Marginenii

GEOGRAPHICA PANNONICA
Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

ISSN 1820-7138 (online)
Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

of a Transylvanian Carpathian Community
Mircea BuzaA, Marioara Cojocariu-CosteaB, David TurnockC*
Received: May 2009 | Revised: October 2009 | Second Revised: December 2009 | Accepted: December 2009
Abstract
The paper profiles the evolution of a Romanian Carpathian community that has a long association with the
countrys German minority; with a sharp contrast between the Medieval period, when the Germans lived
as a privileged group in the closed city of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and its surrounding communities such as
Cisndie (Heltau) displacing the indigenous Romanians towards the higher ground, and the last century
which has seen the Romanians establishing an overwhelming majority in all parts of Sibiu county. Stimulated to an extent by the German markets, the Romanian communities maximised the potential for a pastoral
economy through transhumance systems which once extended well beyond the present limits of the Romanian state and supported a range of manufacturing and handicraft activities at home. Despite the erosion of these systems by steppeland colonisation and the logistics of transit (which now include EU animal
welfare regulations) the vibrant communities of Mrginenii Sibiului continue to show a capacity for adaptation in harmony with the big city with which they now share a improved standard of infrastructure and a
substantial tourist industry as well as ongoing participation in its labour market.
Key words: Carpathians, ethnicity, Sibiu, settlement history, tourism, transhumance
Introduction:
The region and its significance
The Romanian Carpathians are well known for the intensity
of the pastoral life (Vuia 1964) and the commitment of the
Romanians to this branch of farming ties up with the tradition of Dacian occupation of the high ground. This may
give rise to exaggerated claims for permanent occupation
well above the present levels of permanent settlement, but it
certainly provides the basis for the colonisation of the more
northerly parts of the Carpathians by Wallachian shepherds who may provide an origin for the Lemko/Rusyn minorities in parts of Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine (Turnock
2003). Individual localities provide their own peculiar testimonies to a traditional mountain economy which is by
no means eclipsed by the modernisation and diversification of the past century. However Mrginimea Sibiului offers particular attractions for a local study given the almost
unique intensity of the pastoral life in this area, noticed by
Emm. de Martonne and especially by L.Somean: this certainly applied historically but still remains relevant today
given the extent of the mountain pastures; while the retention of long-wave transhumance systems continued in the
westernmost part of the area until very recently (Plates 1-2).
The district comprises a cluster of localities at the contact
of the Cindrel and Lotru Mountains with the Sibiu-Apold
Depression. However while several settlements do lie right
on the contact at 550-600m, four (Gale, Ru Sadului, Rod
and Tilica) are situated in valleys at 600-750m (Plates
3-4) and another two (Jina and Poiana Sibiului) are sate
de culme lying even higher up (750-950m) on the gentlysloping Gornovia surface: the lowest of three peneplains
(Plate 5). Here as the saying goes there is much sunshine
and little snow compared with the valleys; although windbreaks are needed (hence the farmhouses have large courtyards into which carts can be driven) and the lack of water
calls for storage tanks as well as the pumping of groundwater. The paper is primarily a work in settlement history but
it also has an ecological content relating to the peneplains
and the conservation of grasslands with high nature value
(Jones 2007).
A Institute
of Geography, Str.Dimitrie Racovia 12, 023993 Bucureti Sec.2, Romnia; e-mail: [email protected]
Department of Ecology & Environmmental Protection, Lucian Blaga University, Str.Dr.Ion Raiu 5-7, 550012 Sibiu, Romania;
e-mail: [email protected]
C Department of Geography, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, U.K.; e-mail: [email protected]
* Corresponding author: David Turnock, e-mail: [email protected]
B
137

Figure 1. The district of Mrginenii Sibiului
Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)
In terms of todays administrative units (Table 1) the area

includes six communes comprising single villages: Gura
Rului dating back to 1476: the year of the earliest documentary mention (Ghinea 1996-8, II pp.126-8), Jina (1733),
Orlat (1317), Poiana Sibiului (1532), Poplaca (1488), Ru Sadului (1850) and Sadu (1488). Some of these communes include
outlying hamlets e.g. Drgneasa and Fundu Rului in
138
Plate 1. Sheep grazing in the Jina area 2003

(K.Urushibara-Yoshino)
Ru Sadului commune which are not officially regarded as

separate settlements. But two other communes do include a
second (official) village: Prislop (no date) in Rinari commune (1488) and Rod (also 1488) in Tilica commune (1366).
And there are two other communes (both now urban) that
lie only partly in the study area. Slite (1354) a town since
2003 officially comprises ten units although only five
Gale (1383), Fntnele, initially known as Cacova or Cacova Sibiului (1366), Sibiel (1383) and Vale (1383) as well as
Slite itself are traditionally settlements of Mrginenii
Sibiului. Meanwhile in Tlmaciu (1318) a town since 1989
there are seven units of which only Boia and Tlmcel
(both 1488) are part of the district. The total number of official settlements is therefore 18 lying within 11 communes
or towns. The settlements lie along river axes: the Cibin and
Sadu (both tributaries of the Olt) with the latter of lesser
importance embracing Sadu and Tlmaciu only. As regards
population at the last census (2002) there are seven villages
with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants:Ru Sadului 636, Rod 465,
Sibiel 400, Vale 384, Gale 331, Fntnele 252 and Prislop
243; five with 1,000-2,500: Sadu 2,472, Poplaca 1,779, Boia
1,517, Tlmcel 1,224 and Tilica 1,197; and six with over
2,500: Rinari 5,286, Jina 4,073, Gura Rului 3,621, Orlat
3,271, Slite 2,830 and Poiana Sibiului 2,799. It is also worth
Mircea Buza, Marioara Cojocariu-Costea,

David Turnock
noting that while Crin is listed as a vilof German/Saxon settlement in the

lage in the urban territory of Slite it
province) and accommodated the Saxhas no permanent population, consiston assembly: Universitas Saxorum.
ing only of chalets, sheepfolds and sumHence the name of our study area as
mer houses, while Pltini is a substanMrginimea Sibiului (Conea, 1965)
tial resort within Rinari commune
or Mrginenime, while the Romanibut is subordinate to the town of Sibiu.
ans and/or Romanian settlements of
The coherence of the area derives
the district are known as Mrginenii
historically from a mutually beneficial
Sibiului. It is also worth adding that
association between the Romanian
the area has some coherence historpastoralists and the Saxon (German)
ically in connection with the foursettlers who founded the commercial
teenth-sixteenth century feudal tersettlements of Heltau (Cisndie) and
ritory extending from Fntnele in
Hermannstadt (Sibiu) which relied on
the east to Tilica in the west but centhe supply of raw materials based on
tred on Slite and known for a time
the local pastures and forests (expandas Ducatul Amlaului and, as already
ing in recent times into regular comnoted, the oldest settlements date to
muting for employment and services).
the beginning of this period, with
Sibiu is known from 1190 as a German
Slite documented as Magna Villa
community near the Roman settle- Plate 2. A Jina sheepfarmer wearing the Valachialis (Grecu 1990). Strongpoints
traditional coat or cojoc (S.Shirasaka)
ment of Caedonia (while other comare known at Sibiel nearby, through
munities followed at Cisndioara and Cristian in 1223,
Salgo castle built in 1322 within the Amla territory: part
elimbr in 1327 and ura Mare 1332). With craft guilds
of a chain in the in the upper Cibin valley at some 700m
reported in 1376 and a school in 1380, Sibiu became the
altitude which also included Fntnele, Gale and Tilica.
most important of the Siebenbrgen (a grouping of sevThere was also a thirteenth/fourteenth century feudal casen castles and related settlements which formed the core
tle at Rinari while the Cetatea de Pmnt of Orlat seTable 1. Population 1857-2002
Town or
Commune
Census Year
1857*
1880
1910
1966
1992
#2002 (ii) (iii)
MRGINIMEA SIBIULUI**
Gura Rului
2454
2357
2694
3524
3643
3621 49.3 2.52
Jina
1960
2658
3471
4009
4348
4073 49.3 3.96
Orlat
1649
1658
1836
2953
3363
3271 52.6 2.73
Poiana Sibiului
4288
3401
4204
3248
3178
2799 53.6 1.75
Poplaca
2287
2315
2613
2123
1734
1779 49.6 2.34
Rinari
6012
5232
5771
5774
5645
5529 51.3 2.79
900
1095
736
636 45.8 1.99
Sadu
1626
1759
2143
2463
2561
2472 50.8 2.14
Slite
Rul Sadului***
14528
11833
11378
7937
6103
5795 51.0 1.79
Tlmaciu
3479
3719
11549
9261
9369
8837 50.3 2.79
Tilica
4431
3401
3266
2161
1899
1662 51.3 1.68
Total
42714
38333
49825
44548
42579
40424 50.7 2.56
Cisndie
3207
4078
4028
14979
17807
15648 51.5 3.46
MiercureaSibiului
4160
4835
5953
6581
4161
4063 50.2 2.63
Sibiu
22212
28515
45772
118581
177561
163340 52.6 1.03
Total
29479
37428
55753
140141
199529
183051 52.5 1.26
Grand Total
72293
75761
105578
184689
242108
223475 52.1 1.48
* 1857 data includes 2898 persons absent from Mrginimea Sibiului (2088 from Slite and Tilica) but the adjacent urban areas should also include 2124 persons
staying temporarily.
** Data relates to the whole of the communes/towns listed including some areas outside the traditional limits of the region (likewise for Tables 2-4)
***Sibiu figures include Cristian and elimbar. Rul Sadului commune is known from 1850 but its population could have been included with Rinari in 1857 and
1880 since this was the base for pastoralists using the higher sections of the Sadu valley.
#2002 figures also include (ii) the percentage of the population female and (iii) the population below 30 years of age as a multiple of the over 60s.
Alternative names for communes/villages are: (a) in German Gallusdorf (Gale); Winsberg (Orlat); Gonczesdorf (Poplaca); Stdterdorf (Rinari); Grossendorf/ Selischte
(Slite), Talmesch (Tlmaciu); and Tilischen (Tilisca); (b) in Hungarian Szebenkkova (Fntnele); Szebenglos (Gale); Gurar (Gura Rului); Zsinna (Jina); Orlt (Orlat);
Rasinr (Rinari); Rioszd (Ru Sadului); Rd (Rod); Cd (Sadu); Szelistye (Slite), Szibiel (Sibiel); Nagytalmcs (Tlmaciu); Tilicske (Tilisca); and Vle (Vale).
Sources: Census data: Romanian census data including Geography Institute (Bucharest) calculations for 1910 and Rotariu et al. 1997; 1998 for 1857/1880. For further
basic data see Badea et al. 1971 and Ghinea 1996-8.
ADJACENT URBAN AREAS
139

