Seini is a town in Maramureș County, Romania. It administers two villages, Săbișa (Kissebespatak) and Viile Apei (Apahegy). It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systematization program.

The history of the locality

The historical documents regarding the existence on these places of the fortress of Seini are edifying and attest here a stable center built before the occupation of Transylvania by the Hungarians. Seini is mentioned among the fortresses existing in the 10th – 13th centuries under the name of “Castrum Zynyr” or appears under other names: Szinerváralja, Váralya, Seinen or Seini. The fortress included Țara Oașului, Lunca Someșului up to Bușag and Lipau. The locality is documented, again, in the 14th century in “The notations regarding the papal tithe from 1334”. In 1344 Seiniul becomes an opidum (fair) that will survive even after the destruction of the fortress in 1563. Since 1988 it has received the status of city.

In 1882, Seiniul was the center of a significant region, being considered, at the end of the century. 19th century, one of the most advanced fairs. As a net residence it still had at that time a court, a rural court, a collection, a land register, a notary public, a finance department and a gendarmerie. It had three banks, a telegraph post office and two casinos.
In 1875, the alcohol factory, established 16 years earlier, began to produce brewer’s yeast. In 1891, an andesite tombstone factory was established, which worked, since its establishment, with 50-60 workers. A steam mill opens, a printing house. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the number of craftsmen who had private workshops increased greatly, with 80 permits. The andesite quarry is opened, the Power Plant and the Abrasive Factory on the support are established.

The trades were developed from feudalism. The craft industry can thus be considered the oldest branch of the local industry. As a former fair, it was obviously not only developed, but also diversified. In 1933, 46 permits were issued only for shoemakers, shoemakers and tailors, who worked with over 150 journeymen and apprentices. In 10 years, there are 131 craftsmen, with a much larger number of apprentices and journeymen. The year 1944 brings the founding of the craft cooperative „Unirea“, which then became a section in 1965, as an independent unit.

The craft cooperative „Someșul“ has 13 sections of production in small series and serving the population, with over 101 craftsmen. In 1971, a modern service complex was put into operation, in which there are tailoring workshops, radio-TV repairs, footwear, tailor-made tailoring, watchmaking, hairdressing and hairdressing. In 3 years, a large carpentry and mechanics workshop will be built and put into use. Thus, it reaches 38 sections, 581 craftsmen, becoming in that year the largest craft cooperative in rural Romania. It is noteworthy that many employees of the time commuted from the surrounding localities: Apa, Ilba, Handal, Cicârlău, even from Orașu Nou or Pomi, passing by the ferry Someșul.

At the level of 2008, the city of Seini is configured on the map of the county and the country with a population of 5210 women, 4923 men, of which 8094 Romanians, 59 Germans, 1,768 Hungarians, 191 Roma, 36 others. The European Road E58 connects these localities with Seini, respectively the County Road Seini – Negrești, ensuring easy commuting possibilities. This is still done today, many employees being from these areas, and Thursday – weekly and last Monday – monthly bringing an intense population movement of these lands, being a day of agri-food market and animal fair.