Salonta
From World travel guide
Downtown Mendoza.jpg Salonta (Template:Lang-hu, Template:Lang-ger) is a city and municipality in Bihor County, Transylvania, Romania.
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Population
The city has a population of 18,137 (Template:As of), made up of Hungarians (57.3%), Romanians (40.1%), Roma (2.1%), Germans (0.4%), and other (0.1%). Almost a half of the population is Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist); the remaining half is split between Christian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal and other faiths.
History
The city was first documented in 1214 under the name of Zolonta and in 1332 a Papal document used the name Zalanta. From 1587 the Hungarian spelling Szalonta was used.
Until the 16th century, it was only a small village of about 300 inhabitants and was on the land of the Toldi family. A bigger city was the fort of Culiser, which was however destroyed by the Turks in 1598.
Culiser was never rebuilt and Salonta began to have a more important role in the region after 1606, when the prince of Transylvania, Stephan Bocskai settled 300 soldiers here and appropriated land for them. They built their own farms, but had to keep their arms ready to repel an attack by the Turks. 3 June, the day in which the soldiers were settled, is nowadays declared "the day of the city". However, Ottoman Turks captured the town in 1660 and as "Salanta", it became the sanjak center of Varat vilayet until 1692.
Renowned Hungarian 19th Century poet, János Arany, was born and lived in Salonta for most of his life. Lajos Zilahy, another noted Hungarian author, was also born in Salonta on 27 March 1891.
Climate and geography
Salonta has a continental humid climate, with warm to hot summers and cold to very cold winters, but relatively little snow. The average annual precipitation is 578 cubic mm (22.8 inches).<ref>NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center; New et al. 2002, online, [1]</ref> The average January temperature is -2.4 Celsius and in July it is 20.7 Celsius (averages for low and high). It is located in the plains west of the Apuseni Carpathians at an elevation of 97 meters.
Trivia
The city of Salonta was the host for the 2006 Romanian National Gliders Championship (Campionat naţional de aeromodelism) and its team, Metalul Salonta, has won the championship several times. <ref>Romanian Aeromodelism, Salonta Cup [2]</ref>
Politics
The Salonta Municipal Council, elected in the 2008 local government elections, is made up of 17 councillors, with the following party composition:
Image Gallery
 Reformed Cathedral |
 Salonta Tower |
Sister cities
- Template:Flagicon Csepel, Hungary
- Template:Flagicon Hajdúböszörmény, Hungary
- Template:Flagicon Nagykőrös, Hungary
- Template:Flagicon Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia
- Template:Flagicon Sarkad, Hungary
- Template:Flagicon Túrkeve, Hungary
- Template:Flagicon Derecske, Hungary
References
- NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center; New et al. 2002, online, http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/salonta.html
- Romanian National Aeromodelism, Salonta Cup, http://www.salonta.net/en/files/etc/repulo.htm
External links
Template:LocalitiesBihorde:Salonta eo:Salonta it:Salonta hu:Nagyszalonta nl:Salonta pl:Salonta pt:Salonta ro:Salonta tg:Салонта
