Târgu Mureș

Sister cities

• Zalaegerszeg
• Budapest
• Budapest District XI
• Güzelçamlı
• Kuşadası
• East Renfrewshire
• Ilmenau
• Baja
• Kecskemét
• Bournemouth
• Szeged

History

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…

Geography

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 . The city is located at the centre of the historical region of Transylvania and covers an area of . It lies at the junction of three geographical regions of Transylvania (Transylvanian Plain, Mureș Valley and Niraj Valley) at 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 () is the city's highest point ( above sea level, co-ordinates: ). Târgu Mureș is from Bucharest, from Chișinău, from Belgrade, from Budapest, from Sofia and 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: *Bucharest: by rail , by road *Brașov by rail , by road *Constanța by rail , by road *Cluj-Napoca by rail, by road *Iași by rail , by road *Sibiu by rail , by road *Timișoara by rail , by road

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  853
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  615
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  559
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  478
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  443
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  328
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  324
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  317