Șiria (; ) is a commune in

Arad County Arad County () is an administrative division ( județ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative cente ...

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 ...

. According to the 2002 census it had 8,140 inhabitants. The commune is situated at from Arad, its administrative territory covers , and it lies in the contact zone of the Arad Plateau and the . It is composed of three villages: Galșa (''Galsa''), Mâsca (''Muszka'') and Șiria.

Population

According to the last census, the population of the commune counts 8,140 inhabitants, of which 81.3% are Romanians, 4.4% Hungarians, 12.0% Roms, 1.8% Germans, 0.2% Ukrainians and 0.3% are of other or undeclared nationalities.

History

The first documentary record of Șiria dates back to 1169. Galșa was attested documentarily in 1202 or 1203, and Mîsca in 1331. In 1785, it was destroyed by the troops of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. In 1849, the village was part 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 ...

and it was a venue for the

Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas The revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire took place from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalist character: the Austrian Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Bohem ...

, including the

Surrender at Világos The Surrender at Világos (), which was the formal end of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, took place on 13 August 1849, at Világos (now Șiria, Romania). The terms were signed by General Artúr Görgey of the Hungarian Revolutionary Army on t ...

: on 13 August 1849 the Hungarian army led by Artúr Görgey surrendered to the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

general Theodor von Rüdiger on the field below Șiria Castle, which brought an end to the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

. In 1940, demobilized Romanian soldiers withdrew to Șiria after the loss 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 ...

. Here, they sang " Dac-am plecat, Ardealule, din tine", which became popular among its inhabitants.

Economy

Although the economy of the commune is prevalent agricultural, the secondary and tertiary economic sectors have also developed recently. Șiria commune is known as an important

viticultural Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

centre of the region. Its resources include

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, mined in Galșa.

Tourism

The ruin of Șiria's castle dates to the 13th century. Over time, it was possessed by John Hunyadi (1444), then was occupied by the rebels led by

György Dózsa György Dózsa (or ''György Székely'', Romanian: ''Gheorghe Doja''; – 20 July 1514) was a Székely man-at-arms from Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary who led a peasants' revolt against the kingdom's landed nobility during the reign ...

and it was Michael the Brave's military garrison. It was considered to be an important strategic point of the region. Other tourist sights are the church in Șiria built between 1700 and 1750, Emil Monţia's grave, the "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" built in 1746 and the 7th-century

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

castle in Galșa, the "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" in Mîsca dating back to 1703, and the Feredeu monastery.

Notable people

The name of the commune is linked with two personalities: Ioan Slavici, Romanian writer (1848–1925) and Emil Monţia, Romanian composer. Information about them is presented by the permanent expositions of the "Ioan Slavici Memorial Museum", which is installed in the Bohuș castle, an architectural monument built in neoclassic style in 1838. In front of the museum the busts of Ioan Slavici,

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...

, and Ioan Rusu Șirianu are situated, as well as the statue of baroness Antonia Bohuș.

Șiria transmitter

Șiria transmitter () is a facility for FM/TV-broadcasting situated at . It uses a guyed lattice steel mast with an unusually large rectangular cross section.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siria Communes in Arad County Localities in Crișana