Sânnicolau Mare

Sânnicolau Mare
Serbian church
Sânnicolau Mare Location of Sânnicolau Mare
Coordinates: 46°4′20″N 20°37′46″E / 46.07222°N 20.62944°ECoordinates: 46°4′20″N 20°37′46″E / 46.07222°N 20.62944°E
Country	Romania
County	Timiș
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Dănuț Groza (PD-L)
Area
• Total	136.77 km^2 (52.81 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	11,540
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.sannicolau-mare.ro/

Sânnicolau Mare (formerly spelled Sînnicolau Mare, Romanian pronunciation: [sɨnnikoˌla.u ˈmare]) is a town in Timiș County, Romania and the westernmost of the country. Located in the Banat region, along the borders with Serbia and Hungary, it has a population of just under 12,000.

Name

In German, it is known as Groß Sankt Nikolaus, in Hungarian as Nagyszentmiklós, in Banat Bulgarian as Smikluš, and in Serbian as Сент Николаш / Sent Nikolaš. It is translated as "Great St. Nicholas" in English.

History

Kingdom of Hungary, cancelled at NAGY SZ-MIKLOS in 1895

Near Sânnicolau Mare there are the remains of Morisena, an ancient town, seat of Roman legions and of medieval dukes of Banat. After the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) until 1918, Sânnicolau Mare (and the Banat) was part of the Austrian monarchy, Temes District;^[1] in Transleithania after the compromise of 1867 in Austria-Hungary. In the late 18th century, the Habsburg dynasty of Austria recruited German farmers and artisans to resettle areas along the Danube that had been depopulated during the Ottoman reign and the plague. They were allowed to keep their own religion, language and culture, and many German villages were founded in the Banat. The descendants of the ethnic Germans became known as Danube Swabians (Danauswaben) and spoke a distinct form of German that became different from what evolved in the principal states. This is one reason for the high proportion of ethnic Germans in the town before World War II. After the war, many left the area to escape Soviet dominance; others were expelled because of anti-German sentiment throughout eastern Europe.

The town was a district center in Torontal County during Habsburg rule. The town served as the county seat between 1807 and 1820 due to a great fire in Großbetschkerek, the county seat. Occupied by Serbian troops in 1918 during World War I, the town became part of Romania in 1919 during the realignment after the war.

Sânnicolau Mare is known for the Treasure of Nagy Szent Miklos, a treasure of 23 gold objects discovered here in 1799 (it was then called Nagy Szent Miklos / Groß-Sankt-Niklaus in the Habsburg Monarchy). The pieces are on display in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the National Museum of History, Sofia. The town is the birthplace of Béla Bartók, the notable 20th-century Hungarian composer. The town is 64 kilometers away from Timişoara, the biggest city in the region.

Demographics

Historical population of Sânnicolau Mare[2]
Year	Population	Romanians	Hungarians	Germans	Serbs	Bulgarians
1880	10,836	31.3%	10.8%	41.2%	11.4%	N.D.
1890	12,311	31.3%	12.2%	43.5%	10.3%	N.D.
1900	12,639	33.1%	15.3%	41.1%	9.8%	N.D.
1910	12,357	32.6%	17.5%	39%	9.2%	N.D.
1920	10,900	36.1%	10.6%	40.1%	N.D%	N.D.
1930	10,676	40%	11.6%	35.2%	7.5%	0.3%
1941	10,640	42.1%	10.1%	35%	N.D	N.D
1956	9,956	54.6%	12.4%	24.4%	6.5%	0.8%
1966	11,428	59.4%	10.9%	21.8%	6.4%	1%
1977	12,811	62.2%	10.9%	19%	4.7%	1.6%
1992	13,083	73.4%	10.6%	5.9%	4.6%	3.1%
2002[3]	12,914	76.8%	9.4%	3.2%	3.6%	3.6%
2011	11,540	79.03%	7.66%	2.2%

At the 2011 census, the town counted with 11,540 inhabitants. 79.03% Romanians, 7.66% Hungarians, 3.21% Roms, 2.2% Germans, 0.12% Ukrainians

Gallery

• 

  Nako Castle

• 

  Nako Castle 2

See also

• Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós

References

1. Handbook of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia Cancellations on the Postage Stamp Issues 1850-1864, by Edwin MUELLER, 1961.
2. Erdély etnikai és felekezeti statisztikája
3. Recensamant 2001

External links

• Events in Sannicolau-Mare