Șchei (Bulgarian: шкеи, shkei) was an old Romanianexonym referring to the Bulgarians, especially in Transylvania and northern Wallachia. As a name, it has been preserved in the names of towns colonized in the 14th century by Bulgarians, in toponyms (Dealu Schiaului near Rășinari), hydronyms (Schiau River, tributary to the Argeş River), surnames (Schiau, Șchiau).[1] The word is thought to derive from Latinsclavis, a popular designation for the South Slavs (Bulgarians and Serbs in particular) that is still used in Albanian (in the form shkja and various dialectal variants[2]).[3]
Șchei villages in Transylvania
Among the towns or neighbourhoods bearing that trace of Bulgarian settlement are:[1]
^Гюзелев, Боян (2004). Албанци в Източните Балкани(PDF) (in Bulgarian). София: Международен център за изследване на малцинствата и културните взаимодействия. p. 13. ISBN954-8872-45-5. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2008-09-01.