Plate 3. The village of Gale situated in a small depression

(M.Cojocariu-Costea)
140
Plate 5. The plateau village of Poiana Sibiului

cured the contact between the plain and the

close familiarity with the Carpathian terrain
lower beech forest zone with the greatest ecoand knowledge of the historical detail through
nomic potential.
documentary study as well as secondary sourcReference should also be made to the
es linked with a doctorate thesis. The ecologiHabsburg administration in the early modcal aspects have been thoroughly researched
ern period which highlighted the strategic sigthrough fieldwork (e.g. Buza 2004) and relanificance of the frontier with the principality
tions with the German community have been
of Wallachia, then under Ottoman suzeraintraced through works such as Lotreanu (1988).
ty. Indeed in the eighteenth century (1762) EmThe paper is organised into three main sections.
press Maria Theresa established a frontier regThe first deals with the period pre-1800 coveriment (regiment de grani) at Orlat where
ing the first centuries or interaction between
the hreadquarters building of 1763 remains
the Romanian and Saxon communities but also
and this had a particular relevance for Jina (as
an earlier period (without documentary sourcPlate 4. Emblem for the
well as some other villages in Alba, Braov and
es) for which there has been much speculation
commune of Tilica
Hunedoara counties) which received a large
over the settlement and migration of the Roma(M.Cojocariu-Costea)
land endowment. But the physical factor has
nians and their Dacian antecedents. Our view
significance with regard to the Cindrel Mountains (Buza &
is against any notion of major settlement shifts to the high
Fecsi 1972, 1973, 1983) through the succession of peneplains
surfaces during the Dark Age invasion period or earlier
giving rise to smooth mountain summits: well-levelled
(Turnock 2003). The following section on the eighteenth
summits slope almost radially down to 750-800m above the
and nineteenth centuries has much richer documentation
depressions (Badea & Buza 1994, p.110). This has favoured
(including census returns) for tracing the the expansion of
human penetration as have the valley systems, especially
the Romanian community manifested through a remarkathe Olt and its tributaries where there is now a well-develble development of long-wave transhumance researched by
oped road system. These characteristics also apply further
Dragomir (1925, 1938) and more recent writers. While conwest in the ureanu Mountains but Mrginimea Sibiului is
tinuing to supply raw materials to Sibiu the Romanians also
arguably more remarkable in terms of its human geogradeveloped a range of local industries, with a special reputaphy through the intensity of development linked with the
tion for their textile production. For the twentieth century
industries of Sibiu. The Romanians showed great persistwe see continued dispersal of Romanian enterprise across
ence in opening up a band of settlement and agriculture bethe Carpathians (especially Wallachia) contemporaneoustween 500 and 900m (not to mention summer grazings in
ly with constraints on long-wave transhumance. But at the
the high mountains) by extending networks based on the
same time the Romanians were able to penetrate the old
primary (obst) communities of the Cibin valley at Apold,
Saxon citadels to expand the industrial base and gradualSliste and Rinari where secondary woodland now covly establish a Romanian majority alongside remants of the
ers part of the land originally cleared. There was also masSaxon community which is still highly influential in the life
sive forest clearance to provide pastures and hay meadows
of the city. For this period we offer a much richer statistical
with temporary huts (
colibele
) and grazing stations (
stbase and substantial policy input.
ne). This was not without environmental consequences but
the gradual rate of clearance and the use of distant pastures
Early settlement:
helped to moderate erosion (Buza 2000).
Prehistoric and medieval
Our paper is written as a historical narrative tracing the
economic and social evolution of this remarkable communiAs regards early settlement Neolithic (Turda) cultural vesty with physical resources based on the high mountain surtiges have been found at Trtria (Slite) while a Neolithfaces and economic opportunity arising through commeric axe has been found near Rinari. Tilica is outstanding
cial involvement with the Saxons. Our research team has
for the Bronze/Dacian settlement discovered on Dl.Cna
in 1959-60: fortified with an earth ditch and two stone/brick

towers. But Giurcneanu (1988, pp.254-60) also refers to Neolithic settlement at Boia, Fntnele and Tilica; also the
Bronze/Iron Age sites at Rinari and Dacian/Roman vestiges at Boia and Rod. There seems little doubt that the Romans found the Dacian tribes effectively occupying the
Carpathians, for the terrain in this area offers extensive elevated surfaces for pastoralism. However, while the Dacian
sites in the Ortie Mountains point to a presence on the the
highest surfaces, permanent settlement at these altitudes
remains unproven. Migrations from the east transformed
the political and ethnic geography of East Central Europe but significantly did not bring about the same radical
change in the Romanian Carpathians. The situation during
the occupation by the nomadic Petchenegs is by no means
clear but it is believed that while the invaders imposed tribute on the indigenous population the regime was basically
one of cohabitation (convieuirea) (Irimie et al. 1985, p.61).
A pastoral farming system was maintained with several
mountains named after the invaders who are referred to in
documents as bisseni: Muntele Bainu (1963m) near Cristian as well as Dealul Binu which occurs at Jina and
also near Sibiu and several instances where the name Basarab appears; pointing not only to the influence of the invaders but also the uninterrupted occupation of the area by
Romanians (Ibid). Indeed it was the invaders who were assimilated although they imposed some influence on the Romanian language.
There has been some speculation over the survival strategy of the indigenous population especially with regard to
settlement since insecurity may have prompted some significant changes. Buza (1974) refers to a temporary adjustment (parasire temporar) involving retreat to higher and
safer places (locuri mai ferite) probably within the forested zone. But it is likely that the relatively modest peasant strongholds established by larger agriculturally-based
communities obtile steti libere, standing close to the
present-day settlements offer the best clues to the Medieval security system. Because change was also taking place
(independently of the strategic situation) by way of transition from dispersed settlement in the Dark Ages the
Thracian-Illyrian hamlet or ctun established by family
groups to the nucleated village (Buza 1981). Consolidation
of rural settlement could have resulted in withdrawal from
some hamlets on the higher ground; producing a downward movement from the hills to the valleys suggested by
evidence of former spade (sapa) cultivation on mountain
slopes that are now wooded. However it is possible that the
older redundant settlements could have found a new function as pastoral outliers colibele and bordeiele (typically with closed polygonal structures) related to the seasonal use of high grazings on the basis transhumance (Irimie et
al. 1985, p.65). Thus, in the case of Sadu we have La Curele
and La Bordeie (shelter) standing on the higher ground
above the village core close to the Sadu river (Ibid, p.74).
However consolidation did not always involve an altitudinal shift because at Slite the old hamlets of Brata and
Steaza are components of the present settlement whose
great age is testified by the element silite which applies to
the older settlements.
Much more substantial was the impact of the Magyars

(Hungarians) who conquered Pannonia in the ninth century before embracing Christianity as the ideology of a state
that extended its dominion over adjacent territories including Transylvania which they sought to defend against
further invasions through a feudal regime imposed in the
tenth and eleventh centuries. Of course there is little reliable information on our study area but we hear of the campaigns by Ladislau as early as the eleventh century which
helped to disperse the Petchenegs who disappear from the
historical record in 1241 with the arrival of the Tatars. The
development of feudalism (superseding the regime of free
obst communities) n the tenth/eleventh centuries cannot
be unrelated to security issues and we find some evidence of
a coordinated defence system along the edge of the Cindrel
and Fgra Mountains (Ssciori to Avrig) including installations in our area associated with the ducat of Amla.
Significant here was Salgo fort (dating to 1322-1366 as already mentioned) which was built by the communities of
Cacova (now Fntnele), Gale, Slite and Sibiel: it recalls
the Dacian castle at Tilica (from the second and first centuries BC) that was part of a system developed around the
Ortie Mountains. Responsibility for defence later passed
to the towns which came to exercise feudal authority and
in the fifteenth century we hear of the Sibiu seat or scaun
to which the scaunele romneti of Miercurea, Sliste
and Tlmaciu were subordinate. But it is also clear that the
threat of further incursions from the east prompted an invitation for Saxons to settle in privileged communities as
guests (hospites) and consolidate the defence of the province especially during the reign of King Geza II (1141-1166)
when the eastern and southern borders were exposed and
contribute to economic development of a wider multicultural region. The event was of profound significance in creating a historic landscape of Saxon villages to complement
the established Romanian system (Akeroyd 2006).
Several new settlements took root on the more fertile
ground of our area where Sibiu was established in c.1150 on
the 2-25m terrace of the Cibin, followed in 1204 by Cisndie
(Heltau) on an extensive floodplain closer to the Cindrel
Mountains. They forcibly occupied the most fertile depressions and the lower hills, evidently displacing the Romanians towards the higher ground, although there is little detailed documentation. However, there is little doubt that
Cisndie was planted on Romanian land, while the need
for water power gave the settlers an interest in the Sadu valley where the Romanian obt and cneaz, though not displaced, became subject to Cisndies feudal authority. The
evidence suggests friendly sdenii-cisndienii relations
but feudal obligations are made clear in a document of 1646
naming Romanians as iobgii (feudal dependents) when
Gheorghe Rackoczi gave the Saxon community exclusive
rights. New settlements were still being established at this
time as Romanians moved towards the higher ground e.g.
from Dobrca near Miercurea Sibiului to Valea Mare (Poiana Sibiului) first mentioned in 1488 (as already noted) and
from Apoldu de Sus to Rod in response to German pressure in the Apold and Sibiu depressions, with documentary evidence of the legal struggles by the Romanians in Gura
Rului and Orlat to resist the Saxons of Cristian. But on

David Turnock
141

142
the whole the legacy is primarily one of peaceful coexistence and reciprocity both in this area and in other parts
of southern Transylvania (Moga 1944, 1973). And it is from
these early Medieval contacts that a firm historical outline
becomes available as the Mrginenii shepherds evidently maintained close commercial ties with the Saxons and
supplied their cloth factory in Cisndie; which in turn accelerated development in the Romanian villages (Conea
& Badea 2004). In this way Mrginenii Sibiului provides
a credible model for a dynamic pre-capitalist Balkan-Carpathian economic system (viaa economic de tip primitiv
carpatic-balcanic) (Irimie et al. 1985, p.61).
Agriculture involved cereals (barley and rye) with vegetables and textile crops based on cultivation by both plough
and spade (sapa). There was also fruit growing and apiculture; complemented by handicrafts based on wood, leather, textiles and milk. By the fourteenth century water power
was being harnessed and we hear of the water mills: mori
de ap; not to mention the local expressions vltoarea and
teaza with the latter cropping up as the name for small
steams at Rinari and Slite as well as as a pair of hills
(teaza Mic/Mare) at Jina (Irimie et al. 1985, p.66). The
mills were used for fulling (pive), hammering (ciocanele),
sawing (ferestraele) and breaking stone and ore (steampurile), while oil/grape presses and small brandy distilleries (alambicurile de alcool) were also operating (Ibid,
p.69). Sheep grazing systems based on transhumance are
documented at Rainari from the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries (though they werte probably very much older) and
extended certainly far as the Lotru valley in the south, with
the name staul (stable) from the Latin stabulum - and
later stna as a useful indicator of the spatial extent: e.g.
Pdurea Staulelor at Poiana Sibiului and La Staule at Jina
where documentation comes a little later. Altitudinally it is
possible to envisage clearings (prisci) up to 1,200-1,400m
for hunting as well as grazing with nedeia markets on the
watersheds where the phrase trguri de dou ri markets for two lands indicates a rationale whereby central
places on the high ground could unite people on either side
of the mountains (Ibid, p.64). Studies of the local toponomy
(Vlad 1996a, 1996b) highlight the importance of pastoralism and also deforestation indicated by names such as Ars,
Pleu/Pleaa, Poiana and Runc. However, as already established, the presumption that people were living permanently at such levels is not supported by archaeology or by documentary evidence.
Modern settlement:
The eighteenth-nineteenth centuries
The research of Irimie et al. (1985) in this zone suggests that
the great pastoral enterprise grew to a peak during this period. Quite apart from the limited local fodder supply (even
after centuries of deforestation) the fact that it snows too
soon in winter ninge iute: a quote attributed to Ioan Bratu
of Tilica (Constantin 2003b, p.97) had serious implications for the survival of the sheep which, although tough
are liable to give up to the coldness of winter. Hence significant enlargement of flocks became dependent on milder
wintering conditions. So Mrginenii shepherds made reg-
ular visits to Banat, Debrecen and the Giurghiu-Climan

