Miercurea-Ciuc - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Miercurea-Ciuc (ˈmjerkure̯a t͡ʃjuk; , Hungarian pronunciation: ' cs; ) is the county seat of Harghita County

Harghita County

Harghita is a county in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea-Ciuc.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 326,222 and a population density of 52/km².*Hungarians- 85%...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It lies in the Székely Land

Székely Land

The Székely Land or Szekler Land refers to the territories inhabited mainly by the Székely, a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group from eastern Transylvania...

, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River

Olt River

The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...

valley.
The city administers three villages:

Ciba / Csiba
Harghita-Băi / Hargita-fürdő
Jigodin-Băi / Zsögöd-fürdő, including Jigodin / Csíkzsögöd

Demographics

According to the Romanian census of 2002

Demographics of Romania

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Romania, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

, there were 42,029 people living in the city. Of this population, 81.75% are ethnic Hungarians, primarily Székely

Székely

The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...

, while 17.3% are ethnic Romanians

Romanians

The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

, 0.62% are ethnic Romas and 0.33% declare other nationalities.

Demographic movements according to census data:

Roman Catholicism is the majority religion of Miercurea-Ciuc, its adherents numbering 74.06% of the total population. Romanian Orthodox (14.99%), Hungarian Reformed

Reformed Church in Romania

The Reformed Church in Romania is the organization of the Calvinist church in Romania. The majority of its followers are of Hungarian ethnicity and Hungarian is the main church language...

(7.41%), and Unitarian

Unitarian Church of Transylvania

The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is a church of the Unitarian denomination, based in the city of Cluj in the Principality of Transylvania, present day in Romania...

(2.05%) adherents represent the most significant other religious groups.

History

In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

it was the capital of Csíkszék (Csik seat). Between 1876 and 1918, Csíkszereda was the seat of Csík County of the historical Szeklerland in the Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary

The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

. After the Treaty of Trianon

Treaty of Trianon

The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...

in 1920, it became part of Kingdom of Romania

Kingdom of Romania

The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...

, and was seat of the Ciuc County

Ciuc County

Ciuc County was a county in the Kingdom of Romania. Its capital was Miercurea Ciuc. Its name was derived from the former county of the Kingdom of Hungary, Csík.-Geography:...

between 1927 and 1938.

Miercurea-Ciuc was returned to Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

between 1940 and 1944 as a result of the Second Vienna Award

Second Vienna Award

The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...

. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army captured the town. It became part of Romania again in 1945, a move confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties

Paris Peace Treaties, 1947

The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...

of 1947. Between 1952-1960, the town was part of the Magyar Autonomous Region, later named the Mureş-Magyar Autonomous Region between 1960-1968. In 1968, Miercurea-Ciuc became the county seat of Harghita

Harghita County

.

In the post-WWII period, the town was industrialized; among other projects, a tractor factory, a textile factory and, in the 1960s, a beer factory were built here. The Ciuc Beer products have gained an increasing popularity in Romania.

Education

In 2001 the Sapientia

Sapientia University

The Sapientia – Hungarian University of Transylvania is an institution of Hungarian higher education in the historic region of Transylvania, Romania.At present the Sapientia Foundation finances the following departments of the University:...

Transylvanian Hungarian University opened in the building of the former Harghita Hotel. The privately run institution is the first Hungarian university in modern Romania. Other cities in Transylvania also have Sapientia University faculties. Since the university opened, it has been attracting growing numbers of young people and intellectuals.

Sports

Miercurea-Ciuc is one of the coldest cities in Romania, with winter temperatures often going under -30°C, making the city ideal for winter sports. The Miercurea-Ciuc ice rink, Vákár Lajos, annually hosts the national ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

championships, often won by the best-supported local team, Sport Club Miercurea-Ciuc. In 2006 the ice rink hosted the world junior championship in short track speed skating

Short track speed skating

Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...

. The only long track speed skating

Long track speed skating

Speed skating is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating...

rink in Romania is situated next to the indoor ice hockey rink.

Main sights

Petőfi

Sándor Petofi

Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...

Street is the main pedestrian street in the city. It houses numerous restaurants and cafés. Their Székely

Székely

specialties conjure up images of a small city in Western Europe.

Miercurea-Ciuc is home to the Baroque church at Şumuleu Ciuc

Sumuleu Ciuc

Şumuleu Ciuc is a neighborhood of Miercurea-Ciuc, Harghita County, Romania. Until 1959, it was a separate commune. It is the site of an annual Roman Catholic pilgrimage, when Catholics from all over Hungary and Romania gather there.-Location:...

and, in the city center, the Mikó Castle, built in a late Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

style. The original more decorative castle was raised in the 17th century on the orders of Ferenc Mikó Hídvégi, the personal advisor of Gabriel Bethlen

Gabriel Bethlen

Gabriel Bethlen was a prince of Transylvania , duke of Opole and leader of an anti-Habsburg insurrection in the Habsburg Royal Hungary. His last armed intervention in 1626 was part of the Thirty Years' War...

