Târgu Mureș
Template:Infobox City in Romania Tîrgu Mureş or Marosvásárhely (pronounced in Romanian: /'tɨr.gu 'mu.reʃ/; Template:Lang-ro; Template:Lang-hu; Template:Lang-de; Template:Lang-la) is a city in Mureş county, Transylvania, Romania. A deprecated Romanian spelling of its name is Târgu Mureş.
History
The city was first documented in 1332 in the papal registry under the name Novum Forum Siculorum.
In 1405 the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city of Tîrgu Mureş (by then named Székelyvásárhely, see Székely) the right to organize fairs and in 1482 the King Matthias Corvinus declared the city a royal settlement. It became a municipality in 1616 , changing its name to Marosvásárhely, the Romanian equivalent of which is Tîrgu Mureş (târg and vásár mean "Market" in Romanian and Hungarian respectively).
In 1754 Tîrgu Mureş became home to the supreme court of justice of the Principality of Transylvania which provided a major boost to the city's social and economic life.
Avram Iancu, the leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania, was a young lawyer in the city of Tîrgu Mureş before engaging in the fight for the rights of Romanians living in Transylvania.
In 1880 was inaugurated the statue of Bem, in 1893 the statue of Kossuth and in 1907 the statue of Rákóczi, all on Roses square (In the center of the city). Later, in 1923, after World War I, all three statues were demolished.
The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The spectacular Transylvanian Secession-style city hall complex was opened, as part of mayor Bernády György's urban renewal, in 1913. After World War I, Tîrgu Mureş became part of Romania, like the rest of Transylvania. After it became a city of Romania, Marosvásárhely was first re-named Oşorheiu. Economic success continued until World War II. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (1910), Romanian population increased throughout the later half of the 20th century.
From 1940 to 1944 , as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, Tîrgu Mureş was ceded to Hungary. During this period, a Jewish ghetto was estsablished in the city. It re-entered the Romanian administration at the end of the war in October 1944.
After World War II, the communist administration of Romania conducted a policy of massive industrialization that completely re-shaped the community, and set up a Hungarian Autonomous Province based in the city, which lasted 15 years. Tîrgu Mureş became the center of economic and social life of the region.
In March 1990 , shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime, Tîrgu Mureş was the stage of violent confrontations between ethnic Hungarians and Romanians. (See Ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureş).
As of 2000, a considerable percentage of the population of Tîrgu Mureş has started to work abroad temporarily. The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area.
Tîrgu Mureş has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Székelys. Since 2003 some Székely organisations have been campaigning for the city to again become centre of an autonomous region. Dorin Florea is the first directly elected ethnic Romanian mayor of the city, though the city council retains a majority of ethnic Hungarians.
Personalities
Tîrgu Mureş was the home of Avram Iancu (1824-1872), Alexandru Papiu Ilarian (1827-1877), Farkas Bolyai (1775-1856), János Bolyai (1802-1860), Petru Maior (1756-1821), Orbán György (born 1947), Aranka György (1737-1817), the writer András Sütő (1927-2006), Gheorghe Şincai (1754-1816) and Sámuel Teleki (1739-1832). Also her lives the SMURD doctor Raed Arafat (born 1964) and the footballist László Bölöni (born 1952).
Demographics
According to the results of the most recent census of 2002, the municipality of Tîrgu Mureş is ethnically mixed with a population of 149,577.
| Ethnicity | People | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Romanian | 75,317 | 50.35% |
| Hungarian | 69,825 | 46.68% |
| Roma | 3,759 | 2.51% |
| German | 275 | 0.18% |
| other & undeclared |
401 | 0.27% |
The 2002 census was the first to show Hungarians in a minority. The municipality of Tîrgu Mureş is officially bilingual, with both Romanian and Hungarian languages being recognised officially and used in public signage, education, justice and access to public administration.