area of north Transylvania, while sheep also passed southwards as they also did from the Kronstadt (Braov) area
en route to Ottoman territory after the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) opened the way for the wintering of livestock
in the Lower Danube valley and Dobrogea. This involved a
journey of up to 300kms, taking 12-14 days. In this way itinerant shepherds would set up a traditional pastoral outlier un fel de enclave zootehnice tradiionale (Ibid p.96)
in the distant steppes. Payment of tribute (beilic) to the
Turks secured teschkere: the right to roam at will around
Balcic, Bazargic as well as Batova (the valley without winter). In March they would return home, taking advantage of the Zimnicea floodplain grazings en route. Alternatively the East Carpathian customs posts of Ghime and
Oituz gave access to the Jijia valley of North Moldavia; also
Bessarabia and even lands beyond the Nistru or Dniester
(Dragomir 1925, 1938). Pastoralism was stimulated by population growth and fiscal pressures, which also encouraged
some Ungureni (Romanians from Hungarian territory) to
settle permanently on the Ottoman side of the mountains
and Constantin (2004, p.98) highlights the remark of Donat
(1966, p.293) that some 80 new villages had been founded by
Transylvanian pastoralists in the southeastern Carpathians
by the end of the eighteenth century.
Meanwhile at home there was further deforestation
linked with more intensive pastoralism based on an increased hay harvest, along with cultivation up to 900m at
Jina (where border modifications in 1766 gave much more
land to the local community) as well as Rod and Poiana
Sibiului. With some terracing on sloping land (especially north of Poiana Sibiului), agricultural progress centred
on the potato crop (grown at heights of 1,300m around
shepherds huts) and there was increased attention to fruit
growing and beekeeping linked with local processing (e.g.
fruit drying) for subsistence in winter. At Sadu sheepbreeding made use of the caracul breed from Dobrogea and the
igaie from Moldavia. Meanwhile, the larger villages like
Rinari and Slite (which supported their own business
schools) took on more of an industrial and commercial
character while smaller settlements without supplementary non-agricultural resources often went into decline by
the end of the nineteenth century. There were some specialist trade organisations, seeking greater trade efficiency, like
the pieptnarilor (carding masters) at Gale in 1856 and
cojocarii (sheepskin coat makers) at Slite in 1869. Societatea de Pstrare i mprunut din Rinari (1867) was actually a small commercial bank, serving local agricultural
interests by handling deposits and loans for new business,
which avoided the Saxon monopoly on banking in Sibiu.
Increased wool production (arising from the expansion of
the transhumance system) had positive implications for local industry as well as the supply of raw material to Saxon
businesses. In addition, fulling was carried out for weavers
from an extensive area across southern Transylvania who
forwarded their goods (Irimie et al. 1985, p.256). Perhaps
most remarkable were attempts to develop an iron industry at the end of the eighteenth century when Daniil Brsan of Slite brought in a specialist from the Beiu area of
Bihor to open up a rural forge un mare atelier de fierrie
in order to make ploughs and other equipment sold in

Transylvanian towns and also in Wallachia, not to mention
the needs of locksmiths, wheelwrights and other crafts. In
the late nineteenth century there were around 50 smithies
(fierari) in the district including eight in Gura Rului,
seven each in Poplaca and Slite, four each in Tlmacel
and Tilica and three each in Sadu, Rinari, Orlat and Sibiel cumulatively producing farm tools like a factory.
Some were still working in the 1930s (Ibid, p.257).
In spite of centuries of deforestation there was still plenty
of beech and resinous (fir/spruce) woodland exceeding 80%
of the land at Jina, 70% at Orlat, 60% at Boia, Gura Rului,
Rainari and Sibiel and 50% at Poplaca and Tlmacel (but
only 40.0% at Rul Sadului, 36.4% at Slite, 30.6% at Tilisca, 21.1% at Gale, 15.7% at Vale and 11.4% at Rod) (Irimie et
al. 1985, p.231). So collecting firewood and timber for manufacturing (lemne de lucru) was an important task, especially in winter and spring. In Jina and Orlat frontier associations (composesoratele grnicereti) operated from
the seventeenth century until 1948. With the stimulus of local demand and export of sawn timber to Wallachia, systematic exploitation was evident from the first half of the
nineteenth century through local cooperative organisation (ntovrirea mrginenilor) with floating on the Cibin and Sadu downstream from the Gura Rului and Ru
Sadului areas (the latter settlement first mentioned in 1850):
construction timber could be supplied as rafts consisting of
tree stems roped together (plute nchingate), with a simple tiller (fel de protap) for navigation,while casual floating (plutritul liber) was used for firewood. Wood was an
important business at Sadu when sheep were exchanged in
winter for such essentials as carts and plough-shafts (Lotreanu 1988, p.73). The first capitalist logging companies (who
introduced steam powered saws or gatere) arrived in the
Sadu area in 1906 and worked the resinous timber on the
two sides of the valley, each with its own light railway. The
first, known as OFA, was a Swiss consortium that provided an office and housing for its employees in Tlmaciu near
the Sadu/Cibin confluence. However its railway was poorly constructed with fragile track that caused many derailments and serious accidents until workers insisted on an
adequate braking system. Wood was transferred to the
standard gauge railway at Tlmaciu and taken to Sibiu. A
second company arrived in 1908 (Feltrinelli from Italy a
name still used for one of the local forests) and built a sawmill between Tlmaciu and Vetem, served by a well-built
railway that set a standard for the first.
Great reliance was placed on water power. The water-powered sawmill (jogar) originated in the sixteenth
century but the number increased rapidly in the eighteenth. The joagreni worked on the cutting, transport and
processing of wood, especially at Gura Rului, Rinari and
Sadu (with processing at Boia and Tlmaciu where joiners
and producers of wooden roof tiles were well represented).
In 1844 there were 960 joagre in Transylvania of which
200 were in mrginene villages (a third in Gura Rului)
owned by cooperative groups or ntovrii (Irimie et
al. 1985, p.283). New mills were still being built in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century: 11 in Rinari alone (Ibid,
p.232). The use of water power reached the highest levels
at this time with fulling/wash mills, cornmills and sawmills totalling 65 at Gura Rului compared with 10-20 at
Orlat, Rinari, Rod, Sadu and Tilica. Building these installations was a considerable labour in itself, involving not
only the mills but also the feeder canals and ponds known
as jilipuri at Ru Sadului and iazuri or scocuri at Gura
Rului. Meanwhile a limited number of cornmills were
needed, while the textile industry required the multiplication of fulling mills (pive) and wash mills (vltori) especially at Slite, Sibiel and Tilica. Corn and fulling mills
were usually built within the village perimeters for security,
whereas the sawmills were more scattered in order to economise on transport. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were still 18 sawmills in the village of Gura Rului plus another 20 towards the mountains.
The period was one of substantial population growth. Incomplete estimates for the period c.1700-1850 (Buza 2000)
suggest a rapid increase averaging 2.4% per annum whereas census returns for the period 1857-2002 show a decline
of -0.03%, although the adjacent urban areas (mainly Sibiu)
show growth averaging 3.6% per annum and the overall figure is +1.4% (Table 1). Population growth was a factor in
the building of chuches in the eighteenth century: Poiana
Sibiului in 1730 (a wooden church using fir beams), Rinari
in 1758 on the site of an earlier fourteenth century church;
Poplaca in 1793, Orlat in 1794, Jina in 1796 and Slite in 1798
(using materials of a sixteenth century monastery closed in
1788) as well as Sadu and Tilica of unknown date. However
this was also an era of enlightenment when Andrei aguna
(1809-1873), as the Orthodox Bishop of Sibiu, encouraged a
wave of new construction in line with trends in Wallachia
with which closer economic ties were being established. The
physical growth of villages may be considered in the light
of research at Poiana Sibiului revealing a sixteenth century axis of development running roughly eastwards along
Valea Radei from the present village centre with its Piaa de
Vadu. Eventually, the inconvenience of excessive linearity,
coupled with the risks of flood, pushed eighteenth century
development on the the ridges (delnie) then lying to the
north (Pe Dealu and Pe Capu Dealului with a market place
of Piaa Trgului) and also a church square: Piaa Bisericii,
with a wooden chuch in 1779 (Possa & Mihalik 1966). There
was much more expansion southwards however: Hodorul
de Jos/Sus close to the centre and Crnu and Valea Lupai
further away. The expansion of transhumance in the nineteenth century then correlates with the development of the
western sector of the village: starting with Vadu, along the
Jina road, followed by Grdini and Pe Vlain on the delnie
to the south and finally northwestwards to Pe la Arini: the
last delnia to be developed (an area also used for growing
vegetables on terraced ground). The net result is a butterflyshaped layout with an east-west extent of some three kilometers, with only limited expansion northwards because
of the steep scarp whereas there is a more gentle rise over
600-1,000m below Vf.Ciuha (1,064m). But a north-south
extent of about one kilometer is constrained not only by a
steep scarp to the north but also by the high wooded hill of
Ghilghiu (940m) immediately south of the centre, though
there is a row of farmhouses (Pe Curtur, indicating a
clearing) in the narrow depression between Ghilghiu and

David Turnock
143

144
the next hill (Vf.Pietriceaua 974m). A large centrally-placed

market was provided at Piaa de Vadu early in the nineteenth century and a new church followed in 1836. A choir
formed in 1908 and constituted a significant social and cultural activity.
Growth evidently eased in the late nineteenth century as
transhumance became constrained through cultivation of
the steppes from the 1860s and a particularly hard winter
in 1875; while tighter border controls (preventing entry to
into Bulgaria in 1879) made the Danube the effective limit.
Customs wars between Romania and the Habsburg Empire
broke out during 1885-91 when Romanias interest in protecting domestic industry affected her agricultural exports
and resulted in less favourable border regulations. Some
shepherds moved on to work seasonally in Bessarabia with
the flocks of large landowners. They travelled via Bistria
and Bucovina, while returning with payment in wool for
use in the textile industry at home via the more circuitous
route through Lviv, Debrecen, Oradea and Cluj (avoiding
Romanian customs duties by passing directly from Russian
to Habsburg territory). But the wool road (drumul lnii)
running through the Eastern Carpathians via the Trotu
valley and Braov provided the opportunity of picking up
salt on the way. Some pastoralists pushed on to the open
spaces of Crimea and Caucasus (heading eastwards from
Sulina) for a more congenial environment avoiding the
hard winters and dry summers in Bessarabia and reaping
good profits for a ten year absence from home.
Another late nineteenth century strategy was to give up
sheep rearing and turn to itinerant peddling (comer ambulant) selling locally-produced goods and others too
along various familiar wool roads: (a) northeastwards
through Transylvania to Trgu Mure, Bistria, Suceava
and ernivci (Cernui); (b) eastwards through Braov and
the Oituz Pass to Tecuci and thence towards the Black Sea
coast via Galai and Ismail or else to Chiinu and Tighina; (c) southwards to the Danube at Turnu Severin, Calafat or Turnu Mgurele (following the river downstream to
Cernavod in the latter case); or (d) southeastwards along
the edge of the Fgra Mountains to Piteti and Bucharest. While the women did not normally go beyond the limits of Transylvania, the men would travel down the Olt valley to the Danube, perhaps with 60-70 carts setting off at
the same time. The Coma business in Slite was one of
the more important. At the same time there was some permanent settlement along these routes where the Ungureni typically formed distinct settlements apart from the indigenous Pmnteni (Bug & Dobre 1996, p.265). Many
moved into Transylvanian towns, such as Bistria and Trgu Mure to the north and Haeg and Petroani to west, but
others crossed the frontier into Oltenia to set up businesses
in the towns of Rmnicu Vlcea and Slatina or in such rural
areas as Novaci, Polovragi and Vaideeni where water power could be harnessed. They also settled along the Bessarabian routes, including Brila, Galai, Falciu and Hui, while
some found their way to Dobrogea (generally remaining
in their adopted settlements after the post-World War One
unification of Romanian territories) and a few were able to
emigrate to the United States. However, while population
declined on the whole after 1857, there was some growth
during 1880-1910 though expansion of wood processing at

