Heritage From The 20th Century - A City Tour

Today I'd like to take you to another tour, back in time and show you some art nouveau buildings from the beginning of the 20th century in the city center of Targu Mures.

These buildings are right in the heart of the city center, some are official buildings, while otters have other purposes.

Next to the Palace of Culture there's the building hosting the city council and prefecture, in front of which there's the statue of Latinity.

This is the building of the city council and prefecture. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century, between 1905 and 1907 to be precise, in art nouveau style.

It's an impressive building with a 60m tall tower, that has a clock that is still working.

At the time of my visit, I saw the door open and was more than happy to see an opportunity to go in and take a look, as well as take a bunch of photos. So I was hurrying towards the entrance of the building , when some suited gentlemen appeared in the door, followed by a police officer. The gentlemen left, the police officer shut the door and my dream to go in and have some fun were shattered. Deep down I knew there's no way I can go in as these places are used as offices, are not open to the public, unless I'm in some kind of official capacity, but hope dies last.

With access inside being denied, all that was left was the outside of the building. This is the window next to the entrance. Actually there are two windows, one on each side. I don't know about you, I don't like iron lattices on windows, but this is too beautiful to be ignored. The window behind it must be beautiful as well but as cameras are everywhere, snooping around would have been risky.

Next to the city council, on the left there's the major's office, that was built between 1938 and 1942. The architectural style is different from the Palace of Culture and the prefecture.

This is the side entrance of the building, used be citizens.

Behind the mayor's office is the chamber of Commerce. This blue is not exactly what this building needs honestly, I understand it needs to stand out in order to make a difference, but this is brutal.

I was wondering what the building looked like before it was painted with this brutal blue. Must have been a nice building as the architecture style is nice.

Opposite to the mayor's office, on the other side of the street there are these art nouveau style buildings, also built at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a true blessing these are still standing and have not fell victim of the communist restructuring plans.

Next to the mayor's office on the left there is another beautiful building, that was also built at the beginning of the 20th century and it is now home to the territorial labor inspectorate.

Going further I spotted another wonderful building, which seems to be private residence for people. These buildings were nationalized by the state ruled by the communist party in the 20th century.

After the communism was over, rightful owners had the opportunity to claim their property and many did. So these buildings have a rocky past but we have to be thankful that were not demolished.

Also opposite to the mayor's office there's the Grand Hotel, a 4 star hotel that was once the most luxurious in the city. Then it was closed for awhile, renovated and opened again, jut to be hit by covid restrictions.

Between the mayor's office and the Grand Hotel, there's the statue of Emil Dandea, the mayor of Targu Mures after Transylvania became part of Romania.

Behind the statue there's the orthodox cathedral.

It is common knowledge that orthodox cathedrals are very decorated, if I can use this expression. The door already speaks about that. This door however is not old, it is visible with the naked eye that time has not put its stamp on it yet.

People were coming out from the cathedrals, while others were going in, so I thought I'll take my chances, go in and try to take a few photos. I had a bad experience once in another orthodox cathedral, where I was shouted at for not seeing the sign and taking photos.

I went in, looked around to see who may be 👀 me and I saw just a few people inside, minding their own business. So I took out my phone and started to take photos.

The cathedral has an unusual architecture. As you can see there's a lodge-like floor that I suppose it's closed.

This is the inside view of the dome or cupola.

The wall here is decorated with photos of other orthodox cathedrals. Most of the walls are covered with carved wood panels, which must have costed a fortune.

All in all, the cathedral is beautiful. All those paintings, decorations are work of arts. Lucky me, no one shouted at me and I could take these photos.

Due to covid restrictions, social distancing rules must be respected. Therefore every other seat was marked as not available. What I don't understand is why was the Romanian flag used for that.

The separation of church from state happened centuries ago, yet, you see a huge flag on every orthodox cathedral and as you can see here, the flag is used inside as well. You have the photo of the prefecture, mayor's office and this orthodox cathedral in my post. Have a look which one has the biggest flag. The first two are public institutions, obliged by law to have the flag on the building and both buildings have a normal flag. The church is not obliged by any low.

The cathedral has several entrances. This is the left side entrance, with the same wooden carved door that the front entrance.

This is the back of the cathedral. It's a bit shocking to be honest, it looks like the painters have tried to choose the color, which is fine, this is how it's done but to leave it like that?

This is the right side entrance. Oh well. I have never thought I'd use that expression but I don't see what more can I say here. The photos speak for themselves. Let me remind you that this cathedral is in the heart of the city. The two sides that are renewed are on the main street. The rest is not. Let me also remind you that the city has nothing to do with it as churches get funded from the government budget and from donations.