Sălişte

For other uses, see Sălişte (disambiguation).

"Szelistye" redirects here. For Sălişte village, Hunedoara County, called Szelistye in Hungarian, see Băiţa, Hunedoara.

Sălişte
—  Town  —
The City Hall
Coat of arms
Sălişte Location of Sălişte
Coordinates: 45°47′39″N 23°53′11″E / 45.79417°N 23.88639°E / 45.79417; 23.88639Coordinates: 45°47′39″N 23°53′11″E / 45.79417°N 23.88639°E / 45.79417; 23.88639
Country	Romania
County	Sibiu County
Status	Town
Government
– Mayor	Teodor Dumitru Banciu (National Liberal Party)
Area
– Total	226.78 km2 (87.6 sq mi)
Population (2002)
– Total	6,092
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.saliste-sibiu.ro/

Sălişte (German: Großendorf or Selischte; Hungarian: Szelistye) is a town in Sibiu County in the centre of Romania, 21 km west of the county capital, Sibiu, the main locality in the Mărginimea Sibiului area.

Geography

The town is situated at the edge of the Cindrel Mountains, on a series of river valleys which flow into the Cibin River in the South part of the Transylvanian Plateau. The main town of Sălişte has a poulation of 2,830; it also administers nine villages:

• Aciliu (268 inhabitants), 8 km away
• Amnaş (Hungarian: Omlás; German: Hamlesch) - (369 inhabitants), 9 km away; Saxon fortified church
• Crinţ (2 permanent inhabitants - military base), 18 km away
• Fântânele (also known as Cacova Sibiului; Hungarian: Szebenkákova) - 251 inhabitants, 6 km away
• Galeş (Hungarian: Szebengálos; German: Gallusdorf) - 331 inhabitants, 2 km away
• Mag (439 inhabitants), 9 km away
• Săcel (520 inhabitants), 4 km away
• Sibiel (Hungarian: Szibiel) - 402 inhabitants, 6 km away
• Vale (Hungarian: Vále) - 384 inhabitants, 2 km away

Population

Originally all the localities, except the village of Amnaş, were inhabited by Romanians. Today the ethnic composition is as follows:

• 5,725 - Romanians
• 233 - Romas
• 137 - Germans
• 7 - Hungarians

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

Economy

Traditionally the main occupation was shepherding 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 Amnaş is well suited for wines and around Mag and Săcel there are a series of artificial lakes for fish farming.

History

The area was inhabited for a very long time, and on a hill between Sălişte and the nearby commune of Tilişca there are the ruins of an old Dacian citadel. The first document mentioning the town is from 1354 and refers, in Latin, 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), denoting its ethnically Romanian population. Still later, it was one of the villages in the Ţara Almaşului, an area sometimes ruled by Wallachian rulers.

Around 1485 it was included in one of the seven seats of Saxondom. In the late 18th century Sălişte 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

The most notable personalities born in Sălişte town are:

• Axente Banciu (1875–1959), Romanian academic
• Ioan din Galeş - Confessor priest, celebrated on the Feast Day of October 21
• Onisifor Ghibu (1883–1972), teacher, organiser of the Romanian educational system in Transylvania
• Ioan Lupaş (1880–1967), Romanian historian
• Dionisie Romano (1806–1873), Bishop of Buzău, theologian and writer
• Dumitru D. Roşca (1895–1980), Romanian academician and philosopher
• Ilie Șteflea (1887–1946), Romanian general, Chief of the General Staff (1942–1944)
• Ioan Popa (born in 1920 at Fântânele(Cacova Sibiului) - 2005, Erlangen, Germany), former Executive manager of Siemens AG Erlangen, Germany

Image gallery

• 

  The village of Galeş nestled in the foothills of the Cindrel Mountains

• 

  The village church of Galeş

• 

  A typical village street - the approach to the church

• 

  A small church and nuns' retreat

• 

  Main street of Amnaş village with the Saxon fortified church in the background

• 

  A local resident

• 

  A typical village house facade

• 

  Carving on a house facade in the centre of the village