Tlmaciu although there may also have been higher natural increase as well.
Romanian-Saxon relations
An interesting question at this time is the nature of contacts between the Romanian and German communities.
Although the latter were privileged it should not be assumed that the relationship was one-sided. There can be little doubt about the role of the Mrginenii in supplying the
Saxon towns: not only with wool and timber but also stone
from Rinari and lime from Orlat. The water supply function is interesting and follows a detailed study by Haeganu
(1942). Sibiu depended heavily on the Cibin (Zibin) valley in
both economic and strategic terms (Figure 2). A lateral canal was excavated parallel to the main stream as early as the
fourteenth century and was known variously as Valea Mare
(Grossbach), Valea Turnului (Thurnbach) and Valea Morii
(Mlbach) with the aim of generating a modest amount of
power for the emerging industrial axis. The canal helped
drain the floodplain which became more widely available for settlement long before dykes were built in the seventeenth century. The power of the Cibin was supplemented by flow from a higher level involving a small tributary
stream known as Valea Crlova or Prul de Mijloc (Mittelbach) connected by means of Canalul Strezii/Streju (Trinkbach). Indeed the defences for the towns administrativemilitary-commercial complex situated on higher ground
at some 430m (between the two streams) where deep wells
were sunk consisted not only only of walls but also of
ponds created alongside both streams as well as some larger lakes (e.g. Croitori, Tbcari) which had to be carefully maintained. Meanwhile a wider canal system of vlcele
or rigole supplied a network of cisterns for drinking water,
firefighting, street cleaning and other needs. However water was not always fit for drinking due to freezing as well as
pollution by heavy rain or garbage: epidemics were still occurring in the seventeenth through poor hygiene. The water system continued to evolve and the upper level spawned
its own (short) lateral canal Canalul colilor (Schlbach)
in 1829, relating to the swimming school (coala de Innot) which supplied a small water wheel while a brewery was established in the locality. There was also a flood
relief channel from Dumbrava known as Prul Spanului
(Seifengraben) and subsequent regularisation produced a
new generation of mills to process cereals and timber, while
removing some old channels and small infilled storages
that became irrigated vegetable gardens (grdini de zarzavat) from the eighteenth century; meanwhile the park of
1879 occupied a former sawmill site. A modern water supply
system was established during 1886-94 taking water from
springs in the Dumbrava Forest; supplemented by a major
pipeline extension project started in 1908 to Pltini to tap
numerous springs in the locality as well as several headwaters of the Cibin: anta/teaz in 1910, Dneasa in 1922,
Cotorti/Cotoreti in 1925 and Mitropolie in 1927 at altitudes of some 1,500m (Figure 3). The local streams thus lost
their water supply function and disappeared by the early
twentieth century, though the upper section of the Prul
de Mijloc remains in the shape of the Dumbrava fishponds.

David Turnock
The new system remained adequate until well after the Second World War when an intake at Gura Rului was opened
in 1966, followed by a pumping station in 1975 and a major water storage of 15.5mln.cu.m in 1980. This facility now
accounts for the bulk of the citys supply. However there is
also a small amount delivered from a fourth supply provided in 1991 by extending Cisnadies system of 1933 based on
Sadu II power station tailrace just below the lake. The total
supply of water in 2004 was 32.95mln.cu.m
However while Sibiu primarily served its own privileged
community a case could be argued to suggest a colonial relationship between the Saxon towns and the Romanian hinterland. The urban guilds were closed to Romanians and attempts were made to prevent competition from the villages.
In 1724 the towns wheelwrights were able to enforce their
monopoly through inspections at Rinari. However such
controls were not sustained and did not prevent the village
from becoming a great handicraft centre in its own right.
Meanwhile the Saxons themselves moved out into the rural
area for Gura Rului had a wool spinning industry linked
with cloth production in Sibiu (Giurcneanu 1988, p.256)
and in 1847 Johann Bedeus started a cotton spinning business in Orlat with 25 workers. There was also a paper industry at Orlat during 1821-59. Maybe German entrepreneurs
wanted cheaper labour and easier access to raw material,
clean water and water power or did they wish to innovate away from the gaze of the business community? Saxons (and Italians) were working in the forests from the early
nineteenth century. And the growth of outdoor recreation

in the area also had a Saxon inspiration. Traditional routes
used by pastoralists to reach the peneplains became useful
for hikers; for example the trail from Crin, above Slite,
to Dui, Strmba and the Cindrel summit, which is now endowed with a chain of cabana accommodations expanding from Cabana Soarelui (1,200m) southwards; also from
Rinari to Ru Sadului, Tomnatic and Vf.Galbena (on the
summit of the Lotru Mountains) to Voineasa.
Meanwhile the wealthy ruling class of Sibiu was able to
found a new mountain climate station (Hohe Rinne now
Pltini) started during in 1892-4 by the Saxon tourist society Siebenbrgische Karpaten Verein. The resort occupied
a sheltered position in the mountains where the early buildings included the initial Tourist House (Casa Turitilor) in
1894, followed by Casa Medicilor (1895) and Sala Monaco
(1898). It became a centre for rambles through the coniferous forests to Cheile Cibinului and also the mountain summits of Cindrel (2,244m) and Vf.Batrna (1,911m). Meanwhile the area was opened up in the 1890s by the railway
which served not only Sibiu (with a branch to Cisndie)
but also touched the Romanian villages at both Slite and
Tlmaciu. Cultural organisations were also developing
(like the choir at Poiana Sibiului formed in 1908). Sibiu was
now developing as a service centre for a wider hinterland
and after the 1848 revolution Romanians were able establish a commercial presence with their Banca Albina in 1872
and the depository house Casa de Pstrare in 1884; not to
Figure 2. Water supply in Sibiu
145

Figure 3. Water pipelines to Sibiu
146
mention some cultural organisations with imposing purpose-built premises like the Transylvanian Association for
Romanian Literature and Romanian Peoples Culture (ASTRA) which served the wider community throughout the
province. The Orthodox Chuch gained status in the town
in the 1860s and a metropolitan seat was established. There
was also a representative Transylvanian Diet established in
1848 although it was suppressed following Viennas Ausgleich (compromise) with the Hungarians in 1867. However the Romanian population remained a small minority at
this time although the proportion increased from 2,089 out
of a total of 12,765 in 1850 (16.4%) and 7,106 out of 29,577 in
1900 (24.0%).
Sadu
This locality provides an interesting case study. In 1799 the
Romanian community was released from a state of servitude under Cisndie but while the Saxons renounced
their right to impose serfom and robot, the boundary was

drawn in their favour until the twentieth century. They also
gained Lzturile and the clearing between Valea Cioar
and Valea Tocilelor and the Tufari forest in 1800 as a result
of the decisions of the Saxon Magistrat in Sibiu. Following the initial award in 1646, Cisndie also retained exclusive rights to the Sadu river. The Romanians occupied land
and were able to build their own fulling mill and cereal mill
some distance from the Saxon installations, but rents were
payable. This encroachment arose because Cisndie lacked
water power (and indeed a good water supply of any kind).
So it was in Sadu where the Saxons built a fulling mill in
1646 (with zece pive de btut dimie according to Lotreanu
1988, p.14); followed by a brewery (named Prund) and an
eighteenth century distillery using Romanian cereal (1784).
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there are further references to fulling (by the Cisndie guilds) and corn
milling, but most interesting was the spinning and weav-
ing mill started by Dr.Ioan Piuariu-Molnar von Mllersheim in 1784 which enjoyed a high reputation in Vienna. Indeed in Transylvanian statistics for 1792 it was one of just
three capitalist industries in the province. Apparently the
family sold out to Saxons from Agnita in 1815 and then the
factory was acquired by Thomas Binder of Cisndie in 1892
who expanded the complex with a brewery in 1912-3 (while
there was also joager producing staves for barrels needed
by the brewery).
The Sadu saga is also embroidered by an early hydropower project when the Munich engineer Oscar von Miller was
engaged by Sibiu businessmen led by Karl Wolff. The station opened in 1896 with two Ganz-built Girard turbines
with an installed power of 185Kw (Pop 1996). A 4,500v line
reached Sibiu in 1896 (the first town in Hungary to receive
electricity and the first instance in present-day Romania
of a town supplied with electricity over an appreciable distance by a medium-tension line). The station was supplemented in 1897 by a wood-burning generator with a similar group added in 1898 for use if the river level was low.
When the first hydro unit was uprated in 1905 the total capacity reached almost 1.7MW with a normal annual output of 3.5GWh, (90% of which could now be realised at low
water thanks to the thermal component). The Girard turbines were changed for Francis turbines of 2x350hp in 1916.
Meanwhile in 1906-7 von Miller went on to build Sadu II,
five kilometers above the first station: 0.20mln.cu.m of water was impounded by a 13.5m high dam 78m long to provide a steady flow along a two-kilometer galerie de presiune to a tower (castel) from where there was a fall of 48m
to the power station (Pop 1996, p.26). A further turbine was
installed in 1926 when the thermal units were removed and
the two unit system continued to operate as a purely hydropower unit with a combined capacity of 1.7MW. The reservoir was refurbished in 1966-9 when a deviation channel
was installed to evacuate flood water and ease the problem
of silting. A house for technicians became Cabana Valea
Sadului after nationalisation while a historic placename
at the site (Puntea Bii) recalls a former forge when Saxon craftsmen worked iron to make farming tools that were
taken out by cart over Mgura hill to Cisndie for finishing for Sibiu market. Thus it can be seen that great ingenuity was displayed in harnessing hydropower technology to
supply Sibiu (before a national grid was conceivable) and
it provides a further example of the ecological linkage between the town and its hinterland.
Contemporary settlement:
The twentieth century
The rural economy
This continued largely as before, but the frontier disappeared
and Romanian control of local government opened the way
for the uninhibited development of cultural and social institutions exemplied by the very substantial Caminul Cultural (Culture House) complex in Rinari dating to 1929
(Miclea 1985). Giurcneanu (1988, p.257) claims that the 1918
union of the Romanian lands stimulated agricultural development in the area (through fruit growing) as well as forest exploitation, local industry and tourism. Land reform in
1923 meant that pasture beonging to the Sadu brewery was

allocated to the Romanian community and partially used
for housing. Along with the village of Ru Sadului they also
regained some mountain grazing. We hear about the periodic rebuilding of the pasture stations e.g. Fntneles
tefleti stna was reconstructed in 1935 by the Poiana
Sibiului shepherd Maniiu (Irimie et al. 1985, p.309); while
a new model stna replaced the ruin on Beineu mountain in 1955: a large construction meeting all the needs of
a pastoral life (Ibid, p.316). Rather less benign was the cutting and burning of scrub (Pinus mugho and Juniperus
sibirca) on the high mountains. Great fires were reported
in 1947 on Canaia (2,040m), Iujbea (1,800m) and Niculeti
(2,036m), although it was later appreciated that this was not
a sustainable practice for enhancing grazing capacity because of erosion (which has also occurred through clearfelling of forests without immediate replanting). Communism brought partial collectivisation, although this did not
affect the seasonal movements to the high surfaces that had
always had a strong communal dimension. However, most
villages avoided collectivisation since the system was logistically problematic in mountainous areas. However Orlat,
Slite and Tlmaciu were exceptions (since they had land
suitable for mechanisation on the Soviet kolkhoz model
which was the crucial factor). Furthermore, the state farm
sector gained a foothold on the high ground through an establishment at Crin (1,320m) previously an ordinary stna site with a modest recreational function which now
provided summer grazing for lowland farms such as ura
Mic, including an intensive livestock breeding complex
at Slite for cattle and sheep (Iacob 1962). Another livestock unit at Orlat reared bulls for beef cattle farms. Meanwhile the chalets at Crin were administered by the local
office of the state tourist company (ONT) in Sibiu, but in
1975 the accommodation was taken over by the Ministry
of Defence and used by the Scoala Militar de Ofieri Activi in Sibiu while an unsurfaced road access was provided from Sibiel (superseded by a second in 1981, using the
headwater of the Sibiel stream that was more suitably graded for vehicles). There was some further cutting of woodland (indeed a small sawmill was erected at Crin) while
fertiliser was applied to improve pasture and stop the invasion of poor grasses. Turning to the towns, the ethnic contrast between town and country was gradually eroded with
a Romanian urban majority in 1948 of 61.7% (37,371 out of
a 60,602 total) rising to 93.7% in 1992 (158,863 out 169,610).
Initially the Saxons lost ground relatively rather than absolutely, for they were more numerous in 1977 (25,403) than in
1941 (23,579) when their overall majority was lost for the first
time. Many left after 1989 but despite being reduced to just
5,600 in 1992 they remain influential with their own political party which holds both the mayoral office and a majority on the town council at the present time.
However it seems that under communism the tradition of wintering sheep in the lowlands became restricted
to Jina, Poiana Sibiului and Tilica as all the other settlements restricted their pastoral activities during this period. Much rested on the skills of the shepherds (ciobani)
who not only looked after the sheep owned by private farmers but also the animals belonging to state farms (just as

