Sibiu County
Located on the site of Neolithic human settlements, preserving under
its hearth traces of the ancient Roman settlement Cedonia, Sibiu was
mentioned in documents dating back to the 12th century under the name
of Cibinium. When Saxons were colonised the native Romanian population
was organised, just as the whole Transylvania, in its own political
forms. The Saxon colonists named the settlement Hermannsdorf and then
Hermannstadt while the Romanian population gave it a name reminding
of the original one: Sibiu. In the 14th century Sibiu was a powerful
handicraft centre. Documents dated 1376 mention 19 guilds whose members
practised 25 trades. These guilds had very active relations with the
Romanian states east and south of the Carpathians. Backed by the economic
power of its craftsmen, Sibiu continued to develop, its evolution
following the typical path of the mediaeval towns. The old burg made
room for the modern town. Significant events: 1192 – Sibiu (Cibinium)
is for the first time mentioned in an official document; 1292 – the
first hospital in Romania was inaugurated; 1300 – opening of the first
library; 1367 – the first Sibiu guild, that of tanners, was mentioned
in a document; 1494 – the first chemist’s shop in the country; 1528
– the first printing press in Transylvania; 1529 – Conrad Haas makes
the first tests in the world with “Delta” rockets for flight control;
1543 – the first paper mill in the Romanian Principalities; 1788 –
the first manufacture is registered, the silk fabric manufacturing
enterprise; 1790 – Samuel Brukenthal founds the oldest museum of the
country; 1841 – the first German bank is set up in Sibiu; 1861 – The
Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and Culture of the
Romanian People – ASTRA is founded; 1868 – the first saving and credit
house in Transylvania is opened; 1872 – the Sibiu-Copsa Mica railway
line is commissioned; 1875 – Andreas Rieger sets up the first machine-building
factory in Transylvania; 1894 – the first mountain resort of the country
– Paltinis, is officially opened; 1896 – the first Romanian Encyclopaedia
is published; 1898 – the first film projection (three years after
the world premiere); 1904 – the first electric tramway.
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Geographical
Outline
Sibiu county is situated in the centre of Romania at the crossroads
of the commercial routes between the East and the West, between the
Balkans and Central Europe. The area of 5,422 sq km, that is 2.3 per
cent of the country’s territory lies in latitude 45 28’ and 46 17’
North and in longitude 23 35’ and 24 57’ East. The county’s relief
ranging between Peak Negoiu – 2,535 m and the River Tarnava Mare Meadow
– 28 m is characterised by a wide variety of natural forms. Approximately
30 per cent of the area is covered by the Fagaras, Lotru and Cindrel
Mountains, 50 per cent is made up of the Tarnave, Hartibaciu and Secase
plateaus crossed by deep and wide valleys. Waterways are evenly distributed
all over the county and include rivers, of which the main ones are:
the Olt, the Tarnava, the Cibin and the Hartibaci, natural lakes –
glacial and salted, and artificial for fishery, irrigations, hydropower,
storage and recreation. Owing to its relief and location, Sibiu has
a moderate continental climate characterised by moderate winters and
cool summers. Annual mean temperatures vary around 130° C. Of the
natural resources of Sibiu county natural gas is the most important.
It is of high quality and made up almost exclusively of dry gas of
high purity. A marble deposit was discovered and is being quarried
on the Porumbac Valley, while the county boasts reserves of clay,
sand, gravel etc. used as raw building materials and in the building
materials industry. Other natural resources are forests, which cover
more than 37 per cent of the county’s area, pastures, hayfields, farm
land, rich fauna and flora. The abundant natural patrimony of Sibiu
county is represented by six natural preserves of high scientific
and recreational value: the Bottomless Lake at Ocna Sibiului, the
limestone at Cisnadioara, the Eocene limestone at Turnu Rosu, the
steppe preserve at Valea Sarba, the alpine gulf and lake Balea, Iezerele
Cindrelului (Cindrel alpine lakes).
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Touristic
Information
Mountains
covered by Coniferous and dedidous forests, t hills covered
by pastures, hay fields and orchards, plains, rivers, lakes
with fresh and salt waters - all these are gifts given by nature
to this county situated in the Southern part of Transylvania.
This variety of relief, and temperate climate make possible
to be snow in the mountain localities 5-6 months per year, and
turned, this county into a place of a special tourist attraction
for both Romanian and foreign tourists. Of a special interest
is the Fagaras zone with its part of -the Fagaras massif, ice
lakes, a steppe relief with picturesque landscape to Tara Lovistei.
In the Olt narrow path there are the ruins of the Broken Tower
with walls and custom houses of the former border between Wallachia
and Transylvania. At about 30 km far from Sibiu, at 1450 m above
sea level, there is Paltinis resort. The coniferous forests,
ozonated air are good to cure diseases of the nervous and breathing
system. In winter it is a proper place for winter sports, having
ski tracks with cable ski and cable cars. In the Sibiu county
there are also other spas as Ocna Sibiului, Bazna and Miercurea
Sibiului. A very special zone is Marginimea Sibiului with its
18 localities at the foot of the Cibin Mountains covering a
surface of 200 sq.km. The inhabitants are known shephards who
preserved the traditional customs, folk costumes and original
Romanian architecture. In Sibiu, the capital city of this county,
there are a lot of points of tourist interest and museums. This
town is documentary certified in 1192-1196 under the name of
Cibinium, Villa Hermani, in the XII-XIIIth century and Hermanstadt
in 1366. Sibiu was one of the towns of Luther's reform: here
great humanist Nicolae Olahus lived for a long time. Also here
in the XVIth century Conrad Haas created the first three-staged
rocket based on the principles of reaction. Among the monuments
of this town there are: Tower of stairs built in the XIIIth
century, Butchers' Market, Tower of the Old Townhall, Transylvanian
Saxon University, Arquebusiers' Tower, Franciscan Church, Carpenters'
Tower, Potters' Tower, Tower of Gun Powder, Leather Merchants'
Tower, Bruckenthal Museum with art collection of Baron Sarnuel
Brukenthal, an advisor of Queen Maria Teresa and governor of
Transylvania (1777-1787). Near by Sibiu, there is the village
of Biertan where the inscription "Ego Zenovius votum poseni"
(I, Zenovius, kept my word) from the IV-th century was discovered.
This inscription shows that here there were a Christian community
and an impressive churchfortress with four towers among the
main important hall-churches in Transylvania. Other points of
tourist interest are: the town of Cisnadie and Selimblir where
in 1599 the battle between Voivode Mihai Viteazu and Andrei
Bathory was; Hartibaciu Zone crossed by the river s with the
same name is the land surrounded by the Visa, Tarnava Mare and
Olt Rivers, with a wonderful hilly landscape; Tarnavele Zone
with hills, dedidous forest and vineyards. The archaeological
researches discovered here a lot of historic vestiges: Roman
settlement from Slimnic, silver and bronze currency hoard from
Atel, etc. The agro-tourism has to he mention. The accommodation
facilities ate in hotels, inns, chalets, nest homes, pupils
camps. In this county, 397, 176 Romanians, 19,290 Magyars, 16,461
Germans, 660 Transylvanian Saxons and Swabians, and 19,316 of
other nationalities live.
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Economy
Profile
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