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| ORADEA 06/04/2009 |
| (2009-04-06) |
| Last updated: 2009-04-07 14:41 EET |
Today we will take you to Oradea, with a population of 200,000, a city in Crisana, a region traditionally called Partium, in western Romania. Oradea became part of Romania 90 years ago. In the spring of 1919 it was incorporated, alongside Timisoara, Arad and Satu Mare, into the Romanian state, after negotiations on drawing new borders at the end of the First World War. Like most towns in Transylvania and Banat, Oradea was first documented in the 11th century, in keeping with medieval Hungary’s policy of organizing the area inside the Carpathian arch. Archaeologist Doru Marta from the Criş Land Museum will give us a guided tour of the town:
“ The town is mentioned in writing in 1374, under the name of Varadinum Varad, which translates as small fortified city. But the nucleus of the town developed around the first fortification structure, which was erected in the 11th century by King Ladislau I. He was canonized by the Catholic Church a century after his death. This fortified structure was the site of one of the oldest Catholic bishoprics on the territory of what is today Romania. Sometime around 1092-1094, a Catholic Bishopric was established in Oradea, and it had to be protected, so a motte-and-bailey was built. It was a ditch-and-palisade fortification, a relatively modest citadel, typical of those times. It was around this nucleus that a market town and then a city started to develop.”
Between 900 and 1240, Hungarian kings conquered and organised the space inside the Carpathian arch, especially after 1000, when they converted to Christianity. This is how Apostolic Kingdom of Hungary was formed, a regional power until 1526. In 1241 the Tartar invasion left the area in turmoil, and the fortress of Oradea couldn’t cope. Doru Marta:
“The first and a half century was a period of smooth development, without major events. However, the great Tartar invasion of Central and Eastern Europe in 1241 left the city plundered. The Tartars came to the area in 1241, and, by a happy chance for local historiography, a monk who knew Latin was in the region, on an apostolic mission to Hungary. He is caught at the Tartar invasion very close to Oradea; he described the fortress, which had stone walls at the time, it had become a proper fortress. The fortification was not very strong, and it quickly fell to the invaders. It was razed to the ground, along with the local Bishopric. The monk, Rogerius, managed to escape through the marshes and forests around the town and found refuge in the south of the county. He left us a chronicle, entitled “Carmen miserabile”, deploring the cruel fate of the locals during the invasion. Reconstruction works followed. The Papacy issued several decrees that cancelled episcopal tithes, in an attempt to attract back to the area the people who escaped the fury of the Tartars. The town recovered in the following years. Over the next few decades, Oradea recovered."
The Tartars were pushed back, and that heralded a new stage in the development of town:
“The 14th century is very important because the Episcopal centre of Oradea was extensively rebuilt. It already had an imposing cathedral, printed on stamps from between 1598 and 1599, and a beautiful Gothic cathedral, which was preserved in the memories of its contemporaries. In the same period, Oradea’s first stone fortress was erected. I have to mention two of the city’s bishops, outstanding humanistic personalities, who set up a library and an astronomic observatory here. One of them is Andrea Scolari, (who came here from Italy) and the other is Sigizmund Urzo, in the late 14th century and the early 15th century, respectively. This is the golden age of Oradea Bishopric, when a beautiful Episcopal palace is erected. "
However, a new period of conflict was about to start, triggered by the Reform and the presence of Ottoman power in central Europe. Doru Marta:
“In 1474 the Turks reached this area, in one of their northernmost expeditions. They returned in force in 1598, when the real Ottoman pressure over Central Europe starts, after the fall of Hungary in 1526. The siege failed however, and Oradea transformed. At the half of the 16th century, Radical reform is victorious, and by that we mean Unitarianism, Transylvanian nobility adopts it, and the Catholic bishopric vanishes. The Turks conquered the city in 1660, and for 32 years, Oradea and Bihor County were Turkish provinces. This is an interesting period. Archaeological findings consisting in ceramics, oriental objects and many coins are important witness to this occupation that lasted only three decades.”
The Austrian counteroffensive in the late 17th century meant a peaceful period in the city’s life.
“After 1692, when Austrians occupy the whole of Central Europe, the town enters the pre-modern period. A period of smooth and unimpeded development follows. In the 18th century, Oradea is enriched with several landmark buildings. I’m talking about the Baroque Palace and the Episcopal Cathedral, the largest Baroque religious edifice in Romania. Downtown Oradea also boasts several beautiful churches, such as the Orthodox Church and the Moon church. The latter, completed in 1784, was the result of generous financial contributions of some very rich Macedo-Romanian merchants. Some of them settled in Oradea, and their financial might allowed for the construction of this church. There is also the St. Ladislau church, opposite the city’s town hall. All these Baroque buildings, though not very spectacular, lend the Union Square a particular flavor.”
In the 19th century, Sezession-style buildings were erected in Oradea, the largest number of such buildings in Romania. The electric tram and public lighting are introduced. After 1918, the number of Romanians in Oradea increases, with 70% of Romanians and 27% Hungarians living there today. During the Hortyst occupation, 90% of the city’s Jewish population were shipped to concentration camps. Today, Oradea’s three memorial museums, that dedicated to Iosif Vulcan, owner of the magazine ‘Family’, that for Hungarian poet Ady Endre, who had lived in Oradea for many years, and that dedicated to Aurel Lazar, PNR personality, mayor of the city in the first years after the First World War, define a city where local conflicts, few and far between to begin with, are a thing of the past.
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