David Turnock
147

they had previously served the feudal landowners). Contacts were also established with Banat cooperatives with regard to wintering grounds, especially in the case of Tilica
a practice which has been studied in depth by Constantin (2003a, 2003b). The lucrative protected market for wool
maintained during the communist period (in addition to
the market for cheese and meat) was now a major incentive and the responsibility of supervising large sheep movements called for some mechanisation (e.g. use of four-wheel
drive ARO vehicles manufactured in Romania from the
1950s) and even gave rise to a discussion with Ceauescu
over the need for a helicopter! However no community concentrated more on sheep than than the Jinari who successfullly evaded collectivisation. Unlike Slite which which
had considerable farmland in the depression, local conditions at Jina were unsuitable for mechanisation a crucial
criterion although a local Roma party activist did launch
an abortive iniative in the 1960s aided by school teachers
drafted in from outside. Meanwhile Jina farmers were able
to enlarge their flocks up to 600 or more with profit margins enhanced because the shepherds were able tobribe cooperative farm officials in the winter grazing areas
to accept only token payments. Given the stimulative price
for wool set by the state: each sheep paid for its entire annual cost with a single kilogram of washed wool (Stewart
1997, p.70). People visiting Jina would say they were going
to America such were the signs of affluence and modernisation in the homes and farms.
148
Industry
Large-scale manufacturing continued to be primarily an
urban-based activity, though there was a significant rural
component based on handicrafts The Saxons communal
cloth mill at Sadu was lost and the premises were redeveloped for housing and a cmin cultural, but the brewery
survived (along with the local manufacture of barrels): indeed it was nationalised in 1948 and refurbished in 1960, after the production of spirits had ceased in 1958. Small-scale
wood processing showed some expansion: Sadu people
worked six water-powerd mills or joagrele some surviving from the late nineteenth century near Valea Plaiului (some six kilometers from the village) producing planks
(scnduri) with thicknesses of 1.5, 2.5 and 4-5cms, according to market demand and the size of the stems. A family shingle business (iglrie) also survived from the late
nineteenth century while another started in 1927: both had
a reputation for quality with the latter using skilled Hungarian iglari from Bani commune (Harghita). Also at
the boundary with Tlmaciu (a place called Prhria),
there was a gunpowder mill. Elsewhere Orlat became a significant centre for sawmilling, while Jina people carted
wood to Wallachia (where some continued to settle): they
had the advantage of road access to ugag in the Sebe valley and from there a new road was driven over the Parng
Mountains to Rnca and Novaci during the inter-war years.
Other handicrafts were still much in evidence: Gh.Ghenie
(a native of Rod) was a notable joiner and furniture maker during the 1923-44 period: he was based at Slite which
was centre of such work for the villages in the area (Irimie et al. 1985, p.259). Slite also had a furrier (cojocrit),
while wheelwrights and cart-makers worked in Slite and

Rinari to serve the local area and even exported.
Communism brought an intensified drive for industry
and nationalisation in 1948 was exploited as a mechanism
for the consolidation of small industries in the towns since
most rural establishments could only continue on a cooperative basis when private entrepreneurs faced very high
taxes for the use of water power. All the joagrele closed
although a few horse-powered mills survived at Sadu and
Gura Rului strictly for local farming needs (Irimie et al.
1985, p.284). However a survey in 1958 revealed a considerable number of joiners and wheelwrights, while Jina, Poiana
Sibiului and Ru Sadului had cooperative workshops producing furniture. Textiles were also noted in several places including a section of the Arta Sibiului cooperative at
Slite (with export orders from the US for carpets) and
other specialists were concerned with carding, fulling and
the production of hats and jackets. However the prime focus
was placed on large urban factories which provide a good
exemplification of the communist concept of an industrial region. In this case the core consisted of the enterprises
is Sibiu and Cisndie: already a major node for engineering
and textiles, along with food and wood processing on the
basis of Carpathian resources sucked in with the additional advantage of railway links (Caloianu 1967). The supply of
processing water and hydropower has already been mentioned, but there was a further energy source when natural gas arrived from the lowlands to the north (Cetatea de
Balt) in 1937.
Communist restructuring created the Independena
enterprise in Sibiu for engineering (also Balana and
Mecanic) and Uzinele Textile in Cisndie, extending
into ready-mades. More specialised outliers developed further afield, including some units in the Mrginimea district: mainly Orlat (with wood processing and the Progresul cotton textile factory) and Tlmaciu (wood processing/
furniture along with Firul Rou textile factory) as well as
the Sadu brewery. Wood processing was now much more
concentrated with Tlmaciu railway station the main site,
while the change to lorry transport (first seen at Sadu in
1952-3) resulted in the closure of the two light railway systems in the Sadu valley (Iacob 1991). Linkages arose in various ways e.g. washed wool was sent from Cisndie to Sibiu
and Orlat also yarn from Cisndie (and Tlmaciu) to
Sibiu while Sibiu malt went to the Sadu brewery. Finally, half the Sibiu furniture factorys resinous timber was
supplied from Orlat and Tlmaciu (also 60% of the beechwood came from Tlmaciu). Commuter movements made
for further integration of the Sibiu complex although the
predominant flows by rail and bus (as well as the Rinari
tramway) were from the outlying rural areas to workplaces in the core of the region. While all the villages enjoyed
bus services to Sibiu, mainly through the route from Jina,
Caloianu (1973) indicated significant differences in the intensity of commuting between agricultural villages (Jina,
Poiana Sibiului, Rod and Tilica) with a low level of commuting and others (Fntnele, Gale, Scel, Sibiel and Vale)
with a more significant activity and mixed settlements with
a substantial level of travel to work (Boia, Gura Rului,
Poplaca, Ru Sadului, Sadu and Slite) with particularly

David Turnock
Rural services
In the villages territorial expansion has given way to qualitative improvements in services as Possa & Mihalik (1966)
indicate for Poiana Sibiului. In 1923 the villagers decided to
build dykes along the principal valley to remove the flood
risk at Piaa din Vadu. Electrification began during the interwar years and start was made to modernise the water
supply by building a small reservoir and pipeline to supply
fountains (cimele publice) at several points in the village.
These were communal projects of the 1920s supported by local contributions of labour and money, reflecting the tradition of joint action and stewardship inherent in the old concept of the obst as a traditional peasant community. Under
communism local industry expanded through a dairy

while cooperativisation of agriculture gave rise to expansion of the livestock sector. Health facilities were improved
with a local dispensary, a maternity unit and dentists surgery, while the school was enlarged by new classrooms, a
laboratory and a nursery. Electrification was completed
and the first television arrived in 1963, while the building of
new houses also took off at this time with about 20 houses
per annum reported in the 1960s. The tradition of the Sunday market continued at Piaa Trgului (otherwise known
at Piaa de pe Dealu) before transferring to Piaa de Vadu:
vegetables were brought in from lowland areas as were supplies of wheat and maize for which there were milling facilities locally. Local animal products were exchanged in the
autumn for wine and grapes. A camin cultural opened in
Piaa de Vadu in 1958 providing filmshows as well as library
and sports facilities. A local museum was an important
subsequent achievement, while the choir was revived in
1949 and competed widely in the region and further afield.
Staule an old oakwood on the Jina road was developed
for open-air entertainment on the occasion of Maial (1
May) and other festivals while 25,000 trees were planted on
Ghilghiu to make a woodland park.
Transition strategies: The pastoral economy
Despite the restitution of agricultural land (in 1991) in areas that were cooperativised under communism, interest
in agriculture seems to be declining especially where arable farming is concerned: maize and fodder crops remain
prominent while there is less emphasis on other cereals
(wheat and barley) and potatoes. Indeed some arable land
has been abandoned; very noticeably around Rinari; also
at Slite as well as Fntnele, Sibiel and Vale where fruit
trees (apples, pears, plums, cherries and nuts) are particularly prominent, given the smooth hilltops on the edge of
the depression, and a strong shepherding tradition is absent. Damage from wild boar means that potato fields must
be fenced especially in settlements near the forest. Jina people also grow onions, tomatoes and cabbages in their gradini. However, most rural settlements retain a pastoral interest: especially villages on the Gornovia peneplain and
most notably Jina with an extensive territory extending to
the alpine zone (whereas the neighbouring village of Poiana
Sibiului is much more restricted). Indeed Jinari and Poienari practiced transhumance to winter grazings in Banat, Dobrogea and Oltenia as well as movements to the
higher Rul es and Borascu surfaces in summer into the
new millennium when EU hygiene and animal welfare regulations (on top of local difficulties on the transit routes)
brought long-distance movements to an end. They had previously adjusted to the 1989 revolution when state contracts
for wool ceased and free trade brought lower profits that
were, however, broadly acceptable given the adequately rewarding prices for cheese and meat (stimulated in the latter case by the great home demand for lamb at Easter as
well as a resumption of the meat shipments to Arab countries developed under communism). But tougher negotiating with private landowners created complications on the
transhumance routes (especially the slow spring return
with new-born lambs). Flocks were reduced substantial-
high levels for Orlat and Rinari. Urban status was extended to Cisndie in 1965 and Tlmaciu in 1989 (after Tlmaciu
had first been declared a suburban settlement in 1968 along
with Rinari including Poplaca and other places on the
edge of the city).
There was further hydropower development in the Sadu
area because another four projects (Sadu III-VI) were envisaged to provide a further 31MW of capacity. However, due
to the high costs in relation to output, only Sadu V was actually implemented (during 1950-5) with 15.5MW installed
in two Pelton groups of 7.75MW each; with enhanced water storage through an arcuate dam (62m high) impounding L.Negovanu (6.5mln.cu.m) at Gtul Berbecului (1,154m):
an original design by Radu Pricu. Water was taken to the
power power station 6.5kms.downstream through a canal,
tunnel and metal tube with a vertical fall of 402m. With
further improvement in water supply, a Francis turbine
of 10.5MW brought the total to 26MW in 1960. And when
added to the existing power stations the total capacity became virtually 30MW. But although the other components
of the 1950 scheme Sadu III (3.8MW), Sadu IV (4.8MW)
and Sadu VI (10.0MW) were abandoned due to the high
investment cost and the availability of further power through the national grid system the plan was briefly re-activated in 1974 with a view to building Sadu VI at
Rozdeti and Sadu III at Tlmaciu. However the potential
still did not justify the investment (likewise an increase at
Sadu I/II to a total of 12MW). But there was progress over
a plan to develop the Cibin above Pisc (Gura Rului) with
a barrage at 600m to draw on the upper basin of 147sq.km
basin that was 75% forested. This was conceived primarily
to augment the water supply for Sibiu through a 14km pipeline to a treatment station at Dumbrava. In this case hydropower was an incidental interest involving a small (3.5MW)
power station below the dam. The scheme was completed in
1980, while another project for Lunca Craciuneasa (where
the valley widens upstream of Cheile Cibinului) was considered unviable. Since 1989 the rising price of electricity
has rekindled interest in small hydropower stations: an investment of 10mln can produce power worth 2mln/yr. A
new power station at Gura Rului opened in 2008, while
two more on the Rul Mare are planned, plus two on the
Cibin at Cristian and possibly three in the teza valley at
Rsinari. The capacity at Sadu is now 27.4MW at Sadu V
and a total of 4.44 at the two older stations; while the micro
stations on the Cibin total 3.70MW.
149

