfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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

* * *

External links

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