Sibiu

Sister cities

• Columbia
• Klagenfurt am Wörthersee
• Deventer
• Landshut
• Marburg
• Rennes
• Wirral
• Bauru
• Mechelen

History

The Roman fort of Cedonia was perhaps in the same location as Sibiu. The town was founded by Saxon (German) settlers brought there by King of Hungary and King of Croatia Géza II during the mid-late 12th century, as part of the Ostsiedlung. They came from territories of the Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of France (nowadays parts of Germany, France and the Benelux countries) and arrived at around 1147. The first references to the area were Cibinium and Cipin from 1191 when Pope Celestine III confirmed the existence of the free prepositure of the Saxons in Transylvania, having its headquarters in Sibiu. The city also used the names Prepositus Cibiniensis (1192–1196) and Prepositus Scibiniensis (1211). In 1223, it was renamed to Villa Hermanni, either in honor of archbishop Hermann II of Cologne or after a man who is believed to have founded the city, Hermann of Nuremberg. The actual German name of Hermannstadt ("Hermann's city") dates from 1366, while an earlier form, Hermannsdorf ("Hermann's village") was recorded in 1321. An alternative urban legend has it that the town was named after a certain shoemaker by the name Hermann. In the 14th century, it was already an important trade centre. In 1376, the craftsmen were divided in 19 guilds. Hermannstadt became the most important ethnic German city among the seven cities that gave Transylvania its German name Siebenbürgen (literally seven citadels). It was home to the Transylvanian Saxon University (; i.e. Community of the Saxons), a network of pedagogues, ministers, intellectuals, city officials, and councilmen of the German community forging an ordered legal corpus and political system in Transylvania since the 1400s. In 1699, after the Ottomans withdrew to their base of power in Hungary and Transylvania, the town became…

Geography

Sibiu is situated near the geographical center of Romania at . Set in the Cibin Depression, the city is about from the Făgăraș Mountains, from the Cibin Mountains, and about from the Lotru Mountains, which border the depression in its southwestern section. The northern and eastern limits of Sibiu are formed by the Târnavelor Plateau, which descends to the Cibin Valley through Gușteriței Hill. The Cibin River and some smaller streams run through Sibiu. The geographical position of Sibiu makes it one of the most important transportation hubs in Romania, with important roads and railway lines passing through it, including the A1 motorway, which also serves as a heavy traffic bypass for the city. Sibiu's climate is humid continental (Köppen: Dfb), with average temperatures of . The average precipitation is , and there are about 120 days of hard frost annually. Sibiu experiences 56 days per year with fog and 1.5 days with hail. Meteomanz (extremes since 2021) | source 2 = Romanian National Statistic Institute (extremes 1901–2000), Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1989–2008) | date = August 2010}}

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  172
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  140
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  133
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  133
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  119
• Eurasian Kestrel

  Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  118
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  114
• Rook

  Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  111

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2015-12-29
  7 km WNW of Brezoi, Romania
• M 4.3 — 2013-09-08
  2 km NNE of Tote?ti, Romania
• M 4.5 — 2012-01-01
  4 km W of Albeni, Romania
• M 2.8 — 2008-03-30
  4 km SSE of Corbi, Romania
• M 3.4 — 2006-08-10
  6 km NNW of Uricani, Romania
• M 3.1 — 2006-08-09
  5 km SSW of Uricani, Romania