Districts of the city
- Unirii (on the right of the Mureş River)
- Ady Endre
- Dâmbul Pietros
- Aleea Carpaţi
- Budai Nagy Antal
- Centru
- Gara
- Libertăţii
- Livezeni
- 1898 december 22 (November 7)
- Tudor Vladimirescu
- Răsăritului
- Mureseni
- Substejăriş
- Cornişa
Churches
- Ascension of the Lord Cathedral, Târgu Mureş (built between 1925 and 1934)
- "Small" Orthodox cathedral, near Emil Dandea statue (built between 1926-1936)
- City Fortress reformed church (built in the 14th century)
- The small reformed church (built at the beginning of the 17th century)
- Israelite church (built 1857)
- Evangelic church (1818-1829)
- Grey Friar church (built between 1745-1747 in the center of the city, but in 1971 the main part of the church was demolished by the communist regime, only the tower remained)
- Unitarian church (built between 1929-1930)
- Keresztelő Szent János roman catholic parish church (built 1764)
- Bob church (built between 1793-1794)
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Tourist attractions
Tîrgu Mureş offers some remarkable places to visit such as:
- The Cultural Palace in Tîrgu Mureş, built between 1911-1913 by Komor Marcell (1868-1944) and Jakab Dezsô (1864-1932) to the request of Bernády György. The most visited part of the Palace is the Mirrors Hall.
- The City Fortress with the reformed church inside, built between 1602 and 1658 to the request of Borsos Tamás.
- The Roses Square, in the center of the city
- The City Hall, built between 1906-1907 on the construction plans of Komor Marcell (1868-1944) and Jakab Dezsô. Unfortunately, during the 1962 restauration a marble table pointing to construction, the city coat of arms and other decorations were removed. The glass paintings which illustrated Bethlen Gábor, Francis II Rákóczi, Kossuth Lajos, Deák Ferenc and Franz Joseph I of Austria are missing from the halls.
- The Teleki Library, built between 1799–1802, is one of the richest Transylvanian collections of cultural artefacts. It was founded by the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki in 1802
- The Cornesti high (Somostető) - an excellent landscape of Tîrgu Mureş can be seen from here
European tourists show an increased interest in the city and in Transylvania as witnessed by the introduction of budget flights to Tîrgu Mureş
Politics
The Tîrgu Mureş Municipal Assemly has 23 members:
| Political Party | Number of Seats |
|---|---|
| Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania | 12 |
| Greater Romania Party | 4 |
| Justice and Truth Alliance (PNL-PD) | 3 |
| Social Democratic Party | 3 |
| Romanian National Unity Party (Conservative Party) | 1 |
Transport
Distances from Romanian cities:
- Bucharest 448km by train | 346km by car
- Braşov 282 km by train | 171 km by car
- Cluj-Napoca 127km by train | 105km by car
- Sibiu 189km by train | 124km by car
Tîrgu Mureş is served by Tîrgu Mureş International Airport, which provides both domestic and international flights. It was renovated in October 2005.
The city transport operators are S.C. Transport Local S.A., S.C. Siletina-Impex S.R.L. and S.C. TudorTrans S.R.L.
WizzAir.com will operate budget flights to Transylvania-Tîrgu Mureş from London-Luton and other European airpots from 30 Oct 2007 (Per July 2007 announcement at AirNews)
Sports
The city is represented in many sports, including football, handball, basketball, volleyball and wushu. Tîrgu Mureş is the home city of 3 football teams, but all of them play in the lower tiers of Romanian football: Maris Tîrgu Mureş, Gaz Metan Tîrgu Mureş and Trans-Sil Tîrgu Mureş. Of these teams Maris Tîrgu Mureş (known by its former name, ASA) is the most popular and is the only one to have played in the Romanian First Division and in the UEFA Cup. Tîrgu Mureş is also known for its bowling team, Electromures. It is one of the best bowling teams in Europe. The #1 sport right now in the city is basketball, which is enjoying a huge audience and thousands of fans, with the team Bc Mures - team playing the the first division.
Local media
| Written media | Radio/TV |
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Sister cities
External links
- Template:Ro icon Municipal website
- Template:Ro icon Interactive map of Tîrgu Mureş
- Template:Ro icon BC Mureş Official Website
- Tîrgu Mureş photo gallery
- Photo gallery and collection of links in English, Romanian and Hungarian
- WizzAir.com
- AirNews
Notes
County seats of Romania (alphabetical order by county) | ||
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