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Lying
in the central part of the country, following the course
of Mures River, Mures County has a relief that gradually
descends from the mountain tops of the Eastern Carpathians
to the Transilvanian Plain and the Tirnave Plateau.
The plateau and the hills cover
half of the county’s area, the other half belonging
to the sub-Carpathians hills and the volcanic mountains
of Calimani and Gurghiu. The surface of Mures County includes
6,696 square kilometres.
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It represents almost three percent
of the present surface of Romania and its about 579.000 inhabitants
represent a similar proportion in the population of the country.
48,8 percent of the population live in the urban areas (Tirgu
Mures, Reghin, Sighisoara, Tirnaveni, Ludus, Sovata, Iernut,
Miercurea Nirajului, Ungheni, Sarmasu and Singeorgiu de Padure)
and 51,2 percent in rural areas, in 91 communes made up of 486
villages. The municipium of Tirgu Mures is the county town.
Natural gas, rocks used as building
materials, clorosodic mineral springs, forests are the main
natural resources of the county.
Complex and diverse, the county’s
economy is represented by natural gas drilling, electric and
thermal energy production, chemical, woodworking, building materials
and food industries. There are factories of furniture, carved
furniture in particular, glass and broad glass, ceramics at
Tirnaveni, Tirgu Mures and Sighisoara, of textiles and garments
at Tirgu Mures and Sighisoara, of leather items at Tirgu Mures
and Reghin. Mures County is the only producer of carbide (Tirnaveni)
and musical instruments (Reghin) from Romania.
Agriculture – the second
important branch in the county’s economy - has an old tradition,
as there are proper conditions for almost all crops. Farm land
covers 61 percents of the county’s area.
Mures County has a communication network of 1846 sq. km. of
public roads, out of which 18% represents national roads, 40
percent county roads and 42 percent local roads. The International
Airport of Tirgu Mures-Vidrasau covers an area of 23.000 sq.km.,
with a population of 1,5 million inhabitants, including the
counties of Mures, Bistrita, Harghita, Covasna. A particularly
generous nature, just as cultural and art monuments are touristic
attractions meeting even the highest expectations. Sovata, Singeorgiu
de Mures, Ideciu de Jos, Jabenita, Lapusna are only a few of
the resorts with good conditions of treatment and rest.
A rich fauna and numerous fish
species, the flora of natural reserves – the steppe peony
at Zau de Cimpie, the secular Forest Mocear, the Daffodils Glade
and the Dendrologic Park at Gurghiu, and many others –
represent the generous offer of the region. These natural beauties
are doubled by ample and picturesque ethnographic and folk manifestations:
the Maiden Fair at Gurghiu, the Cherries Fair at Brâncovenesti,
the Fish Fair at Zau de Cimpie and Saulia, the Melons Fair at
Sinpaul, the harvest celebration, the Christmas carols, the
weddings and other customs of the local communities.
In addition to the natural beauties
and folk traditions, there are many historical and architectural
monuments, buildings from the 14th and 18th centuries, with
influences from the European styles of that time: churches at
Sighisoara, Tirgu Mures, Reghin, Bagaciu, Saschiz, Suseni and
so on; medievale citadeles at Sighisoara (14th century ) and
Tirgu Mures (17th century); citadel-castle at Iernut reminding
us of the Transylvanian Princes Gabriel Bethlen and Gheorghe
Rakoczi I; castles at Gornesti and Dumbravioara; Toldalagi House
at Tirgu Mures - representative building for the Transylvanian
baroque.
A possible itinerary in Mures
County may begin in Tirgu Mures. The settlement, erected in
a territory with lasting proofs in the history of the Dacian-Roman
population, is mentioned in documents in early 1300 as Forum
Siculorum, Novum Forum Siculorum, meaning “market town”
or the “new market town” of the population of Hungarian
origin, and became the main economic centre in the area. The
merchants and guild members got involved in economic activities
in the feudal age. In the same time, the spiritual life improved,
so that the county town became a strong economic and cultural
nucleus. Today the county town is a developed economic and cultural
centre. Tirgu Mures is well known in the country and abroad
as an important medical centre with outstanding achievements
in the field. It also has many cultural institutions –
libraries, museums, theatres, musical institutions (the National
Theatre, Philharmonic Orchestra, County Library, etc.). Tirgu
Mures is a town of schools too, from secondary schools and colleges
to medical, technical, pedagogical and artistically superior
education units; many local schools were well-known, beginning
with Middle Ages. From 1557 is mentioned in the documents the
famous reformat school which after 1718 became a superior school.
