Arad, Romania

Arad (Romanian pronunciation: [aˈrad] ) is the capital city of Arad County, at the edge of Crișana and Banat. No villages are administered by the city. It is the third largest city in Western Romania, behind Timișoara and Oradea, and the 12th largest in Romania, with a population of 145,078.
A busy transportation hub on the Mureș River and an important cultural and industrial center, Arad has hosted one of the first music conservatories in Europe, one of the earliest normal schools in Europe, and the first car factory in Hungary and present-day Romania. Today, it is the seat of a Romanian Orthodox archbishop and features a Romanian Orthodox theological seminary and two universities.
The city's multicultural heritage is owed to the fact that it has been part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the Ottoman Temeşvar Eyalet, Principality of Transylvania, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and since 1920 Romania, having had significant populations of Hungarians, Germans, Jews, Serbs, Bulgarians and Czechs at various points in its history. During the second half of the 19th century and the beginning on the 20th century, the city experienced rapid development. The most impressive displays of architecture that are still the popular sights of Arad today, such as the neoclassical Ioan Slavici Theater, the eclectic Administrative Palace and the neogothic Red Church, were built in this period.
All names of the city come from the name of its first ispán, Arad (deriving from Hungarian úr, meaning 'lord'). During national communism and Dacianism, the ancient Ziridava fortress name was to be added to Arad in a similar way as Napoca was to Cluj, (Cluj-Napoca) but this was not done.
The evidence of Pre-Indo-European civilisation occurs with the establishment of the first settlement on the northern bank of the Mureş River in the 5th millennium BC, and the extension of the human settlements on the left bank of the Mureş River occurs in the 4th millennium BC. In the 3rd millennium BC prosperous settlements appear on both banks and on the islands of the Mureş River belonging to an Indo-European civilisation, which peaked around 1000 BC. Excavations made for the foundations of the Astoria Hotel found a human skeleton from the Bronze Age.
The first Dacian settlements appear in the 1st millennium BC. In the 5th century a group of Scythians settled in the region. And between the 4th and 3rd centuries, the Celts settled on both banks of the Mureş River, in the vicinity of the existing settlements.
The Dacian settlement in the south of the Micălaca district was conquered by the Roman troops between 101 and 102. During the Second Dacian War (105–106), the Emperor Trajan conquered territories north of Mureş River, making them part of the Roman Dacia. In the Aradul Nou area, the Roman army built the fort Castra of Aradul Nou that housed the legion Legio IV Flavia Felix. During the period between the 2nd and 4th centuries Dacian and Sarmatian settlements were present in the area of today's city, with intense commercial relations with the Roman Empire.
In the 10th century the Hungarians began their expansion in Transylvania, one of the main access routes being the valley of Mureş. Ruler Glad, under the threat of the Hungarian expansion, built a fortress at Vladimirescu-Schanzen, which the Hungarians conquered and destroyed in the middle of the tenth century. Another ruler, Achtum, rebuilt it but the Hungarians destroyed it again in 1028.
Arad was first mentioned in documents in the 11th century. According to the Chronicon Pictum, at "an assembly of the realm near Arad" in early to mid-1131, Queen Helena ordered the slaughter of all noblemen who were accused of having suggested the blinding of her husband to King Coloman. King Béla II of Hungary distributed the goods of the executed magnates between the newly established Arad Chapter and the early 11th-century Óbuda Chapter. The Mongol invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1241 showed the importance of the fortifications on this place, to which were added in the second half of the 13th century more stone fortresses at Șoimoș, Șiria, and Dezna. The Ottoman Empire conquered the region from Hungary in 1551 and kept it until the Peace of Karlowitz of 1699, although during this period it was temporarily reintegrated in the Principality of Transylvania after the Transylvanian troops cleared the lower valley of the Mureș in 1595; and after the victory of Mihai Viteazu's troops at Șelimbăr, the city entered under the Voivode's authority. During the Ottoman period, Arad became an eyalet center, which comprised the sanjaks of Arad, Lugoj, Kacaș, Beşlek and Yanova from 1660 till 1697, when it was captured by Austrians (Serbian Militia under command of Subota Jović) during Ottoman-Habsburg wars (1683–1699). After 1699, the city was ruled by the Habsburg monarchy. At the beginning of the 18th century, Arad became the center of the Eastern Orthodox Eparchy of Arad. According to 1720 data, the population of the city was composed of 177 Romanian families, 162 Serbian, and 35 Hungarian.
The first Jew allowed to settle inside the city was Isac Elias in 1717. Eventually the Jewish population of Arad numbered over 10,000 people, more than 10% of the population, before the Second World War.
The new fortress was built between 1763 and 1783. Although it was small, it proved formidable having played a great role in the Hungarian struggle for independence in 1849. The city possesses a museum containing relics of this war of independence.
Courageously defended by the Austrian general Berger until the end of July 1849, it was captured by the Hungarian rebels, who made it their headquarters during the latter part of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It was from Arad that Lajos Kossuth issued his famous proclamation (11 August 1849), and where he handed over the supreme military and civil power to Artúr Görgey.
The fortress was recaptured shortly after the surrender at Világos (now Șiria, Romania), with the surrender of general Artúr Görgey to the Russians. It became an ammunition depot. Thirteen rebel generals were executed there on 6 October 1849, by order of the Austrian general Julius Jacob von Haynau. These men are known collectively as the 13 Martyrs of Arad, and since then Arad is considered the "Hungarian Golgotha". One of the public squares contains a martyrs' monument, erected in their memory. It consists of a colossal figure of Hungary, with four allegorical groups, and medallions of the executed generals.
