Sfântu Gheorghe
Encyclopedia
Sfântu Gheorghe (ˈsfɨntu ˈɡe̯orɡe; Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

: Sepsiszentgyörgy or Szentgyörgy, Hungarian pronunciation: ' s; ) is the capital city of Covasna County
Covasna County
Covasna is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Sfântu Gheorghe.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 222,449 and the population density was 60/km².*Hungarians – 73.79% *Romanians – 23.28%...

, 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...

. Located in the central part of the country and in 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...

, it lies on 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...

 in a valley between the Baraolt Mountains
Baraolt Mountains
The Baraolt Mountains is a mountain range, entirely in Covasna County of Romania.Geologically the Baraolts are part of the Căliman-Harghita Mountains, of the Inner Eastern Carpathians...

 and Bodoc Mountains. The city administers two villages, Chilieni (Kilyén) and Coşeni (Szotyor).

Demographics

The majority of the city's inhabitants are 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...

 Hungarians. In the census of 2002, 46,178 (75%) of the city's 61,543 inhabitants classed themselves as ethnic Hungarians, 14,178 (23%) as Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

, 932 (1.5%) as Roma, and 255 as "others."

History

Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the oldest cities in Transylvania, the settlement first having been documented in 1332. The city takes it name from Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, the patron of the local church. Historically it was also known in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 as Sankt Georgen. The "sepsi" prefix (sebesisepsi, meaning "of Sebes") refers to the area which the ancestors of the local Székely population had inhabited before settling to the area of the town. The previous area of their settlement was around the town of "Sebes" (now: Sebeş
Sebes
Sebeș is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania.-Geography:The city lies on the Mureș River valley and it straddles the Sebeș river...

) which later became populated mainly by Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...

.

While part of 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...

, the city was the economic and administrative center of the Hungarian county of Háromszék
Háromszék
Háromszék is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in central Romania...

, which spanned the present-day Covasna
Covasna County
Covasna is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Sfântu Gheorghe.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 222,449 and the population density was 60/km².*Hungarians – 73.79% *Romanians – 23.28%...

 County and parts of Braşov
Brasov County
Brașov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraș Land.-Demographics:...

 County. In the second half of the 19th century, Sepsiszentgyörgy witnessed the development of light industry, namely a textile and a cigarette factory was built. It became part of the 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...

 following 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, after the end of World War I. After 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 1940 the city came under Hungarian control for four years. At the end of the Second World War 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...

 reaffirmed the city and the entirety of Transylvania as a Romanian territory. Between 1952-1960 it was the southernmost town of the Magyar Autonomous Region, and between 1960-1968 was part of the Braşov Region, abolished in 1968 when Romania was reorganised based on counties rather than regions.

Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the centres for the 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...

 people in the region known to them as Székelyföld
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...

 in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

 - which means "Székely Land", and is home to the Székely National Museum. The city hosts two market fairs each year.

Sights

  • Fortified Church - constructed in the 14th century in the Gothic
    Gothic architecture
    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

     style
  • State Archive, the former headquarters of the Hussar
    Hussar
    Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....

     battalions
  • County library constructed in 1832 as the seat of the county council
  • Theater used from 1854–1866 as the city hall
  • The market bazaar
    Bazaar
    A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...

     built in 1868, with a clock tower
    Clock tower
    A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...

     built in 1893

Economy

The predominant industry in the city is the textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

 industry. The city holds underutilized production capabilities such as a downsized automobile transmission parts and gearboxes factory (IMASA SA) and a tobacco factory (TIGARETE SA). At the time of its closingSA was the last place where they produced iconic Romanian cigarette brands such as "Carpati", "Snagov" or "Marasesti".

Services sector contains growing areas such as IT services with ROMARG SRL the leading domain registrar and web hosting provider in Romania having its headquarters here.

Sports

The city has a women basketball team called LMK Sepsi BC (official name: C.S.S. Liceul Mikes Kelemen BC Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe, formerly C.S.S. Liceul Mikes Kelemen Sfântu Gheorghe)
  • In the 2007/2008 season the team has finished in the 2nd place in the regular season, and lost the final (2-3) against BC ICIM Arad, but they win the Romanian Cup.

  • In the 2008/2009 season the team finished in the 3rd position after the regular season and they lost in the final (0-3) against MCM Târgoviste.
  • In the 2008/2009 season LMK Sepsi BC played in the FIBA EuroCup Women. In the EuroCup Women 2008-09
    EuroCup Women 2008-09
    The EuroCup Women is an international basketball club competition for women's clubs throughout Europe. The 2008-2009 season features 58 competing teams from 28 different countries. Turkish power Galatasaray SK became the champion defeating Cras Basket Taranto in the finals...

    , the team was drawn in Group B with Dynamo Kursk (Russia), Bnot Hasharon (Israel) and Challes-les-Eaux (France). They finished in the 3rd place with 3 wins and 3 losts. In the Sixteenth-Finals they meet Cras Basket Taranto (Italy) and they lost the both games.

  • LMK Sepsi BC participates in EuroCup Women 2009-10
    EuroCup Women
    The EuroCup Women is the second-caliber professional basketball league with teams from European clubs from national leagues joined in FIBA Europe.It succeeds the Ronchetti Cup.- System of competition :...

     and was drawn in Group G with Dynamo Moscow
    Dynamo Moscow
    Dynamo Moscow may refer to one of the following Dynamo sports clubs in Moscow. In Soviet time all of them were parts of the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club.*FC Dynamo Moscow, a football club*HC Dynamo Moscow, a former ice hockey club...

    , Hapoel Hatikva Tel-Aviv and Dunav Econt Rousse. They finished in the 3rd place with 2 wins and 4 defeats. In the Sixteenth-Finals they met Mann Filter Zaragoza and they lost the both games.
  • In the 2009/2010 season the team finished in the 2nd position after the regular season, but they lost in the semifinals of the play-off against BC ICIM Univ. Vasile Goldis Arad (1-2). They finished in the 3rd place beating CSM Satu Mare (2-0) and they won the bronze medals in the Romanian Championship and in the Romanian Cup too.
  • In the 2010/2011 season the team finished in the 3rd position after the regular season, they lost in the semifinals of the play-off against BC ICIM Univ. Vasile Goldis Arad (1-2). They finished in the 3rd place beating BCM Danzio Timisoara (2-0) and they won the bronze medals in the Romanian Championship and in the Romanian Cup too.


The city also has a futsal team which palys in the Romanian First Division. The name of the team is Futsal Club Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgyi Futsal Club).
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