Founding
capital of the county of Mureș, Romania
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Târgu Mureș (, Romanian: [ˈtɨrɡu ˈmureʃ] ⓘ; Hungarian: Marosvásárhely [ˈmɒroʃvaːʃaːrhɛj] ⓘ; German: Neumarkt am Mieresch also known as simply Neumarkt) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 inhabitants as of the 2021 census. It lies on the Mureș River, the second-longest river in Romania (after the Danube).
The current Romanian name of the city, Târgu Mureș, is the equivalent of the Hungarian Marosvásárhely, both meaning "market on the Mureș (Maros) [River]". Târg means "market" in Romanian and vásárhely means "marketplace" in Hungarian. Local Hungarians often shorten Marosvásárhely to Vásárhely in speech.
The Jesuit priest Martin Szentiványi provides the first known written reference naming the city; in his work Dissertatio Paralipomenonica Rerum Memorabilium Hungariae (written in Latin in 1699) he records the name as Asserculis: "Asserculis, hoc est Szekely Vasarhely", meaning "Asserculis, this is Szekely Vasarhely". He provides the year 1230 for the reference. A second work of his, Curiosiora Et Selectiora Variarum Scientiarum Miscellanea (dated 1702) also mentions this name.
Another written reference to the city was in the Papal registry (in Latin) as Novum Forum Siculorum in 1332, and later as Sekulvasarhel (modern Hungarian: Székelyvásárhely), meaning "market of the Székelys", in 1349. Greek traders called it "Agropolis". Another name for it was "Areopolis".
In 1616, Gabriel Bethlen gave the name Marosvásárhely to the newly upgraded royal free city. The Romanian name at that time, Oșorhei, was a phonetic derivation from Vásárhely; the German name, Neumarkt am Mieresch (also shortened to Neumarkt or Marktstadt; in Transylvanian Saxon, Nai Mark or Nai Muark), can be translated as New Market (on the Mureș).
Other historical Romanian names for the town besides Oșorhei were Mureș-Oșorhei and Târgul-Mureșului; other historical Hungarian names in addition to Székelyvásárhely included Újszékelyvásár and Újvásár.
After World War I, Marosvásárhely became part of Romania and was renamed Oșorheiu. The name Târgu Mureș became common in the interwar period. After World War II, the spelling of the city's name was changed to Tîrgu Mureș, following a 1953 spelling reform that replaced the letter â with î in all words. Another spelling reform in 1993 changed î back to â in some words, and the city's name has since been officially spelled "Târgu Mureș".
The first known 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 (Székelyvásárhely) meaning Szekler Marketplace in 1349.
Prior to 1332 a Dominican church stood where the Fortress' Church is now sited, up until the Mongol invasion, when it was destroyed. The current Fortress' Church was built by the Franciscans in a new Gothic-style around 1332.
In 1405, the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city the right to organize fairs. Since 1439 the town was the scene of the sessions of the Transylvanian parliament (diet) 36 times. 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) István Báthory strengthened a monastery with fortifications.
In 1506, the troops of Pál Tomori were beaten by the Székelys who were 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 Zápolya 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 under the direction of Emperor Rudolf II, the fortress crumbled to ruins. In 1602, the troops of Gergely Németh put on fire the remaining houses of the town, therefore, in 1602 the reconstruction of the fortress was started on the advice of mayor Tamás Borsos, but it was actually built between 1614 and 1653. Mózes Székely the only prince of Szekler origin visited the city in 1603 when he liberated Transylvania from foreign domination. In 1616, Târgu Mureș was granted the status of a free royal city under the name of Maros-Vásárhely by fejedelem (prince) Gábor Bethlen.
In 1658 Ottoman and Tartar troops invaded the city and burned it, where 3,000 people were taken into captivity. In 1661, as no one showed willingness to accept the duty of prince, under Turkish pressure Mihály 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 Pál Kaszás occupied the fortress, which was re-occupied by Austrian troops led by Lőrinc Pekry in 1706. On 5 April 1707 Francis II Rákóczi was raised to the chair of princes here. In 1707 the city was struck by the plague with more than 3,500 deaths. The plague 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 Sámuel Teleki opened to 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 Marosvásárhely before engaging in the fight for the rights of the 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, Sándor Petőfi and Józef Bem set out from here for the Battle of Segesvár. Finally, the Austrian commander Karl von Urban captured the city on 2 August 1849, closing the chapter of the Revolutionary War in the city.