Arad enjoyed great economic development in the 19th century. In 1834 it was declared a "free royal town" by Emperor Francis I of Austria.
Aradu Nou / Neu Arad / Újarad ("New Arad"), situated on the opposite bank of the Mureș river, is a neighborhood of Arad, to which it is connected by the Trajan bridge. It was founded during the Turkish wars of the 17th century. The works erected by the Turks for the capture of the fortress of Arad formed the nucleus of the new settlement.
In 1910, the town had 63,166 inhabitants: 46,085 (73%) Hungarians, 10,279 (16.2%) Romanians, 4,365 (7%) Germans. During World War I, the Austro-Hungarian authorities set up an internment camp in the Fortress of Arad in which around 4,000 Serb detainees died.
→ 1868 – Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu came to Arad as a prompter for Matei Millo's theatre company.
→ 1846 – Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt performed.
→ 1847 – Johann Strauss the Son performed.
→ 1877 – Pablo Sarasate and Henryk Wieniawski performed.
→ 1922 – Romanian composer and violin virtuoso George Enescu performed.
→ 1924 – Hungarian composer Béla Bartók performed.
Arad has a continental climate with cool and damp winters. The summers are warm to hot. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfa" (Humid temperate Climate).
At the 2021 census, Arad had a population of 145,078 in trend with general tendencies for Romania with decreases as a consequence of internal migration to larger, more developed cities and a suburbanization of cities with rural localities knowing pronounced growth.
The ethnic composition of the city of Arad changed according to the realities of the aftermath of the World War I, as the new Hungary–Romania border was drawn by an international commission overseen by the French cartographer Emmanuel de Martonne, that wanted to have the respective ethnicites on different sides, but at the same time advocated maintaining certain transport connections to the individual new countries even if it meant to keep certain towns and villages "on the wrong side of the border“.
In the past, according to the 1880 census, whilst still in Austro-Hungarian Empire, of the 35,556 inhabitants, 19,896 were Hungarians (56%), 6,439 Romanians (18.1%), 5,448 Germans (15.3%), 1,690 Serbs (4.8%) and 2,083 (5.9%) of other ethnicities. In 1910, from 63,166 inhabitants, 46,085 were Hungarian (72.95%), 10,279 Romanian (16.27%), 4,365 German (6.91%), 1,816 Serbian (2.87%), 277 Slovak (0.43%) and 133 Czech (0.21%).
The city government is headed by a mayor. Since 2019, the office is held by Călin Bibarț. Decisions are approved and discussed by the local government (consiliu local) made up of 23 elected councillors.
With a rich industrial and commercial tradition, Arad is one of the most prosperous cities in Romania. Thanks to numerous investments in industry and commerce, Arad has a booming economy.
The main industries are: railroad cars, food processing, furniture and household accessories, equipment for the car industry, electric components, instrumentation, clothing and textiles, and footwear.
Arad is the most important trans-European road and rail transportation junction point in western Romania, included in the 4th Pan-European Corridor linking Western Europe to South-Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries. The city has an extensive tram network and several bus lines covering most of the city's neighbourhoods and suburbs. Arad International Airport (IATA: ARW, ICAO: LRAR), with the largest and most modern cargo terminal in western Romania, is situated only 4 km west from central Arad and is directly connected to the Arad west bypass road, part of the A1 Motorway.
Arad has two universities, the private "Vasile Goldiș" Western University, founded in 1990, and the public Aurel Vlaicu University founded in 1991. Also the "Spiru Haret" long-distance studies University has a branch in Arad.
There are about two dozen high schools, some of the more famous being the Moise Nicoară National College, the Pedagogical High School "Dimitrie Țichindeal", "Elena Ghiba-Birta" National College, the Economics College, the Technical College for Constructions and Environmental Protection Arad, and the Vasile Goldiș High School. High schools in minority languages include the Hungarian Csiky Gergely College and the German Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn High School.
The most important hospitals in Arad are Arad County Clinical Hospital and Arad Municipal Hospital (in the late 2000s it merged with Arad County Clinical Hospital). The city also has a number of public hospitals (Arad Maternal Hospital, The Polyclinic, The Dental Clinic, etc.) and private hospitals (MedLife Genesis, Laser System, Mediqua, etc.)
The UTA Arad (formerly ITA) football team was founded in 1945 and has won six Romanian championships and two Romanian Cups. In the 2020–1 season, UTA plays in the first national league, Liga I. The team has won more league titles than any other team that is not based in Bucharest, and the third most after Steaua and Dinamo; it is the 3rd more successful modern team in the country and 4th counting Venus Bucharest, a team from the Inter-War period. The team's most notable performance on the international stage is the elimination from the European Champions Cup of Ernst Happel's Feyenoord in the 1970–71 season, when the Dutch team were defending European champions and later won the Intercontinental Cup.
In basketball, the women's ICIM and the men's West Petrom teams have national prominence, their record including some recent national championship wins (ICIM in 1998 through 2001, West Petrom in 2001 and 2002). In men's water polo, Astra Arad also plays in the first division. The men's rugby team Contor Group Arad plays in the National Rugby League, reaching the playoff final in 2006.
World Champion and Olympic medalist in gymnastics Emilia Eberle was born in Arad.
Arad is twinned with: