CILLI (Slovene Celje), a town of Slavonia, Yugoslavia, on a branch of the Zagreb-Fiume railway, lies picturesquely with re mains of walls and towers on the river Sann, on an important road north to Marburg (Maribor) on the Austrian frontier and south to Ljubljana. Pop. (1931) 7,602. Probably a Celtic settlement, the Romans took it (15 B.c.) and Claudius made it a Roman muni cipium (A.D. 5o), naming it Claudia Celeja. It prospered greatly, and its temple of Mars was widely famed. Its museum contains many Roman remains, and the Roman sewage system was redis covered in the second half of the 29th century and is now in use. It was incorporated with Aquileia under Constantine, and was de stroyed by Slays at the end of the 6th century. The counts of Cilli, at one time in authority in Croatia, at another in Bosnia, had their castle, Ober Cilli, on the Schlossberg (I,32oft.), south east of the town. Its ruins, the Cilli throne and the family tomb remain. Under the Cilli (1350-1455) the town prospered; on their extinction it became subject to Austria. The fine church (14th century) has a beautiful chapel and is justly renowned. The so called German church (Romanesque) belonged to the Minorite monastery (founded 1241, closed 18o8). Antimony and zinc are mined near by, and enamelled iron utensils are made. Ten miles north-west are the baths and ruined castle of Neuhaus, since 1643 called Schlangenburg.
See E. Glautschnigg, Cilli and Umgebung; Handbuch fur Fremde (Cilli, 1887) .