Târgu Mureş

; _hu. Marosvásárhely, (Székely-)Vásárhely; _de. Neumarkt am Mieresch; _la. Novum Forum Siculorum) is a city in Mureş county, Transylvania, Romania. An alternate Romanian spelling of its name is "Tîrgu 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; 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.

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

Demographics

According to the results of the most recent census of 2002, the municipality of Târgu Mureş is ethnically mixed with a population of 149,577.

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..

ports

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

Târgu Mureş is the home city of 3 football teams, but all of them play in the lower tiers of Romanian football: ASA Târgu Mureş, Gaz Metan Tîrgu Mureş and Trans-Sil Târgu Mureş. Of these teams ASA is the most popular and is the only one to have played in the Romanian First Division and in the UEFA Cup.

Târgu 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 playing in the first division."'

Local media

Sister cities

External links

* [http://www.tirgumures.ro/ Municipal website] ro icon
* [http://www.harta-turistica.ro/map.php?ID=7 Interactive map of Târgu Mureş] ro icon
* [http://www.bcmures.ro BC Mureş Official Website] ro icon
* [http://sabin.ro/gallery/album280 Târgu Mureş photo gallery]
* [http://www.levif.net/targumures Photo gallery and collection of links] en icon ro icon hu icon
* [http://www.freewebs.com/airnews AirNews]

Notes