Here taught personalities who studied in universities from Germany,
Holland, Switzerland, and so on; among these there were the
mathematician Bolyai Farkas and his son and student Bolyai Janos,
the founder of the non-euclidean geometry. At Tirgu Mures, after
1754 functioned the Royal Table, the supreme court of Transylvania,
where young revolutionaries Avram Iancu, Alexandru Papiu Ilarian
and other young people conceived their revolutionary ideas.
In Tirgu Mures, Teleki Samuel founded the documentary library
which now bears his name, and which beginning with 1802 is at
the disposal of the public. The initial collection was of 40.000
books meanwhile it became of 200.000 books. These curiosities
would not be complete unless one mention the imposing Orthodox
Cathedral, which has the largest painted area from the churches
in the country. Tirgu Mures is also a town of flowers where
the time is “measured” not only by the clock at the
county hall, but also by a floral clock in Piata Trandafirilor.
Upstream from Tirgu Mures, at
the confluence of Mures and Gurghiu rivers, the most important
locality is the municipium of Reghin. Erected on the ruins of
a Dacian fortress by the Germanic population colonised here,
at about 1218, Reghin becomes in the 18th-19th centuries a centre
of the Romanian national resurrection, begun by the scholar
Petru Maior and finalised with the Great Union. Reghin is today
a town with an intense cultural life, known as the “Violins`
Town” or more recently “New Cremona”, both names
undoubtedly inspired by the violin building. Young people from
Canada and Germany learn here how to make violins, which proves
that the masters of Reghin are quite famous in the field.
Crossing the Tirnave hills covered
by vineyards , we move towards Sighisoara, a former medieval
citadel, Castrum Sex, built up by the Germanic population and
mentioned in documents in 1280. Known as the “Pearl of
Transylvania” since the last century, the citadel-town
has a special charm that attracts a lot of tourists. A refuge
citadel built on the upper plateau of the Citadel Hill was the
nucleus of the town. Throughout centuries, several personalities
walked along its narrow streets. Among them the most remarkable
one is Vlad Dracul (The Devil), the son of Mircea cel Batrân
(Mircea the Old man), who lived here between 1431-1436. Is supposed
that Vlad Dracul (known as Dracula) was born in Sighisoara.
The scenery, the historical inheritance have made of Sighisoara
the ideal host of numerous cultural events: The International
Medieval Art Festival , The Old Music Festival, etc. The citadel
of Sighisoara is included on the list of UNESCO monuments. The
most important touristical attractions are the nine defence
towers – the Clock Tower being the most important one of
them all, the Museum of Medieval Weapons, the house Vlad Dracul,
the House with a Stag, the Venetian House, the Curch on the
hill, the Covered Staircase.
Tirnaveni, in Middle Ages, was
a village belonging to Cetatea de Balta ruled by Stefan cel
Mare and afterwards by Petru Rares. Although it was first mentioned
in a document in 1278, the settlement became a town only at
the beginning at the 20th century. This happened when the first
drillings for methane, a valuable raw material for the industry
of the new town, began.
Other towns belonging to the latest generation are Ludus and
Iernut, centres of gravitation for the nearby villages of the
Transylvanian Plain.
The balneal-climateric resort
Sovata established itself as an outstanding resort on the touristical
map of the county. Its tradition has more than a century and
its fame spread over the borders. Sovata is renamed for the
efficiency of the treatment for various gynaecological, rheumatic,
circulatory diseases as well as for the beneficial effects of
its air. Conditions are propitious for skiing in winter and
equitation in summer time.
Thus, starting with a high natural
potential, the public administration of Mures County aims to
a sustanaible development by increasing the level of economical
development in the entire county, reducing the discrepancies
between the urban and rural areas and improving the quality
of life for each inhabitant.
Development of the economy, especially
of the tourism, cannot happen without the existence of a quality
infrastructure. This is why Mures County Council and the local
administrations are interested in finding and using new sources
in order to develop the county’s infrastructure.
One of the priorities is represented
by the relations with foreign partners, pursuing the dynamics
of economical, cultural contacts, promotion of collaboration
projects, stimulating foreign investments in our county. Mures
County Council established twinning relations with Gyor-Moson-Sopron
and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg Counties from Hungary and with the
Shanxi Province from China and maintains relations of colaboration
with Lecce Province from Italy and with the French locality
Montigny-le-Bretonneux.
One of the objectives of Mures
County Council is making sure that the county’s offer in
its most representative fields is known, too. This may be the
basis for the future promotion and implementation of several
projects with external financement ( E.U., World Bank, etc.)
Due to its natural and cultural
riches, the quality of human resources, the economical potential,
Mures County may become an interesting partner for a large number
of sustainable projects. |
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