Săliște (german: Großendorf or ''Selischte''; hu, Szelistye) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

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 ...

, in the centre of

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, a ...

, west of the county capital,

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

. Declared a town in 2003, it is the main locality in the

Mărginimea Sibiului Mărginimea Sibiului ( hu, Szeben-Hegyalja) is an area which comprises 18 Romanian localities in the south-western part of the Sibiu County, in southern Transylvania, all of them having a unique ethnological, cultural, architectural, and historic ...

area.

Geography

The town is situated at the edge of the

Cindrel Mountains Cindrel Mountains (also known as Cândrel Mountains, Cibin Mountains, or the Szeben Alps) are a group of mountains in central Romania in the centre of the Southern Carpathians, in the North-East of the Parâng Mountains group. From the Transylva ...

, on a series of river valleys which flow into the Cibin River, in the southwestern part of the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau ( ro, Podișul Transilvaniei; hu, Erdélyi-medence) is a plateau in central Romania. The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the East ...

. The main town of Săliște has a population of 2,830; it also administers nine villages: * Aciliu ( hu, Ecsellő; german: Tetschein) – 268 inhabitants, 8 km away. * Amnaș ( hu, Omlás; german: Hamlesch) – 369 inhabitants, 9 km away;

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedr ...

. * Crinț ( hu, Krinc) – 2 permanent inhabitants, 18 km away; military base. * Fântânele (until 1964 ''Cacova Sibiului''; hu, Szebenkákova; german: Krebsbach bei Hermannstadt) – 251 inhabitants, 6 km away. * Galeș ( hu, Szebengálos; german: Gallusdorf) - 331 inhabitants, 2 km away. * Mag ( hu, Mág) – 439 inhabitants, 9 km away. * Săcel ( hu, Szecsel; german: Schwarzwasser) – 520 inhabitants, 4 km away. * Sibiel ( hu, Szibiel; german: Budenbach) – 402 inhabitants, 6 km away. * Vale ( hu, Vále; german: Grabendorf) – 384 inhabitants, 2 km away.

Demographics

Originally all the localities, except the village of Amnaș, were inhabited by Romanians. As of 2011, 95.7% of inhabitants were

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

, 3.3%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, and 0.6%

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. Most Romanians are Orthodox and the Germans still living in Amnaș are Lutheran Evangelical. There are also some small

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Churches.

Economy

Traditionally the main occupation was

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' ' herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations ...

ing and related activities. Today this occupies a smaller percentage of the workforce, but remains important alongside other agricultural activities. Light industry was developed in the recent period and there are some textile workshops. Commerce and services are also an important activity. The area around Aciliu and Amnaș is well suited for

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

s and around Mag and Săcel there are a series of artificial lakes for fish farming. The film Blestemul pământului, blestemul iubirii was shot in the village of Fântânele in 1978–1979.

History

The area was inhabited for a very long time, and on a hill between Sălişte and the nearby commune of Tilișca there are the ruins of an old

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 ...

n citadel. The first document mentioning the town is from 1354 and refers, in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

, to ''Magna Villa''. Early names would be ''Nogfalu'' in Hungarian and ''Grossdorf'' in German. Later, in 1383 the village is known as ''Magna Villa Valachiealis'' (Big Village of the

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easte ...

), denoting its ethnically Romanian population. Still later, it was one of the villages in the

Țara Amlașului ''Ţara'' ( en, The Country) was a magazine from the Republic of Moldova founded on August 15, 1990 as a newspaper of the Popular Front of Moldova. Ţara was the successor of Deşteptarea. Ştefan Secăreanu was the editor in chief and Sergiu Bu ...

(Omlás), a Transylvanian fiefdom granted by the kings of Hungary during the 14th and 15th centuries to the Wallachian rulers. Around 1485 it was included in one of the seven seats of Saxondom. In the late 18th century Săliște became an important village of the Romanian community and the most important cultural centre in the Mărginimea Sibiului area. In 1774 an important local revolt of the Romanian population took place; members of this community also participated in the revolution of 1848, the Transylvanian Memorandum movement, and almost every important event in the National awakening of the Romanians in Transylvania.

Personalities

Some of the most notable personalities born in Săliște are: * (1875–1959), Romanian academic * , Confessor priest, celebrated on the Feast Day of October 21 * Onisifor Ghibu (1883–1972), teacher, organiser of the Romanian educational system in

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 ...

* Marina Hociotă (1896–1977), Romanian nun and nurse during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

* Nicolae Ivan (1855–1936), Bishop of Cluj, Feleac and Vad * Michael Klein (1959–1993), Romanian footballer *

Ioan Lupaș Ioan Lupaș (9 August 1880 – 3 July 1967) was a Romanian historian, academic, politician, Orthodox theologian and priest. He was a member of the Romanian Academy. Biography Lupaș was born in Szelistye, now Săliște, Sibiu County (at the time ...

(1880–1967), Romanian historian * Andrei Oțetea (1894–1977), Romanian historian * (1806–1873), Bishop of

Buzău The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

, theologian and writer * Dumitru D. Roșca (1895–1980), Romanian academician and philosopher * Ilie Șteflea (1887–1946), Romanian general,

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces ( militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff ( ...

(1942–1944)

Image gallery

File:Gallusdorf.jpg, The village of Galeș nestled in the foothills of the

File:Galeş Church from above.jpg, The village church of Galeș File:Gales church approach2.jpg, A typical village street - the approach to the church File:Schitul Foltea.jpg, A small church and nuns' retreat File:Amnas.jpg, Main street of Amnaș village with the

in the background File:Niculae2.jpg, A local resident File:Gales eg house 4.jpg, A typical village house façade File:Gales eg pargeting 1.jpg, Carving on a house façade in the centre of the village

References

External links

Săliște Town Hall Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saliste Towns in Romania Populated places in Sibiu County Localities in Transylvania