In 1854, Szekler martyrs Károly Horváth, János Török, and Mihály Gálfi were executed on the Postarét for plotting against Austrian rule. Since 1874 a monument marks the place. In 1861, Marosvásárhely became the seat of Marosszék, 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 Rákóczi was also inaugurated in 1907. All three statues were demolished 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 Palace of Culture was inaugurated, as part of mayor Bernády György's urban renewal. After World War I, together with the rest of Transylvania, Marosvásáshely became part of Romania and became known as Târgu Mureș. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (in 1910), the Romanian population increased throughout the second half of the 20th century.
From 1940 to 1944, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, the city was ceded back to the Kingdom of Hungary. After Hungary was occupied by Germany in 1944, a Jewish ghetto was established in the city. Târgu Mureș re-entered the Romanian administration in October 1944. However, on 12 November 1944 General Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov of the Soviet Red Army expelled the returning Romanian authorities from Northern Transylvania with reference to the massacres committed by members of the 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 and 1968, Târgu Mureș was the center of the Magyar Autonomous Region, later renamed as Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. On 7 September 1959, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Secretary-General of the Romanian Workers Party, and Prime Minister Chivu Stoica visited the city. It was decided at the time 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 Mureș 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.
In the 21st century, the local economy started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area. In 2020 the city elected Independent candidate Zoltán Soós as mayor - the first ethnic Hungarian in twenty years.
The city is located in the Mureș 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, Mureș Valley and Niraj Valley) at 330 m (1,083 ft) above sea level. The city extends onto both banks of the Mureș river, however, the downtown area and the greater part of the districts are located on the left bank. The Cornești plateau (Hungarian: Somos-plateau) is the city's highest point (465 metres (1,526 ft) above sea level, co-ordinates: 46°33′11″N 24°35′54″E / 46.5531°N 24.5984°E).
Târgu Mureș is 337 kilometres (209 mi) from Bucharest, 475 kilometres (295 mi) from Chișinău, 480 kilometres (300 mi) from Belgrade, 515 kilometres (320 mi) from Budapest, 598 kilometres (372 mi) from Sofia and 845 kilometres (525 mi) from Kyiv. It is surrounded by the following communes: Sângeorgiu de Mureș, Livezeni, Sântana de Mureș, Sâncraiu de Mureș, Corunca, Cristești and Ceuașu de Câmpie. Two villages, Mureșeni (Meggyesfalva) and Remetea (Remeteszeg), are administered by the city.
Distances between the city and some of the major cities in Romania:
Târgu Mureș has a continental climate characterised by warm dry summers and relatively cold winters. Winter temperatures are often below 0 °C (32 °F). Throughout the year there are 38 days with snow, and more than 60 days when the snow covers the ground. In summer, the average temperature is between 18 °C (64 °F) and 19 °C (66 °F) (the average for June, July and August), even though temperatures sometimes reach 36 °C (97 °F) during this period. On average, there are 143 days with precipitation over the course of the year, most frequently in December with 16 days and the least in August, September and October with 8 rainy days. The average annual temperature for Târgu Mureș is 8.6 °C (47 °F). The lowest temperature registered in the city is −32.8 °C (−27 °F), recorded in 1942 and 1963. The highest temperature, 39 °C (102 °F), was recorded in 1936.
According to the 2021 census, Târgu Mureș had a population of 116,033, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2011 census. The city is home to the largest urban Hungarian community in Transylvania, surpassing those of Sfântu Gheorghe, Cluj-Napoca and Oradea. The 2002 census was the first to show the Hungarians as a local minority. The city is officially bilingual and both Romanian and Hungarian languages are recognised as official and used in public signage, education, justice and access to public administration; however, in case of commercial signage and advertisements, the bilingual signage is usually used only by Hungarian-owned companies. Roma people make up 2.97% of the city's population, which is considerably lower than their proportion of 9.68% in Mureș County.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Târgu Mureș”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.