Plate 6. The high grazings of Hotarul de Sus on the Gornovia

peneplain c.1000m above Jina (S.Shirasaka)
ly while alternative business arose through embargo trade

with Serbia (during the period of civil war in the former Yugoslavia); also wool deals with Turkish lorry drivers; and
speculation in the early days of the Caritas pyramid investment scandal that generated profits invested in garages on
the main roads. Using their family networks the Jinars expanded their activities from the mountains into the plains,
using their home base as a sort of bank, secure from the depradations of the state and outsiders (Stewart 1997, p.72).
Since 1989 some 200 families have moved into lowland villages around Sibiu acquiring houses from departing Saxons
(often taking their jobs as well).
However Jina remained a most important centre for the
transhumance of sheep (mioara romneasc) according to
recent research by Shirasaka (2006; 2007). Local pastures
provide grazing for use at the lower levels (Hotarul de Jos)
for a short time in the first half of May and the first half
of October between the return from wintering in the lowlands (October to April) and the transfer to Hotarul de Sus
(the Gornovia peneplain at 950-1,100m) during the period
from mid-May/mid-June until mid/late September (Plate 6).
These summer grounds also extend upwards to comprise
alpine pastures on the highest part of the commune on the
Borascu (2,000-2,200m) and Rul es (1,800m) peneplains
(Plate 7) already referred to. Sheep are still entrusted
by owners to ciobni (many from Moldavia, including
former mine workers), each of whom look after 200/300
sheep with assistance for milking (150 sheep can be milked
150
Plate 7. The Rul es peneplain at 1800m

(K.Urushibara-Yoshino)
by one person). There is still a serious threat posed by wild

animals which account for two to four percent of the total sheep stock each year. Long-wave transhumance continued for a time on a simplified basis using routes southeastwards to Brgan, northern Dobrogea and the Danube
Delta, or westwards along the Mure valley to the plains
between Arad and Oradea. With individual owners keeping 30-150 sheep (generally urcan), combinations of four
to seven families could generate flocks of some 600 divided into male sheep (changed usually every three years with
animals bred by the owner or bought at spring/autumn
markets), milking females and young females. With lambing in February/March more shepherds were needed for the
transfer from winter to summer grazings with the important Easter market for lambs imposing great pressure to get
the flocks back home in time.
The use of modern forms of transport became increasingly necessary given the hazards of driving flocks along
the highways and increased costs caused some villages to
give up long-distance transhumance altogether after 1989.
The business then came up against EU rules concerning
both the transhumance operations (an animal welfare matter) and the cheese sales (at Sibiu market and large stores in
Bucharest) became more strictly controlled in the interest
of hygiene. Even milking at the stna has been modernised with the use of vessels that can be thoroughly cleaned,
not to mention other regulations relating to the technology of food production. There was confusion in 2007 with
Bucharest authorities appeared to forbid transhumance despite EU encouragement of traditional methods of sheeprearing through subsidies of 7/sheep in less-favoured areas. The EU accepts travel on foot pe picioare but transit
routes must be authorised in advance by the veterinary authorities in all the counties concerned. Lorry transport
which has been used for a time in Romania now requires
health checks every nine hours; while for long journies lasting more than two days animals must be rested on a farm
authorised for the purpose. A new strategy has therefore
evolved to limit pressure on local grazings while avoiding long journies for the animals: this involves year-round
sheep grazing in Banat, where the softer climate makes
for a better output of wool and cheese; also with minimal
threats from wild animals and scope for mechanised production of silage. But this means that some farmers have
left Jina and return home only at Christmas (retaining their
ciobni all-year). And it requires assured access to land
through purchase when the going rate 3.0mln lei/ha in
2004 equalled the monthly wage of a shepherd, though
some meadow land (fnea) may be rented.
Meanwhile Jinas local meadow land at Hotarul de Sus
provides hay for cattle 2.5-3.0t (1.0ha) per cow for the winter: stored in buildings or left as claie in the fields. In some
places hay is needed for sheep: one hectare for every seven
animals. There is however a statistical problem over Jina regarding the number of sheep currently being kept. According to Shirasaka (2006, p.87) 33,000 sheep were recorded
by the authorities before 1989 while the true number was
thought to be 300,000! Present numbers are difficult to establish but officially Jina had 37,000 sheep in 2002, increasing from 17,250 during 1997-9 and Poiana Sibiului had 35,100

David Turnock
Table 2. Livestock Units in relation to population and agricultural land 1997-2002
A
Mrginimea Sibiului
Gura Rului
2488.1
744-40.1
629-43.8
687.1
1400.6
1.78
Orlat
1037.8
621-52.1
525-50.4
317.3
838.7
1.24
Jina
4223.8
5180-78.1
2422-75.7
1037.0
2132.3
1.98
Poiana Sibiului
3496.9
4914-99.0
2660-97.5
1261.9
296.5
11.79
Jina / P.Sibiului
7720.7
10094-94.3
5082-85.7
1124.0
2428.8
3.18
Poplaca
575.1
99-14.8
62-13.8
323.3
564.1
1.02
Rinari
4164.6
3827-85.5
2961-78.4
753.2
1329.6
3.13
Ru Sadului
1240.7
1086-82.9
918-85.5
1950.8
342.5
3.62
Sadu
1673.3
959-56.6
781-45.6
676.9
982.3
1.70
Slite
2602.1
1228-51.8
1081-47.6
449.0
6241.6
0.42
Tlmaciu
2488.1
1694-58.6
1232-60.8
281.6
2628.6
0.95
Tilica
2820.9
2640-87.9
2138-87.7
1697.3
913.7
3.09
Cisndie
1213.8
436-30.9
130-13.5
77.6
2932.7
0.41
Miercurea Sibiului
2893.0
1191-33.2
804-33.4
712.0
8738.5
0.33
Adjacent Urban Areas
in 2002, increasing from about 19,000 during 1997-9. Relatively high numbers also apply at Rinari (21,700 in 2002)
and Tilica (18,335 in 2002) while all the other communes
have below 10,000. In other villages such as Gale, Rod,
Ru Sadului and Tlmcel there are fewer animals since the
winter transfers have been given up and the livestock (sheep
and cattle) are limited to what the local hay meadows can
provide (whereas the Jinari and Poienari used to require
hay only for cattle). On the other hand these villages are situated in the depressions where there is more arable land (albeit fragmented into small units).
To highlight the variations in stocking levels animal
numbers have been converted into an overall total by a series of conversions (used by researchers at the Geography
Institute in Bucharest in the 1970s) based on meat yield
(Table 2). When total livestock units are related to population (Column D) Jina, Poiana Sibiului, Ru Sadului and
Tilica have the highest values with more than one unit per
capita. But when stocking is related to local land resources (Column F) Jinas position weakens very greatly (since
this communes relatively extensive land resources are relatively limited in potential due to the high altitude) while
Poiana Sibiului with very little land of its own becomes
the outstanding case. While Jina scores only 1.98 animals
units per land unit admittedly much higher that most
other communes, including urban/suburban areas (as well
as Gura Rului, Orlat and Sadu) it is well behind Tilica
with 3.09, Rinari with 3.13, Ru Sadului with 3.62 and Poiana Sibiului with 11.79! Of course it cannot be assumed that
Poiana uses only its own land when Jina commune is so
much larger; while much of Jinas land can only be fully exploited in conjunction with wintering grounds elsewhere.
Combining the two communes produces a reasonable average figure of 3.18; albeit one that is depressed by the hiving-off of flocks to areas of low ground adjacent to our study
area where the demise of local cooperatives has created opportunities. Also, as already noted, some Jinari have purchased land in the western plains of Romania (Arad, Bihor
and Timi counties) where the animals can remain all the
year round. And these practices seem to have become more
common with the complications of EU hygiene and animal
welfare regulations
However pastoralism remains important through cheese
and wool sales as well as the disposal of animals for the
meat market which peaks during the Easter festival (Plate
8). Public interest in the mountain economy is being promoted by the Mountainology Instiute at Cristian near Sibiu
with the cooperation of the Mrginimea organisation (the
county association of sheep and goat rearers) who have
placed a genuine mountain stna on exhibition (Plate 9).
But intensive livestock rearing in some parts of the district
has given rise to localised environmental problems which
form part of the wider issue of geographical risk in the Carpathians (Florea 1996; Velcea 1998). Degradation, especially on the Gornovia peneplain, is evident in Jina and Poiana
Sibiului where overgrazing and trampling accelerates ero-
Plate 8. The sheep market at Poiana Sibiului 2004 (S.Shirasaka)
A Livestock Units (cow = 0.84; pig 0.20; sheep/goat 0.14; poultry 0.04) average for 1997-2002; B Ditto for sheep and goats alone: highest figure during 1997-2002
with percentage of the total units; C Ditto: lowest figure for sheep and goats; D livestock units per 1000 population 2002; E Land units where 1.0ha of arable = 1.0;
vineyards 8.0; orchards/vegetable gardens 2.0; hayfields 0.3 and grazing 0.1; F Livestock units per land unit
151

152
Plate 9. Stna interior (M.Cojocariu-Costea)
Plate 10. Washing wool in the Cibin river (K.Mori)
sion e.g. around waterholes in cattle-grazing areas (Urushibara-Yoshino & Mori 2007). Truck tracks, arising from the
random driving of vehicles across open country, are very
noticeable in some areas; while the pollution of streams
through washing wool (typically by Roma who often make
direct use of the Cibin during the summer season) is evident in a high ammonia content (Plate 10). These problems
are exacerbated by overdependence on sheep-rearing (reflecting the lack of alternative employments) as well as the
tradition of communal ownership of pastures, along with
low environmental awareness and administrative capacity
to enforce legislation. It would be beneficial if wool washing
could be undertaken by producer associations with concentration on a few places with proper arrangements for handling the polluted water. But for improved grassland care,
sheep numbers clearly need reduction in places where overgrazing is removing the vegetation cover and soil is being
washed away to expose the crystalline schist so that recovery of the pasture becomes impossible. But these are merely local expressions of a much wider issue of changing land
use in areas of traditional farming in Transylvania (Cowell 2006).
es such as Gura Rului, Rinari. Ru Sadului and Sadu coordinated by the national non-governmental organisation
ANTREC. Slite (along with Fntnele and Sibiel) probably has the most accommodation, although it is not a specialised holiday settlement, despite its many attractions including the Foltea Hermitage and the wooden sculptures
of Poiana Soarelui. There is also considerable capacity at
Rinari and Tlmcel. Statistics for the district as a whole
suggest a fluctuation in the total number of units of accommodation of around 100-120 during 1997-2004.
There is an element of foreign encouragement since the
district became involved in Opration Villages Roumains:
a project launched in Western Europe in the 1980s to oppose Ceauescus draconian rural planning (sistematizare) that threatened to eliminate thousands of non-viable settlements. Although the revolution occurred before
this programme could gain momentum across the country, the foreign initiative was maintained for a time in the
context of rural diversification and Tilica entered a partnership with Aubais (France) leading to Asociaia TilicaAubais in 1992 for the promotion of rural tourism, festivals and exchange holidays for children. Along with an
increasing number of new houses as permanent residences (with gardens and services) new village quarters have
emerged over the last decade as a form of rurbanizare e.g.
Tocile at Sadu (Cojocariu-Costea 2002). In addition to the
mountain scenery and traditional aspects of rural activity, the tourism potential is enhanced by local folklore festivals which date back to 1858 at Gura Rului (with Colindatul Feciorilor and Ceata Junilor). Another example
is Udatul Ionilor at Tlmcel while Sus pe Muntele din
Jina started in 1971 with an emphasis on traditional costume and musicians (fluierai), as is also the case at Sadu.
There is also a Teatru folcloric at Slite and an ansambluri folclorice at Rinari. Poiana Sibiului retains a tradition
in leatherwork, while woollen cloth (including traditional textiles) is produced at Orlat and wood/textile handicrafts exist at Rinari. Museums and collections with a
broad rural appeal exist at Boia, Gura Rului (from 1969)
and Poiana Sibiului (where links are retained with Ungureni villages in Gorj and Vlcea by local teacher Ioan Georgescu); also Rinari (from 1952) at the the historic Bishops
House once used by the clerics until they moved to Sibiu
in 1795 (Plates 11-12). There is another museum at Slite
(1978) although it is actually located at Rod where the old
Diversification: Rural tourism

