Topliţa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Topliţa Maroshévíz |
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| Coordinates: 46°55′25″N 25°20′45″E / 46.92361°N 25.34583°E | |
| Country |  Romania |
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| County | Harghita County |
| Status | Municipality |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Niculae Baciu (Ind.) |
| Population (2002) | |
| - Total | 15,880 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Website | http://www.toplita.info/ |
Topliţa (Hungarian: Maroshévíz, German: Töplitz) is a municipality in Harghita County, Romania. The name is of Slavic origin, meaning "hot water spring".
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[edit] Demographics
The town has an ethnically mixed population. According to the 2002 census the municipality has a population of 15,880, of which 11,291 (71.1%) are Romanians, 4,039 (25.4%) are Székely Hungarians and 486 (3.1%) are Roma.
[edit] Geography
Topliţa is located in Transylvania on the upper Mureş region, more precisely in the northern corner of Harghita County. It is situated on a 650 m altitude above sea level, on the Giurgiului plain betveen the mountains of Giurgiului, Gurghiului and Călimani. Nearest towns are: Borsec (26 km), Gheorgheni (38 km) and Reghin (69 km).
[edit] History
The settlement was founded in 1567 by Petrichevitch Horváth Kozma on land owned by Bánffy Pál. He gave the land to three Moldavian peasant families and named the place Taplócza.
The settlement has had multiple name changes: Taplócza, Toplicza, Gyergyó-Toplicza, from February 3, 1861 Oláh-Toplicza, then from January 1, 1907 Maroshévíz, until 1918 when it received the official name Topliţa Română, although the Maroshévíz name can be found on documents along with Topliţa Românã.
The region was Simon Bán's property until 1228, then passed on to the Bánffy family, who managed to keep their enormous properties until 1945.
In 1658, Gyergyó-Topliţa was entirely destroyed by Moldavian units led by Pintea. After 1660, the Bánffys brought 391 Romanian peasant families from Deda onto these lands. Around 1710, rafting started on the Mures river. Due to this profitable enterprise, Toplita and its inhabitants started growing and evolving on both material and spiritual planes. The first European census, ordered by Joseph II, took place in Toplita on Nov. 20th 1785. Census results showed there were 227 farms, 23 free and 231 thrall families who belonged to 22 lairds. Baron Bornemissza János owned most of these families (52), Baron Kemény Simon (30), and Count Teleki Mihály (18).
In 1868, eight "parraediums" belonged to Topliţa , these were: Călimănel, Mermezeu, Ciobotani, Mănăstirea, Vâgani, Moglăneşti, Plopiş and Măgheruş; at the time Valea was already part of the settlement.
During World War I, Topliţa and its periphery witnessed cruel fighting. The Romanian monument in Secu is the tomb of 771 Romanian Heroes, and in the Hungarian Soldiers Cemetery on Zencani 450 soldiers were buried. In 1952 Topliţa was declared a town, and in 2002 it was declared a municipality (municipiu).
[edit] Buildings
- 1658 Mănăstirea Doamnei
- 1847 Sf. Ilie monastery
- Sept. 22 1867-Aug. 21 1869 a Roman Catholic church in the vicinity of an old wooden church
- 1867-1903 Orthodox Church
- 1870 Roman Catholic Denominational School
- 1895 Calvinistic Church
- 1896 Hungarian State School, founded in the Valea section
- 1903-1907 Urmánczy castle, today the town's Ethnographic Museum
- 1928-1929 Greek Catholic Church in the Cornişa section, built to replace the 1777 wooden church which was moved to the nearby Gălăuţaş village.
[edit] Natives
- Miron Cristea (1868-1939), the first Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and the Prime Minister of Romania between 1938 and 1939.
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This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008) |
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