Country Romania Population 143,939 (2010) Area 49.3 km2 | Mayor Dorin Florea (Democratic Liberal Party) | |
Colleges and Universities University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Targu Mures | ||
Targu-Mures ( Hungarian: , German: ; Latin: ) is the seat of Mures County in the north-central part of Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of 2011.
Contents
- Map of Targu Mures
- Urban legacy trip to targu mures
- Traceurs ro jam 2012 targu mures
- History
- Geography
- Economy
- Main sights
- Culture
- References
Map of Targu Mures
Urban legacy trip to targu mures
Traceurs ro jam 2012 targu mures
History
The first recorded documentation of the city dates to 1332. It is mentioned in the papal registry under the Latin name Novum Forum Siculorum meaning New Szekler Marketplace, and under the Hungarian name Sekulvasarhel (Szekelyvasarhely) meaning Szekler Marketplace in 1349.
On the place of its Castle Church, the Dominicans church stood until the Mongol invasion, when it was destroyed. In its place, the Franciscans built a new Gothic church in 1260, which was completed in 1446. Since 1439 the town was the scene of the sessions of the Transylvanian parliament (diet) 36 times. In 1405, the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city the right to organize fairs. In 1470 King Matthias Corvinus granted the first judicial privilege to the city, and in 1482 declared the city a royal settlement. In 1492, wayvoda (prince) Istvan Bathory strengthened its monastery with fortifications. In 1506, the troops of Pal Tomori were beaten by the Szeklers rising against the payment of an extraordinary Ox tax imposed on them on occasion of the birth of Louis II of Hungary. In 1557, the Reformed Church College (i.e. Presbyterians) was established as the oldest Hungarian school of Transylvania. In 1571, the session of the Transylvanian parliament under prince John II Sigismund Zapolya accepted the free preaching of the word of God, including by the Unitarian Church. In 1600–1601, as a result of the siege of Giorgio Basta, the fortress turned to ruins. In 1602, the troops of Gergely Nemeth put on fire the remaining houses of the town, therefore, in 1602 the reconstruction of the fortress was started on the advice of mayor Tamas Borsos, but it was actually built between 1614 and 1653. Mozes Szekely the only prince of Szekler origin visited the city in 1603 when he liberated Transylvania from foreign domination.
In 1616, it was granted the status of a free royal city under the name of Maros-Vasarhely by prince (fejedelem) Gabor Bethlen. In 1658 Turkish and Tartarian troops invaded the city and burned it, 3000 people were taken into captivity. In 1661, as no one showed willingness to accept the duty of prince, under Turkish pressure Mihaly Apafi was elected prince of Transylvania here . In 1662, resulting from the negligence of the Turkish military residing here, the city almost completely burnt down. In 1687 it was devastated by German imperial troops. In 1704, the kuruc troops of Pal Kaszas occupied the fortress, which was re-occupied by Austrian troops led by Lorinc Pekry in 1706. On 5 April 1707 Francis II Rakoczi was raised to the chair of princes here. In 1707 the city was struck by the plague with more than 3500 deaths. The black death renewed in 1709, 1719 and in 1738–39.
The city received a major boost to its social and economic life when it became home to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Principality of Transylvania in 1754. In 1802, the Teleki Library founded by count Samuel Teleki was opened for the public with 40.000 volumes.
Avram Iancu, the leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania, was a young lawyer in the city of Marosvasarhely before engaging in the fight for the rights of Romanians living in Transylvania. On 4 November 1848, the Szekler troops were beaten by the Austrian imperial troops under its walls, and the city was also captured. On 13 January 1849 the troops of major Tolnay recaptured it. On 30 July 1849, Sandor Petofi and Bem set out from here for the Battle of Segesvar.
In 1854, Szekler martyrs Karoly Horvath, Janos Torok and Mihaly Galfi were executed on the Postaret for plotting against the Austrian rule. Since 1874 a monument marks the place. In 1861, Marosvasarhely became the seat of Marosszek, in 1876 that of Maros-Torda County. In 1880 the statue of Bem was inaugurated in Roses Square, in downtown area; in 1893 the statue of Kossuth was as well. The statue of Rakoczi was also inaugurated in 1907. All three were demolished after World War I between 1919 in 1923 after Transylvania became part of Romania.
The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1913, the Hungarian Art-Nouveau style city hall complex and Cultural Palace was opened, as part of mayor Bernady Gyorgys urban renewal. After World War I, together with the rest of Transylvania, Marosvasashely became part of Romania and was renamed Osorheiu. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (1910), Romanian population increased throughout the latter half of the 20th century.
From 1940 to 1944, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, the city was ceded back to Hungary. After Hungary was occupied by Germany in 1944, a Jewish ghetto was established in the city. Osorheiu re-entered the Romanian administration at the end of the war in October 1944. However, on 12 November 1944 General Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov of the Soviet Red Army expulsed the returning Romanian authorities from Northern Transylvania with reference to the massacres committed by members of Iuliu Manius so-called Maniu Guard, and the Romanian authorities were not allowed to return until the government of Petru Groza was formed on 6 March 1945.
