The first map of salt deposits in Romania (1780). Current corresponding toponyms

Abstract

The history of salt exploitation in the Carpathian arc area is far from being complete regarding certain periods of Romania’s historical provinces, although a lot has been written on this topic. A map of the salt deposits drafted in 1780 represents one of the most important achievements in this field. One of the mandatory aspects of this historical approach is the identification of places from where salt is or was extracted. Following a short history of the primary documentations of the exploitation of salt on the territory of Romania, this study presents Fichtel’s (1780) contribution to identifying the salt deposits on this territory. The updating of the toponyms on the map poses no difficulties for the historical provinces Moldavia and Wallachia, yet the situation is different in the case of the toponyms in Transylvania, since the nomenclature from the Hungarian domination period (until 1918) was mostly modified starting with the year 1919. Correspondences from the current nomenclature were provided for all these toponyms. The study offers an update of the localization of salt wells or springs and sedimentary deposits of salt, as indicated by Fichtel, by identifying present corresponding toponyms for the ones indicated on the map.

Keywords

• salt deposits
• salt springs
• carpathians
• toponymy
• fichtel’s map (1780)