The agro-pastoral emphasis remains very strong. Pastoralism is most prominent at Gale, Jina, Poiana Sibiului, Ru
Sadului, Rod, Tlmcel and Tilica; with fruit growing
most evident at Fntnele, Sibiel and Vale. As regards other branches of the local economy, there is logging which
includes small-scale sawmilling through family-owned
mills joagre, with substantial areas of forest now restituted and administered by a private district (ocol silvic) organisation. A forest/pastoral settlement grouping would
include Gale, Ru Sadului, Rod, Tlmcel and Tilica as
well as Sadu which has an additional interest in hydropower. Meanwhile, rural tourism has made rapid progress, having been constrained under communism by restrictions on
foreign visitor use of private accommodation imposed nationally in the early 1970s, although Sibiel (renowned for its
collection of icons on glass) received some official encouragement for a time. Today several villages can be regarded
as sate de vacan as a result of farm-based boarding houses (pensiune) with up to 10 rooms as well as the growth
of holiday homes (e.g. Valea Sadului and Gul Berbecului) plus improved catering and transport services in plac-
Plate 11. Traditional house at Gale

Plate 12. Traditional room in a house at Fntnele

town hall became available while there are others concentrating on traditional costume at Gale and religious matters at Slites Muzeul Protopopiatului complementing Muzeul Personalitilor Slitene in the same town
and Sadus electricity museum has turbines dating from
1902 that still operate. There is a remarkable Zosim Oancea collection of 700 icons on glass at Sibiel, started in 1769,
not to mention many historic churches among which the
oldest are the wooden churches (with painting) at Slite
(1674, by the Cndeti Brothers), Poiana Sibiului: a wooden church with painting (1771) that was superseded in 1886;
and Tlmcel which is also in wood (1776). Other Orthodox
churches from the eighteenth century exist at Gale, Jina,
Orlat, Rinari, Sadu and Sibiel while Jina also has the impressive Archangels church of 1939: a veritable cathedral
of the mountains in Byzantine style (Plate 13).
Reference should also be made to the attractions of villages as a whole with traditional housing (Plate 14). Winding streets with particular variety are to be found at Poiana Sibiului where streets in the narrow valleys (strzile de
vale) like Valea Radei show houses crammed into a confined
space and facing each other across a narrow street while
closed courtyards and gardens are forced on to the slopes:
indeed in places only a single row of houses is possible and
gardens disappear altogether. By contrast the streets on the

hilltops (strzile de culme) have to cope with downward
slopes: hence the courtyards slope away on each side of the
ridge; while the streets on the hillslopes (strzile de coast)
have two rows of the houses differentiated by their ascending and descending courtyards and gardens; although on
steeply sloping ground only a single row of houses is possible, as at Handorul de Jos/Sus where this phenomenon is repeated two or three times on the same slope. The village is
thus a true authentic reservation of folk architecture (Irimie et al. 1985, p.377) with the oldest houses dating back to the
late eighteenth century. There is also a gastronomic aspect to
the tourist profile through local dishes such as the soup ciorba de perioare; also the flora and fauna e.g. Iezerele Ciudulului nature reserve which can be accessed from Gura Rului. A ski slope is being prepared at Jina, while winter sports
are envisaged in V.tezii with government and local funding The area is also convenient for transit tourism given the
west-east route through southern Transylvania (Arad-DevaSibiu-Braov) and the north-south route Cluj-Media-SibiuRmnicu Vlcea using the Olt valley.
Further reference should also be made to Pltini which
is actually regarded administratively as part of Sibiu although it lies territorially in the area of Mrginimea Sibiu-
Plate 13. The Orthodox church of Sf.Ioan Botezatorul at Slite,

built in 1742 with the tower and the painting dating to the
second decade of the nineteenth century (M.Cojocariu-Costea)
Plate 14. The main street in the village of Gura Rului including
the Cuvioasa Paraschiva Orthodox church (Biserica Mare) of
the eighteenth/nineteenth centuries (M.Cojocariu-Costea)

David Turnock
153

lui as a part of Rinari commune. It remains greatly appreciated as a health resort in view of its ozonised air and
an atmosphere puternic ionizat that attracted the philosopher Constantin Noica (1907-87) as one of its most notable residents. The accommodation stock of four hotels and
some 24 villas and chalets is supplemented by many second homes including a substantial recent extension to the
built area. There are now 15 units of accommodation (four
of them are listed as historic buildings) (Buza 2004). The
recuperative properties of the mountain air have also given rise to a long-established institution for seriously disabled children in Boia (Ru Vadului) which attracted unwelcome scrutiny after 1989 as part of the wider problem
of caring from orphan children in the light of Ceauescus
draconian policies to maintain a high birthrate, This institution has now closed and the children have been transferred to a modern centre in Sibiu with permanent medical and social support. Meanwhile enhancement of the
tourist economy calls for environmental protection which
is focused on the large Cindrel reserve of 9,043ha spread
across Jina, Slite and Tilica communes (Category 5) and
the smaller lezerele Cindrelului reserve of 1,046ha at Gura
Rului (Category 4). The area is generally pollution-free
apart from occasional flood hazards, local traffic and some
problems over waste management and agricultural chemicals (Anon 2007). Some pollution arises on the Sadu above
Tlmaciu; and also on the Cibin, while the environmental
programme calls for river purification at Gura Rului and
Ru Sadului as well as some riverbank consolidation on the
principle rivers (also the Orlat, Poplaca, Slite and Tilica
streams plus the teaza and Valea Caselor at Rinari).
Dyking and consolidation measures are anticipated during 2007-10 for Poiana Sibiului (V.Vlasinului andV.Rodii)
as well as consolidation of slopes; also at Orlat (on the Cibin and Orlat streams), Slite and Tilica as well as the Sadu
at Tlmacel.
154
Village life
There continues to be significant commuting to the towns
outside the district, especially Sibiu. The variations noted by Caloianu in 1973 still apply; involving the most substantial proportion of the active population (over 1,000
commuters in some cases) at Boia, Gura Rului, Poplaca,
Rul Sadului, Sadu, Slite and Tlmacel; with particularly high levels for Orlat and Rinari. The more distant villages (Jina, Poiana Sibiului, Ru Sadului and Tilica) generate relatively few commuters while Prislop may be placed
in a category of its own as a poor Roma community employed mainly in handicrafts. Rinari enjoys a frequent
tram service to Sibiu, currently equipped with second-hand
vehicles from Geneva, while there are ten buses daily to Orlat and Gura Rului, but only five to Slite, Rod, Poiana
Sibiului and Jina. There are just two buses to Sadu (one of
which continues further up the valley to Sadurel) although
other connections are possible with a change in Cisndie.
Meanwhile urbanisation has increased through the promotion of further commune centres to urban status: most recently Slite within the district (Plate 15) and Miercurea
Sibiului which lies just outside (Voicu-Vedea 1998). Given
its industrial role under communism it might be supposed
Plate 15. The town hall at Slite (M.Cojocariu-Costea)
that Orlat would have a claim (for both Orlat and Slite
could be credited along with Tlmaciu with a mixed
economy in contrast to the agro-pastoral bias elsewhere in
the district). However, Slite had a good situation (historically and contemporarily) as regards its central place functions with regard to administration, education and culture,
not to mention food and textile (carpet) industries. It has
also seen some of the new business generated by the profits
from pastoralism, including a growth in tourism with numerous guest houses and a hotel with 35 rooms. Meanwhile,
Orlat with the tradition of the border guards and an old
Romanian school (not to mention its paper industry during 1821-59) is favoured by its situation in a depression at
the contact: it is an obvious collecting centre for wood and
wool processing (the latter supported by the hayfields of the
Cindrel as well as imported fodder) with workshops that
expanded into medium enterprises under communism. It
is also has a bakery and produces building materials by exploiting the river beds and valley slopes, But industrial potential is limited by an inadequate water supply from the
local stream (while there is no space for a reservoir linked
with the Cibin/Slite system). So it has no prospects of urban status especially in view of the superior central place
status of Slite.
The settlements are developing under their new democratic councils with leaders often chosen for their efficiency and integrity rather than party affiliation. All the major
parties are represented among present mayors: PC (Conservative Party) at Jina and Poiana Sibiului; DP-L (Democat-Liberals) at Gura Rului, Orlat and Sadu; PSD (Social
Democrats) at Tlmaciu and Tilica; and PNL (National
Liberals) at Poplaca and Slite. New housing is appearing
in the villages but the principal transformations can be seen
in the improvements in infrastructure often linked with
European programmes. Much progress can be seen in the
towns and main villages e.g. apartment blocks for young
families at Tlmaciu along with modernisation of the culture house and provision of a kindergarten. Generally electricity, fixed/mobile telephones and cable TV are available. But it is necessary to extend water/sewage networks
e.g. from Tlmaciu to Tlmacel but also in the Slite/Orlat area where Fntnele, Gale, Sibiel and Vale are relatively well serviced but lack sewerage: hence the large devel-

David Turnock
opment programme, extending to Poplaca (which needs a

water system also) and Tilica. There are separate water systems at Gura Rului, Jina, Poiana, Ru Sadului, Rinari,
Sadu and Tilica (as well as Pltini) with overhaul to include a new source at Jina while sewerage is a particular priority at Ru Sadului and a big improvement is also needed
at Rinari where the system is too restricted. Local primary schools are to be improved with libraries; with rehabilitation at Tilica to include toilets, improved green space
and a sports ground. A general programme is needed for
gas through a special scheme for the southwestern part of
the district covering Fntnele, Gale, Gura Rului, Jina,
Poiana, Poplaca, Ru Sadului, Sadu, Slite, Sibiel, Tilica
and Vale. Rinari has a gas link with Sibiu but this did
not include Prislop until recently. Improvement of communal roads is evdent, especially Str.Hulii from Rinari
to Prislop, assisted by European PHARE funding and the
training of 10 Roma for employment on the project. Under a PHARE programme of 2003 improved handling of
refuse was organised in Cisndie with Sadu included. Then
another PHARE programme of 2005 launched an integrated scheme for recyclable household refuse for a much larger part of Mrginimea Sibiului: based on Miercurea Sibiului/Slite to include Fntnele, Gale, Jina, Poiana, Sibiel,
Tilica and Vale. The aim is to stop indiscriminate dumping and to introduce composting as well as rubbish transfer
in Slite and Tilica.
Population trends
The long term trends shown in Table 1 point to a population
peak in many cases in 1992 but in a few instances in 1966 or
1910 while there are distinctive profiles at Slite and Tilica
where out-migration was becoming traditional even during the nineteenth century. However when these varied scenarios are combined the total population of the district (ex-
cluding the adjacent urban areas) is remarkably stable with

the totals for 1857 and 2002 almost identical on either side
of a peak in 1910 even if the distribution within the district
shows considerable change. Meanwhile the towns (dominated of course by Sibiu) exhibit strong growth apart from
the most recent intercensal period 1992-2002 for which a
downward trend is the norm due to emigration as well as
negative natural growth. The urban/industrial centres still
attract the younger people, starting with secondary/higher
education: thus at Cisndie the population aged 0-30 is 3.46
times the cohort of 60 and over (2.63 for Miercurea Sibiului and 2.79 for Tlmaciu) yet the town of Slite has only
1.79. Conversely while Poiana Sibiului also a has a low figure of 1.75 and Tilisca 1.68 highlighting the transition to
smaller families (some with no children) and overall natural decrease in most villages in the district Jina scores 3.96.
It is also interesting to see that population change during
1992-2002 was greatest in the seven smallest villages (below
1,000 population) with an overall 10.1% decline from 3,015
to 2,711; while the middle group of five (Boia, Tlmacel,
Poplaca, Sadu and Tilica with a population of 1,000-2,500
each) declined more marginally by -5.4% from 8,635 to 8,189.
Finally, the six largest settlements of Gura Rului, Jina, Orlat, Poiana Sibiului, Rinari, Slite declined by just 4.3%
from 22,870 to 21,880, reflecting some movement from the
smaller settlements to the commune centres. Yet two of the
largest villages lost -8.7%; pointing to an element of crisis
in the two main transhumance villages of Jina and Poiana
Sibiului, while on the other hand, one of smallest villages (Prislop) increased from 840 to 898: a Roma village in
Rinari commune near Sibiu, convenient for commuting
with a gas supply recently installed.
Natural decrease is a major element in the picture of
decline with Poplaca recording the highest rate during
the year 2004 (-10.5, based on local records for births and
Table 3. Population, Employment, Land and Households 2002

