explosion that led to casualties and significant material damage. Today Zalău is crossed by European road E81 and the national road DN1F. A new motorway (the Transylvania Highway) is being built to connect Zalău to Western Europe. The town has two nationally accredited University colleges, a public library, one museum, an art gallery, more than four hotels, a motel, and two student halls of residence. Geography Zalău lies in the Zalău Valley, at the junction of the Apuseni Mountains and the Eastern Carpathians, in Sălaj County, at . Zalău is in the central part of Sălaj County, in Zalău watershed where the depression of the same name and the Meseș Peak meet. It neighbours Țara Maramureșului and the county of Satu Mare, in the northwestern part of the historical region of Transylvania, which in the past was a mainly independent small state but since 1918 has belonged to Romania (except between September 1940 and October 1944, when it was under the administration of Hungary following the Second Vienna Award). Whether Zalău lies in Crișana or Transylvania is still a matter of debate because, geographically, Zalău lies on the eastern border of Crișana. It lies along the bank of the small river Zalău, between three narrow valleys in the Meseș Mountains. It is the county seat and the largest city in Sălaj County. The city includes a total surface of . This includes the one village it administers, Stâna (Felsőnyárló), situated south-east of Meseș, in the hydrographic basin of Agrij. Măgura Stânii has . Sights The most important of the 24 monuments and buildings in the county capital of Zalău are: "Transilvania" (theatre in 1895), the city hall (court and seat of the prefects office in 1889), the Roman Catholic Church (1878), the reformed church (1904–1907), the Greek Catholic "Dormition of the Theotokos Church" (1930–1934), the Orthodox deanery (built in the late 19th century), the Historical Museum (built about 1900 – casino of the artisans fellowship), the primary school "Simion Bărnuțiu" (girls' school in 1895) and the National College Silvania (Reformed College in 1860), all these being valuable urbanistic elements for the historical and cultural patrimony of the land. The famous statuary group Wesselényi Monument of the heroic Hungarian nobleman with the same name (1902) by János Fadrusz, and the bust made in the honour of Simion Bărnuțiu by Romul Ladea are worth visiting as well. Zalău hosts lively pageants each