Being a municipal town of the county, Zalau is also its cultural centre. The cultural events take place in the Union Culture House, the Municipal Cultural House, The " Ionita Scipione Badescu " LIbrary, the History and Arts Museum, " Ioan Sima' Gallery as well as in the cinema hall of the town.
Zalau also possesses a Documentary Library created in 1646 within the Reformed College. Today the library owns more than 40.000 books of which a good part are very rare or even unique. Among the writers one could mention the ancient Greeks- Homer, Platon, Aristotel, Plutarch, Dyionisus of Halicarnas, Ptolemeu and Plinius Secundus or the writers Erasmus of Rotterdam, Calvin, Descartes as well as other writers of the time. Latest research has revealed 7 Dutch sole exemplars, documents belonging to the 17th and 18th centuries.

The " Ionita Scipione Badescu" County Library

Zalau, 13, Iuliu Maniu Square, Salaj County, Ph: 060/ 662236
History:
The media of the time recorded the inauguration - on the 23 th August 1950- of a " Central Library" owning 7000 Roman and Hungarian books. Among other personalities, Rodica Fanateanu, Elena Fanateanu, Karl Kun and many others were present. The collections comprise very old books like Petrarca's " De remediis" ( 1649). In 1952 it became " District Library" , coordinating all the Salaj county libraries.
In 1957 took the name of the Salaj scholar Ionita Scipione Badescu.
It became " County Library" in 1968. Throughout the times it functioned in the Municipal Cultural House building, in the former Museum location, in the building of the today's Bookstores Centre and since 1971 in the building on the Iuliu Maniu Square no. 13.
It possesses at the moment more than 160.000 books.

Religions According to the 1992 census, 72% of the inhabitants are Orthodox, 17,3 % Protestant, 2,7 % Greek -Catholic, 2,1 % Roman-Catholic and 4,5 % belong to other religious cults (mostly Baptists and Pentecostals). In Zalau and the two subordinated villages (Ortelec and Stana) there are 6 Orthodox churches (best known are The Dormition of the Lady Cathedral, Holy Trinity Church, Holy Friday Church and St. Stephan Church). There are also two Greek -Catholic Churches (Holy Family Roman Church), 2 Protestant churches, one Roman- Catholic, 3 Baptist, 2 Penticostal and one Adventist.

Cultural institutions

Among the most representatives the following institutions are to be mentioned:
The Salaj County Cultural, Cults and National Cultural Heritage Control, The Zalau County Arts and History Museum, The "Ionita Scipione Badescu" County Library, The Popular School of Arts and Trades, The Salaj Centre for the Valorization and Promotion of the Traditional Culture, The Zalau Cultural House of Unions.

Artistic Activities

The XVIIth century (1646) mentions the first artistic activities but the most important took place in the beginning of the 19th century (1810 the Male Choir of the Artisans Association). Choral activities are an important part in the cultural life of the Zalau citizens, the most important being the girl's choir (1924-1936) and the Choir of the Popular Athenaeum (after 1945).
Very active are today the folk ensemble "Rapsodia Salajului" ( 1958), " Mesesul "folk music orchestra, the choirs "Cameratta Academica Porolissenssis", "Gloria Dei", "Tara Silvaniei"- the ensemble of the House of Unions, "Porolissum"- the professional ensemble, " Columna"- the youth folkloric ensemble and " Mugur"- the children ensemble.
Financed by the city -hall, the ensembles " Porolissum " and " Columna" are very famous in Romania and abroad.