A
167
2293
10545
4.77
3882
1298
Gura Rului
3621
1785
1328
1161
Jina
4073
2009
1765
1759
2308
31556
5.45
7982
1355
Orlat
3271
1719
1273
1090
183
1998
5902
3.97
2046
970
Poiana Sibiului
2799
1500
1491
1481
10
1308
2347
5.85
1447
1146
Poplaca
1779
881
783
739
44
996
3267
2.61
1289
720
Rinari
5529
2834
2166
1897
269
3363
12787
7.56
4035
1927
Ru Sadului
636
291
206
198
430
3084
1.47
1021
281
Sadu
2472
1256
1002
838
164
609
4699
4.17
2061
985
Slite
5795
2956
1898
1719
179
3897
22678
11.72
12110
2990
Tlmaciu
8337
4449
3113
2767
346
2637
18515
9.02
8898
1190
Tilica
1662
852
680
664
16
982
5277
3.68
3494
786
15648
8066
6941
5762
1179
8707
13856
23.57
4003
5777
4063
2039
1300
1140
160
2763
8512
7.70
9759
1643
154892
81768
68608
63585
91307
86284
12164
224.7
6611
57876
Urban Areas Adjacent

Cisndie
Miercurea Sibiului
Sibiu
A Total Population; B Female Population; C Active Population; D Employed; E Unemployed; F Inactive Population; G Total Area (ha); H. Built Area (ha); I Agricultural
Area (ha); J Households.
Mrginimea Sibiului
155

deaths), followed by Rinari (-4.3), Slite (-3.7), Tlmaciu

(-2.8), Poiana Sibiului (-2.6); Orlat (-1.9), Sadu (-0.4). Tilica
has 0.0 while there are positive values for Ru Sadului (+4.8),
Gura Rului (+1.4) and Jina (+1.2). Further data is provided
in Table 3 which shows that there is generally a female surplus, with just the five exceptions of Gura Rului, Jina, Poiana Sibiului, Poplaca and Ru Sadului. It is interesting to
the see the leading centres of pastoralism included in this
list (in Tilica the balance is almost 50:50) underlining the
importance of male employment. When umployment is
considered there are four communes where this problem
seems to be insignificant: Jina, Poiana Sibiului, Ru Sadului
and Tilica; which may again point to the intensity of local
agriculture. Usually the active population is smaller than
the inactive component (the young and old combined) but
there are exceptions at Poiana Sibiului, Sadu and Tlmaciu.
Clearly there is scope for more detailed research on the demographic variations.
Ethnicity is also an interesting theme. Across the wider area extending to the towns on the edge of Mrginimea
Sibiului, including Sibiu itself, the Romanian population
is now overwhelming although before 1992 Romanians accounted for less than 90% in Sliste and Tlmaciu proba-
bly due to the presence of minorities living outside the traditional limits of Mrginimea Sibiuliu and less than 80%
in adjacent urban areas where even simple majorities were
not secured in all three cases until 1966 (Table 4). However
the collapse of the Saxon population since 1989 means that
the Hungarians now the largest minority in the towns while
the Roma are most prominent in the rural areas, although
their numbers fluctuate according to the way they choose to
declare themselves in census returns. The official numbers
for Roma reached 52 at Tilica in 1992 (numbers are usually much smaller) and 138 at Poiana Sibiului in 1977: they were
reportedly prominent on the edge of this village in 2003-4
washing and grading wool (while the Romanians concentrated on the production and sale of cheese). Roma have taken over some of the old Saxon houses but they have also built
their own illegally working at low cost without any high level construction techniques (Shirasaka 2006, p.58). Generally there are 100-200 Roma in Slite but there was only one
in 1966: a census year when they chose to be completely invisible in Cisndie, Poiana Sibiului and Poplaca! Yet while
Roma numbers were generally low in 1966 there were 135 in
Rinari: more than in 1930 and 1992! On the other hand
while there are generally 100-300 Roma in Rinari there
Table 4. Ethnicity: Romanians in numbers and percentages of the total; also other ethnic groups and overall percentages
1930
1956
1966
1977
1992
2002
MRGINIMEA SIBIULUI
Gura Rului
3109-99.9
3278-99.8
3254- 99.6
4076-90.3
3681-100.0
3621-99.9
Jina
3728-99.9
4173-99.9
4009- 99.9
4425-99.8
4378- 99.9
4073-99.8
Orlat
2131-95.5
2555-94.6
2894- 98.0
3132-95.8
3302- 98.2
3226-98.6
Poiana Sibiului
4669-99.8
4046-99.1
3245- 99.9
3442-96.0
3157- 99.3
2782-99.4
Popaca
2710-98.8
2436-98.8
2125-100.0
2063-99.2
1685- 97.2
1697-94.3
Rinari
5229-99.0
5038-94.8
5616- 97.3
5913-94.5
5584- 98.9
5239-94.8
820-90.7
1610-97.0
1063- 97.1
787-99.6
736-100.0
635-99.8
Sadu
2185-93.7
2382-99.2
2452- 99.6
2543-99.6
2559- 99.9
2437-98.6
Slite
9855-83.9
6947-84.4
6953- 87.6
6437-88.1
5725- 93.8
5383-92.9
Tlmaciu
3914-71.9
5317-83.4
8095- 87.4
8595-86.2
8755- 93.4
8638-96.6
Ru Sadului
Tilica
2988-99.2
2601-99.7
2155- 99.7
2152-99.8
1842- 97.0
1655-99.6
Romanians
41897-91.5
41061-93.2
42135- 94.6
44231-93.8
41664- 97.1
39868-97.1
2574- 5.6
2013- 4.6
1967- 4.4
1741- 3.7
394- 0.9
130- 0.3
Germans
156
Hungarians
502- 1.1
211- 0.5
184- 0.4
171- 0.4
104- 0.3
117- 0.3
Roma
512- 1.1
713- 1.6
187- 0.4
974- 2.1
731- 1.7
919- 2.2
Others
310- 0.7
80- 0.2
86- 0.2
29- 0.1
23- 0.1
25- 0.1
45795- 100
44078- 100
44559- 100
47146- 100
42916- 100
41059- 100
572-12.9
6415-52.4
8787-58.7
13679-67.9
16415-92.2
15034-96.1
2345-38.2
3081-47.2
3547-53.9
2927-46.5
3149-75.7
3476-85.6
Sibiu
18620-37.7
59902-66.2
78646-71.8
119625-79.2
158968-93.7
148269-94.9
Romanians
21537-35.9
69398-63.4
90980-69.3
136231-76.6
178532-93.2
166779-94.7
Germans
28621-47.8
32425-29.7
33857-25.8
34325-19.3
7160- 3.7
3049- 1.7
6768-11.3
5217- 4.8
5486- 4.2
5428- 3.1
4389- 2.3
3312- 1.9
595- 1.0
754- 0.7
109- 0.1
1115- 0.6
613- 0.3
1058- 0.6
Total
ADJACENT URBAN AREAS
Cisndie
Miercurea Sibiului
Hungarians
Roma
Others
Total
2381- 4.0
1492- 1.4
785- 0.6
492- 0.4
972- 0.5
1772- 1.1
59902- 100
109286- 100
131217- 100
177591- 100
191666- 100
175970- 100

David Turnock
Conclusion
Thanks to a relatively rich documentation for the Sibiu area
of Romania it has been possible to discuss a range of salient
features in the development of a Transylvanian Carpathian
community that has maintained its ethnic character through
centuries of life in the shadow of a large trading centre controlled by a highly privileged commercial community of foreign provenance. Yet despite some obvious discrimination,
the Romanians of Mrginimea Sibiului adapted positively to
the prevailing ecological and political conditions and built
a successful pastoral economy combining the local grazings
offering high capacity during the summer months with
distant wintering grounds; and adapted to the constraints in
modern times by partially resettling themselves across the
Carpathians as part of the wider Ungureni migration phenomenon. Meanwhile, for their part, the Saxon settlers demonstrated an enduring commitment to the region despite the
radical nature of their introduction by the Medieval Hungarian state. And despite the setbacks arising from the Second World War and its aftermath transportation to the Soviet Union, communist nationalisation and resettlement in
Western Germany there is still a community large enough
to exercise political leadership and to reinforce the industrial base through stimulation of foreign direct investment
by Austrian and German companies. So while the dualism
once so evident in the dichotomy between the Saxon urban
core and the Romanian rural hinterland has been drastically modified, the historic theme of coexistence and reciprocity is evolving into new forms as Sibius recent designation
as Romanias City of Culture evokes a response from the
Carpathian rural fringe where authentic rural traditions can
boost the potential for rural tourism and provide a complementary basis for a sustainable economy in the future.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to K.Mori, S.Shirasaka and K.UrushibaraYoshino for permission to reproduce illustrations that appeared in the book editerd by K.Urushibara-Yoshino on
Changing social conditions and their impacts on the geoecology: transhumance regions of Romania and Slovenia (Tokyo: Hosei University Department of Geography) based on
research funded in Japan by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology.
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GEOGRAPHICA PANNONICA

Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

Figure 1. The district of Mrginenii Sibiului

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

In terms of todays administrative units (Table 1) the area

Plate 1. Sheep grazing in the Jina area 2003

Ru Sadului commune which are not officially regarded as

Mircea Buza, Marioara Cojocariu-Costea,

noting that while Crin is listed as a vilof German/Saxon settlement in the

#2002 (ii) (iii)

3621 49.3 2.52

4073 49.3 3.96

3271 52.6 2.73

2799 53.6 1.75

1779 49.6 2.34

5529 51.3 2.79

636 45.8 1.99

2472 50.8 2.14

5795 51.0 1.79

8837 50.3 2.79

1662 51.3 1.68

40424 50.7 2.56

15648 51.5 3.46

4063 50.2 2.63

163340 52.6 1.03

183051 52.5 1.26

223475 52.1 1.48

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

ADJACENT URBAN AREAS

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Plate 3. The village of Gale situated in a small depression

Plate 5. The plateau village of Poiana Sibiului

cured the contact between the plain and the

in 1959-60: fortified with an earth ditch and two stone/brick

Much more substantial was the impact of the Magyars

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Mircea Buza, Marioara Cojocariu-Costea,

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

ular visits to Banat, Debrecen and the Giurghiu-Climan

in order to make ploughs and other equipment sold in

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Mircea Buza, Marioara Cojocariu-Costea,

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

the next hill (Vf.Pietriceaua 974m). A large centrally-placed

during 1880-1910 though expansion of wood processing at

Mircea Buza, Marioara Cojocariu-Costea,

nineteenth century. And the growth of outdoor recreation

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Figure 2. Water supply in Sibiu

Mrginenii Sibiului: The Historical Geography

Geographica Pannonica Volume 13, Issue 4, 137-158 (2009)

Figure 3. Water pipelines to Sibiu

their right to impose serfom and robot, the boundary was