, then prince of Transylvania. Much of the castle was destroyed in 1661 during the Tatar raids, but it was rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century and was mainly used as a barracks; today it houses the Csík Székely Museum. Behind the castle is a small Skanzen (museum village), consisting of a few traditional Csíki houses and wooden gates. Across the road from the castle is the city hall built in 1886, originally the county hall of the old Hungarian Csík County. Beside the castle is the 1904 Courthouse. The latest significant addition to the architectural landscape is the controversial 2001 Millennium Church, designed by Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz

Imre Makovecz

Imre Makovecz , was a Hungarian architect active in Europe from the late 1950s onward.Makovecz was born and died in Budapest. He attended the Technical University of Budapest. He was founder and "eternal and executive president" of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.Makovecz was one of the most...

and located next to the Baroque Church of the Holy Cross.

Pentecost Csíksomlyó Pilgrimage

A few kilometres to the east of the city centre is the Franciscan monastery of Şumuleu Ciuc

Sumuleu Ciuc

, known in Hungarian as Csíksomlyó. A wooden-sculpture figure of the Virgin Mary, known as the Weeping Mary, can be found in the monastery church, which is the destination of a traditional pilgrimage of Roman Catholic Székely

Székely

held since 1567, called the "Csíksomlyó Pilgrimage" (Hungarian: Csíksomlyói Búcsú). The event, held on the Saturday before Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

, attracts several hundred thousand people every year. The mass for the pilgrims is held on a meadow near the church. This traditional gathering is not only attended by Székely

Székely

and Csángó

Csángó

The Csango people are a Hungarian ethnographic group of Roman Catholic faith living mostly in the Romanian region of Moldavia, especially in the Bacău County...

Hungarians living in the region, but also by a great number of mostly Hungarian Catholics from other parts of Transylvania region , Hungary and all over the world. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a demonstration of the awareness and solidarity of Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

Twin towns — Sister cities

Miercurea-Ciuc is twinned

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

with:
Bălţi

Balti

Balti can refer to:* Balti language, a language spoken in Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir* Balti people, Muslims of Ladakhi/Tibetan origin from Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir...

, Republic of Moldova Bečej

Becej

Bečej is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District in Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 25,703, while Bečej municipality has 40,877 inhabitants. It is multiethnic town, with Hungarians and Serbs as largest ethnic groups...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

Berehove

Berehove is a city located in the Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, near the border with Hungary.Serving as the administrative center of the Berehove Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

Budakeszi

Budakeszi is a town in Pest County, in the Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is located beyond the Jánoshegy hill at the western city limits of Budapest, about west of the Zero Kilometre Stone in the city centre...

, Hungary

Hungary

Cegléd

Cegléd is a city in Pest county, Hungary, approximately southeast of the Hungarian capital, Budapest.-Name:There are discussions going on about the origin of the name of the town...

, Hungary

Hungary

Gyula

Gyula, Hungary

Gyula is a city in Békés county in south-eastern Hungary. It lies close to the border with Romania, on the river Fehér-Körös.-History:The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostor . By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was...

, Hungary

Hungary

Gödöllő

Gödöllo

Gödöllő is a town situated in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is about 31,000 according to the 2001 census. It can be easily reached from Budapest with the suburban railway . Gödöllő is home to the Szent István...

, Hungary

Hungary

Heves

Heves is a small city in eastern Hungary. About 100 km east of Budapest, Heves lies at the northern extreme of the Great Hungarian Plain , just south of the Mátra and Bükk hills and west of the Tisza River. Heves shares its name with a Hungarian county . The city is the fourth largest city in...

, Hungary

Hungary

Kaposvár, Hungary

Hungary

Makó

Makó is a town in Csongrád County in southeastern Hungary. It lies on the Maros River, near the Romanian border. The area of the town is of which is arable land. The climate is very warm with hot and dry summers. Makó and the surrounding region get the most sunshine in Hungary, about 85-90...

, Hungary

Hungary

Tiszaújváros

Tiszaújváros is an industrial town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, south-east of Miskolc, near the river Tisza.Tiszaújváros owes its existence to the industrialization wave that took over the then-socialist Hungary after World War II...

, Hungary

Hungary

Óbuda

Óbuda was a historical city in Hungary. United with Buda and Pest in 1873 it now forms part of District III-Óbuda-Békásmegyer of Budapest. The name means Old Buda in Hungarian...

, Hungary

Hungary

Armenian Self-Government in Zugló

Zugló

Zugló is the official name of the 14th district of Budapest , the capital of Hungary. It is a large and mixed neighborhood, with communist era style highrise apartments sprinkled between decently kept one house residential streets...

, Hungary

Hungary

Želiezovce, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

Riehen

Riehen is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton....

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

External links

Official website

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