Şimleu Silvaniei

Şimleu Silvaniei Szilágysomlyó
—  Town  —
Location of Şimleu Silvaniei
Country	Romania
County	Sălaj County
Status	Town
Government
– Mayor	Cătălin Septimiu Ţurcaş (Democratic Party)
Population (2002)
– Total	16,06647°13′48″N 22°48′0″E / 47.23°N 22.8°E / 47.23; 22.8
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.simleusilvaniei.ro/

Şimleu Silvaniei (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃimˌle.u silˈvani.ej]; Hungarian: Szilágysomlyó, German: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 16,066 people (2002 census).

Three villages are administered by the town: Bic (Bükk), Cehei (Somlyócsehi) and Pusta (Csehipuszta).

History

In 1258 it was mentioned 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, whose ancestral castle stood here. The castle was built by Miklós, Voivod 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 mansion was occupied by Giorgio Basta from Zsigmond Báthory in 1600. In 1703 it was occupied by Kurucs.

In 1919, the first Romanian-language high school in Sălaj County was founded here, and today the town is home to three high schools.

In 1940, Şimleu Silvaniei, along with the rest of Northern Transylvania, was given back to Hungary through the Second Vienna Award imposed by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. During World War II, Nazis assembled the area's Jews, numbering about 8,500, into the Cehei Ghetto about three miles from the city. The Jews of Sălaj County were concentrated in the Klein Brickyard of Cehei, in a marshy and muddy area. Since the brick-drying sheds were rather limited, many of the ghetto inhabitants were compelled to live under the open sky. The ghetto was guarded by a special unit of gendarmes from Budapest and operated under the command of Krasznai, one of the most cruel ghetto commanders in Hungary. Most of the deportees were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau for forced labor, cruel experiments and/or execution.

Population

According to the last census from 2002 there were 16,066 people living within the city.

Of this population, 65.68% are ethnic Romanians, while 24.95% are ethnic Hungarians, 8.86 ethnic Roma and 0.51% others.^[1]

Sights to see

• Castle ruins
• Báthory mansion (16th century)
• Roman Catholic church (1532)
• Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum

Famous natives

See also Category: People from Şimleu Silvaniei.

• Liviu Antal
• Andrew Cardinal Báthory
• Kristóf Báthory
• Sophia Báthory
• Stefan Batory
• György Bölöni
• Elly Berkovits Gross
• Iuliu Maniu
• Joe Pasternak
• Dr. Ioan Puşcaş

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Twin towns — Sister cities

Şimleu Silvaniei is twinned with:

Nyírbátor, Hungary Szarvas, Hungary

References

1. ^ 2002 Census

Notes

This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article from the Hungarian Wikipedia on 18 March 2007.