Şimleu Silvaniei

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Şimleu Silvaniei (Template:Lang-hu, Template:Lang-de) is a town in Sălaj County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 16,066 people (2002 census). It is 65.7% Romanian, 25% Hungarian, 8.9% Roma, and 0.4% others.

1 History
2 Sights to see
3 Famous natives
4 Sister cities
5 Notes
6 References

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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.

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