Cristian (Sibiu)

Cristian (German Großau or Grossau, saxon: Grīßau, Hungarian Kereszténysziget ) is a town in Transylvania ( Romania).

Location

Cristian is on Cibin ( Zibin ), about ten kilometers west of Sibiu ( Hermannstadt). The village is accessible via the European routes E68 and E81.

History

The place on the crown land was first mentioned as Insula Christiani in 1223 in a document.

Besides Apoldu de Sus (German Großpold ) and Turnisor (German Neppendorf, now part of Sibiu ) is Großau one of the three Transylvanian communities in which since the 18th century displaced from the Salzkammergut and Carinthia, Protestant Landler lived and live.

The 2002 census revealed the following ethnic structure of the city:

• 3,435 Romanians
• 66 Transylvanian Saxons
• 35 members of other ethnic groups

Kirchenburg

The fortified church was built by the master builder champion Andreas, a stonemason from the village, on the river Zibin in 1498.

In the 16th century came to a circular wall, as the Turks repeatedly devastated the country. The old Tortum was washed down by the adjacent river and later replaced by a new one.

Due to the close proximity to the county seat, the Großauer fortified church today is a particularly popular destination for visitors to Sibiu.

Attractions

• Kirchenburg
• Village Museum

Personalities

• Andreas Wolf (1741-1812), physician and scholar in Moldova

Others

In Cristian there are no official street names in the classical sense. The lanes are numbered with Roman numerals. In the Saxon dialect, however, the streets had names very well as Kirchgasse, " Klättittengässchen " (which means pancakes streets ), etc.