View source for Săliștea

{{other uses|Săliștea (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Romanian subdivision
|type               = commune
|county             = Alba
|name               = Săliștea
|image_skyline      = File:SalisteaMansion.jpg
|imagesize          =
|image_caption      = Săliștea town hall, built in the 18th century as the mansion of the Barcsay family
|image_flag         = 
|flag_size          =
|image_shield       =
|shield_size        =
|image_map          = Salistea jud Alba.png
|mapsize            = 
|map_caption        = Location in Alba County
|leader_name        = Aurel Emil Stănilă
|leader_party       = PNL
|leader_term        = 2020&ndash;2024
|established_title  =
|established_date   = 
|coordinates        = {{coord|45|54|N|23|24|E|region:RO|display=it}}
|elevation          = 359
|elevation_min      = 
|elevation_max      = 
|elevation_footnotes = 
|area_total         = 60.11
|population_as_of   = 
|population_total   = auto
|population_footnotes = 
|postal_code        = 517655
|area_code          = +40 x58 
|website            = {{URL|https://comuna-salistea.ro}}
|footnotes          =
}}
'''Săliștea''' ({{langx|de|Tschorren}}; {{langx|hu|Alsócsóra}}), known as ''Cioara'' until 1965, is a [[Commune in Romania|commune]] located in [[Alba County]], [[Transylvania]], [[Romania]]. The old name of ''Cioara'' is still widely used, especially by local residents.

It is composed of four villages: Mărgineni, Săliștea, Săliștea-Deal, and Tărtăria (''Alsótatárlaka'').

==Geography==
Săliștea is located near the [[Mureș (river)|Mureș River]] in the southwestern part of [[Alba County]]. The centre of the commune is situated {{cvt|5|km}} north of a main [[Roads in Romania|Romanian National Road]], namely the [[DN7]], to which is connected by the county road DJ705E. The nearest cities are [[Sebeș]] (21&nbsp;km), [[Cugir]] (25&nbsp;km) and the county capital, [[Alba Iulia]] (27&nbsp;km).

The bordering communes are [[Blandiana]] in the north, [[Vințu de Jos]] in the north-east, [[Pianu]] in the east, the town of [[Cugir]] in the west and [[Șibot]] in the south.

The relief is dominated by the low terraces of the river Mureș in the north and the high plateau and several hills in the south. The highest hills, Globul, Hălmul and Coasta Răchitii, are about {{cvt|700|–|900|m}} high. Other hills are Văratecul (630 m), Dealul Mare (452 m), Dealul Ciorii (424 m), Dealul Calului (389 m) and Munceii Rotunzi (341 m).

The mean annual temperatures range between {{convert|5|and|9 |C}}.

==History==
[[File:Tartaria amulet retouched.PNG|thumb|left|200px|[[Neolithic]] clay [[amulet]] (retouched), part of the  [[Tărtăria tablets]] set, dated to 5500–5300 BC and associated with the [[Vinča culture|Turdaș-Vinča culture]]. The [[Vinča symbols]] on it predate the proto-[[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] pictographic script. Discovered in 1961 at [[Tărtăria]] by the archaeologist [[Nicolae Vlassa]].]]

The oldest traces of human activity in Săliștea date back to the [[Vinča culture]] of the Middle [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]]. The [[Tărtăria tablets]] dated [[6th millennium BC|5300 BC]] were discovered in the village of Tărtăria, part of the Săliștea commune, in 1961 by a team of Romanian archaeologists led by [[Nicolae Vlassa]].

Other archaeological findings indicate the existence of a [[Dacia]]n settlement in this area. The main discovery was a series of 62 pieces of silver artifacts, found in 1820 by Matei Molodeț, a villager from Săliștea.<ref>''Studii și cercetări de istorie veche și arheologie'', 1969, pp.319</ref> Several coins dated back to the times of [[Roman Dacia]] were also found by archaeologists.

The first attestation of a village in the area occupied today by Săliștea dates back to 4 November 1310, when by order of king [[Charles I of Hungary]], the village of '''Archișul Românesc''' (Romanian Archiș) was donated to [[Count]] Reneriu from [[Vințu de Jos]]. The other village, '''Drejman''', was attested in a document from 29 June 1375, when by order of king [[Louis I of Hungary]], ''villa Drasman'' is inherited by Reneriu's granddaughters.

[[Image:Visarion Oprea Sofronie.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Picture of [[Sofronie of Cioara]] (third from left to right)]]

On 23 May 1458 Archișul Românesc and Drejman were united to form the village of '''Cioara''', named after the stream Cioara, a tributary of river Mureș. It is possible that the stream Cioara was named after the famous inn close to the village of Archișul Românesc and Drejman, that had as an emblem a [[crow]] (in [[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''cioară'' or ''corb''). The emblem of the inn was also the emblem of the Barcsay [[Nobility|noble]] family from [[Bârcea Mare]], [[Hunedoara county|Hunedoara]], that was attested in this area in several documents from 1458 and 1462, and became the dominant noble family in Săliștea starting from 1508.

The village of Cioara is linked to [[Sofronie of Cioara]], the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Monk]] and [[Saint]] of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] who, between the autumn of 1759 and the spring of 1761, led the peaceful uprising of the Romanian Orthodox population against the [[Habsburg]] policy of encouraging all Romanians to join the [[Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic|Greek-Catholic Church]]. In 1701, the [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold I]] decreed Transylvania's Orthodox Church to be one with the Roman Catholic Church. Sofronie's peaceful uprising advocated for freedom of worship and the right of the Romanian population in [[Transylvania]] to have a Romanian Orthodox bishop. As a response to Sofronie's movement, the Austrian military commander systematically destroyed the monasteries in Transylvania that had served as centres of the uprising, including the one in Cioara. In the end however, The Orthodox achieved a notable victory: recognition by the court of Vienna of the legal existence of their church and the appointment of a bishop in person of [[Dionisije Novaković]].<ref>[[Keith Hitchins]], ''The Romanians 1774–1866'', Oxford, 1996, pp.202–203</ref>

Several historians also showed the involvement of several villagers from Cioara in the [[Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan]]<ref>David Prodan, ''Răscoala lui Horea'', Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1979</ref> and the [[Transylvanian Memorandum]] movement.

A number of 550 inhabitants of Cioara fought during [[World War I]] in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] and most of them as volunteers in the [[Romanian Land Forces|Romanian Army]] in the second part of the war. Sixty-five of them were reported dead in action.

On 1 December 1918, the [[Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia]] proclaimed the [[Union of Transylvania with Romania]]. Several people from Cioara took part in the Assembly, including the local priest, Constantin Oancea, who was one of the speakers in the Assembly.

During [[World War II]], more than 250 people from Cioara fought in the Romanian Army, of which 45 died in action. After the war, 65 children from [[Bessarabia]], including their teacher, found refuge in the commune.

The name of the commune was changed in 1965 from Cioara to Săliștea.

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|source = [http://www.insse.ro INS, Census data]
|1850 |1784
|1880 |2195
|1900 |2578
|1920 |2865
|1941 |3045
|1977 |3007
|1992 |2374
|2002 |2374
|2011 |2197
|2021 |2155
}}

According to the 2002 census, there were 2,374 people living in Săliștea (100% Romanians), of which 1,252 in the centre of the commune, 745 in Tărtăria, 309 in Săliștea Deal, and 77 in Mărgineni. At the [[2011 Romanian census|2011 census]], the population had decreased to 2,197. At the [[2021 Romanian census|2021 census]], there were 2,155 inhabitants in the commune, of which 2,039 were Romanians.<ref name="RPL2021">{{cite web|url=https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tabel-1.03_1.3.1-si-1.03.2.xls|title=Populația rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Romania)|INSSE]]|language=ro|date=31 May 2023}}</ref>

==Natives==
*[[Mircea Miclea]] (b. 1963), professor and psychologist 
*{{ill|David Prodan|ro}} (1902–1992), historian
*[[Sofronie of Cioara]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Monk]] and [[Saint]] of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]]

==See also==
* [[Tărtăria tablets]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Gallery
|File:RO AB Salistea 2011.83.jpg|Săliștea
|File:RO AB Salistea 2011.74.jpg|Saint Archangels church in Săliștea
|File:Biserica de lemn din Salistea4.jpg|Wooden church in Săliștea
|File:Monument for the Neolithic Tartaria tables, Tartaria, Romania.jpg|Monument for the Neolithic Tărtăria tablets
}}

{{LocalitiesAlba}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salistea, Alba}}
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Romania]]
[[Category:Communes in Alba County]]
[[Category:Localities in Transylvania]]