Târgu Mureş

Târgu Mureş
Marosvásárhely
	Târgu Mureş; Marosvásárhely
	Târgu Mureş; Orthodox cathedral and Roman Catholic church
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Location of Târgu Mureş
	Coordinates: 46°32′59″N 24°33′35″E / 46.54972°N 24.55972°E
Country	Romania
County	Mureş County
Status	County capital
	Government
- Mayor	Dorin Florea (Democratic Liberal Party)
	Area
- Total	49.3 km2 (19 sq mi)
	Population (2007)
- Total	145.943 (Metro=250.000)
- Density	3,043/km2 (7,881.3/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.tirgumures.ro/

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For other uses of "Mureş", see Mureş (disambiguation).

Mures County Prefecture

Târgu Mureş (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtɨrɡu ˈmureʃ]; Romanian: Târgu Mureş; Hungarian: Marosvásárhely, (Székely-)Vásárhely; German: Neumarkt am Mieresch; Latin: Novum Forum Seculorum) is a city in Mureş county, Transylvania, Romania. An alternate Romanian spelling of its name is Tîrgu Mureş.

[edit] 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 Székelyvásárhely (see Székely), now named Târgu Mureş, the right to organize fairs; in 1482 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 Târgu Mureş (târg and vásár mean "Market" in Romanian and Hungarian respectively). The city received a major boost to its social and economic life when it became home to supreme court of justice of the Principality of Transylvania in 1754.

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 the statue of Bem was inaugurated in Roses Square, at the city's center; in 1893 the statue of Kossuth was as well. The statue of Rákóczi was also inaugurated in 1907. All three were demolished after World War I, in 1923.

The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1913, the Transylvanian Secession-style city hall complex was opened, as part of mayor Bernády György's urban renewal. Economic success continued until World War II. After the conflict, together with the rest of Transylvania, Târgu Mureş became part of Romania and was re-named Oşorheiu. 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, Târgu Mureş was ceded to Hungary. During this period, a Jewish ghetto was established 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. Târgu 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, Târgu 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 Târgu Mureş has started to work abroad temporarily. The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area.

Târgu Mureş has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Székelys. Since 2003 some Székely organizations have been campaigning for the city to again become center 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.

[edit] Personalities

Târgu 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), Bernády György (1864-1938), Orbán György (born 1947), Aranka György (1737-1817), the writer András Sütő (1927-2006), Gheorghe Şincai (1754-1816), Sámuel Teleki (1739-1832), Kemény János (1903-1971) and the writer Molter Károly (1890-1981).

Also Târgu Mureş is the home of the SMURD doctor Raed Arafat (born 1964) and the football player László Bölöni (born 1952).

[edit] Demographics

Theater square - Piaţa Teatrului

Ethnic structure evolution from 1850

Year	Total	Hungarian	Romanian	German	Jews	Roma	Others
1850	7,855	82.6%	6.0%	3.1%	2.6%	3.6%	2.1%
1869	12,678	88.9%	5.2%	3.5%			2.4%
1900	20,229	83.3%	11.6%	3.6%			1.5%
1910	25,517	89.3%	6.7%	2.4%			1.6%
1930	40,058	57.2%	26.7%	1.7%	12.1%	1.1%	1.2%
1966	86,464	70.9%	28.3%	0.6%			0.2%
1977	127,783	63.6%	34.8%	0.6%	0.4%	0.5%	0.1%
1992	164,445	51.4%	46.1%	0.3%	0.1%	2%	0.1%
2002	149,577	46.73%	50.34%	0.2%		2.43%	0.01

According to the results of the most recent census (2002), the Târgu Mureş has a population of 149,577.

Official 2002 census data ^[2]
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 Târgu 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.

[edit] Districts of the city

Districts of the city

Unirii (on the right of the Mureş River)
Rovinari (Ady Endre)
Dâmbul Pietros (1848)
Aleea Carpaţi
Budai Nagy Antal
Centru
Gara
Libertăţii
Livezeni
1989 December 22 (November 7)
Tudor Vladimirescu
Răsăritului
Mureseni
Substejăriş
Cornişa
Valea Rece

[edit] Places of worship

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)
Synagogue (built 1857)
Lutheran 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)
Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic parish church (built 1764)
Bob Church (built between 1793-1794)

Ascension of the Lord Cathedral, Târgu Mureş

Saint John the Baptist Church, Târgu Mureş

Bob church, Târgu Mureş

City Fortress church, Târgu Mureş

[edit] Tourist attractions

"City Hall" of Târgu Mureş

Alley of the Roses, Center (Piaţa Trandafirilor)

Greek Catholic church, Center

Târgu Mureş offers some other places to visit such as:

The Cultural Palace in Târgu Mureş, built between 1911-1913 by Komor Marcell (1868-1944) and Jakab Dezső (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 (Piaţa Trandafirilor), in the center of the city
The City Hall, built between 1906-1907 on the construction plans of Komor Marcell (1868-1944) and Jakab Dezső. Unfortunately, during the 1962 restoration 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 artifacts. It was founded by the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki in 1802
The Cornesti high (Somostető) - an excellent landscape of Târgu Mureş can be seen from here.

[edit] Politics

The Târgu Mureş Municipal Assembly has 23 members:

Political Party	Number of Seats
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	10
Democratic Liberal Party	8
National Liberal Party (Romania)	2
Social Democratic Party	2
Greater Romania Party	1

[edit] Transport

Distances from Romanian cities:

City	By train (km)	By car (km)
Bucharest	448	346
Braşov	282	171
Cluj-Napoca	127	105
Iaşi	391	312
Sibiu	189	124

Târgu Mureş is served by Târgu 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..

[edit] Sports

The city is represented in many sports, including football, handball, basketball, volleyball and wushu.

Târgu Mureş is the home city of two football teams: FCM Târgu Mureş, which plays in Liga II, and Gaz Metan Târgu Mureş, who competes in Liga III.

Târgu Mureş is also known for its bowling team, Electromures.

The most important sport right now in the city is basketball, which is enjoying a huge audience and thousands of fans, with the team BC Mures playing in the first division.