After World War II, the communist administration of Romania conducted a policy of massive industrialization that completely re-shaped the community. Between 1950–1968, it was the center of the Hungarian Autonomous Province, later named as Mures-Hungarian Autonomous Region. On 7 September 1959, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Secretary-General of the Romanian Workers Party, and the Prime Minister Chivu Stoica visited the city. It was then decided where to build the fertilizer production plant, and the new residential quarters of the city. It was decided that the residential quarters would not be built in the Maros valley, but on the surrounding hills.
In March 1990, shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime, the city was the scene of violent ethnic clashes between ethnic Hungarians and ethnic Romanians.
The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area.
The city has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Szekelys. Since 2003, some Szekely organizations have been campaigning for the city to become the center of an autonomous region again.
Geography
The city is located in the Mures River valley. The city spreads out from Fortress Church in the center of the town, built in the 14th century, to form an area of 49.3 square kilometres (19.0 sq mi). The city is located at the centre of the historical region of Transylvania and covers an area of 49.3 square kilometres (19.0 sq mi). It lies at the junction of three geographical regions of Transylvania (Transylvanian Plain, Mures Valley and Niraj Valley) at 330 m (1,083 ft) above sea level. The city extends onto both banks of the Mures river, however, the downtown area and the greater part of the districts are located on the left bank. The Cornesti plateau (Hungarian: ) is the citys highest point (465 metres (1,526 ft) above sea level, co-ordinates: 46.5531°N 24.5984°E? / 46.5531; 24.5984).
Targu Mures is 346 kilometres (215 mi) from Bucharest, 475 kilometres (295 mi) from Chisinau, 480 kilometres (300 mi) from Belgrade, 515 kilometres (320 mi) from Budapest, 598 kilometres (372 mi) from Sofia and 845 kilometres (525 mi) from Kiev. It is surrounded by the following communes: Sangeorgiu de Mures, Livezeni, Santana de Mures, Sancraiu de Mures, Corunca, Cristesti and Ceuasu de Campie. Two villages, Mureseni (Meggyesfalva) and Remetea (Remeteszeg), are administered by the city.
Distances between the city and some of the major cities in Romania:
Economy
At present in Targu Mures there are over 8500 private companies and several state-owned companies.
Main sights
The Reformed Fortress Church is the oldest church in the town. According to historical evidence, less than a century had passed after the first appearance of the Franciscan order in Transylvania, Hungarian Kingdom, that the Franciscan friars arrived at Vasarhely. The building of the church took an entire century, from the middle of the 14th century until the middle of the 15th and it consisted of a monastery building, an older chapel, the church and the steeple. The church was finalized between 1400 and 1450. The church may have been originally decorated with frescos, as traces of mural paintings were found inside. The almost complete disappearance of these paintings is due to the fact that the church became the property of Protestant believers in 1557. The religious reform required for churches to have no paintings, statues or religious frescos.
The existence of the Franciscan order in Vasarhely was directly affected by the religious reform which was largely spread in Transylvania during the 16th century. In 1557, the influence of the Reformed Church over the Hungarians in the town was so strong that it eventually led to the confiscation of the properties of Catholic monastic orders. Franciscan monks, who until that time had been attending the church in the fortress, were forced to leave town. They returned after nearly two centuries when the political climate had become favorable to Catholicism due to the instauration of the Habsburgs in Transylvania. They bought the land in the center of the town where they built a new church and monastery by 1777. The tower, the only part that is still standing, was added to the churchs facade in 1802 by architect Janos Topler. In 1971 the municipality decided to demolish the monastery to create the necessary space for the construction of the National Theater and the square in front of it. A new church was built for the Franciscans on Libertatii street.
At the beginning of the 18th century, one of the most representative Baroque churches of Transylvania was built in the town. St John the Baptist Church was erected in the North-Eastern part of the city center and belongs to the Roman Catholic parish. The inside of the church is luxurious, with liturgical objects that are true works of art. The main altar, made in 1755 by Anton Schuchbauer and Johannes Nachtigal is of monumental dimensions and has a pseudo-architectural structure. The paintings of the altars in the lateral chapels: Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary, Saint Joseph, Saint John of Nepomuc, Holy Cross belong to the same Michael Angelo Unterberger. The stained glass windows made by the Turke Company of Grottau were installed in 1898.
The Big Synagogue was built between 1899 and 1900 at the initiative of the Jewish community "Status Quo" and that was considered to be one of the most beautiful synagogues of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The design of the building was drawn up by Gartner Jacob from Vienna and the construction works were coordinated by the Hungarian Pal Soos. The entire edifice is dominated by the central cupola. Each side of the central spire is decorated with a floral rosette similar to the ones on the facade. This type of window is also used several times on the lateral facades. The vast interior is richly decorated, both with shapes and color. The synagogue has 314 seats on the ground floor and 238 on the top floor. The most recent large scale remodeling of the building took place in 2000 when the walls were reinforced and the interior decoration was re-done.
The existence of the Unitarian faith in the town is linked to the name of Ferenc David, founder of Unitarianism and the first Unitarian bishop. The political circumstances in Transylvania became favourable for Ferenc David’s activity as the Diet of Torda held between 1557 and 1568 granted freedom of faith to all religions in Transylvania. The Unitarianism became religio-recepta together with all the other Protestant faiths. The king of the state himself, John II Sigismund Zapolya became Unitarian. The Unitarian Church was built between 1929 and 1930 next to the old Unitarian prayer house dating from 1869.
Culture
The city is home to the Peninsula / Felsziget Festival, Romanias biggest music festival.