Visiting medieval cities is a lot of fun, it's like a walk back in time. One minute you're in the old city center that dates back to 15th, 16th century, the next minute you can be back to modern times.
During my last trip to the Transylvanian city of Reghin, I could not help noticing how the city is a mix of architectural style, representing different centuries. Combining old with the new, this is a dilemma of every city, especially of those that date back to medieval times. In times it is inevitable to mix old with the new, unless you get rid of the old, which would be a real shame. Unfortunately in my country, erasing the past to build a new past has been practiced for years during the communist era. This is why I can appreciate when I see these old city parts.
My most favorite thing in the old city center is this fountain or well, I don't even know how o call it. Back in those days these beauties must have been many. I'm not sure about how it looked originally, but I'm glad it still stands. Now it is on a wall separating two roads.
This is the old crest of the city with the old name, Regun, that dates back to MCCCCXXVII 馃槂 Let's see how many of you know what that means. On the crest there are three letters, OPR, the abbreviation of Oppidium Privilegiatum Regun, which means that Reghin (Regun) was a privileged city.
This is the new crest that is from 1934. It may look strange as crests usually are decorated with warrior symbols like a strong arm with a sword or animals like bears, crows, wolf etc. This on the other hand is a messenger on the raft paddling on the Mures river, that is crossing the city.
After those old symbols let's take a walk towards the new part of the city, which leads through a nice park, the green lung of the city if you like. At the time of our visit, there were these colorful umbrellas decorating the entrance, trying to cheer up visitors.
Unfortunately most of the big cities don't have any green space as that's the first to be sacrificed when space is needed. Not in Reghin though. This park is for every age group, from the youngest, to the oldest and at the time of our visit, there were people jogging, reading, enjoying the sun, kids were playing.
There's a canal crossing the city, which is not very common, but the municipality has brought out the best of it. This is a small bridge, crossing the canal, full of green running plants. I don't know about you, but I love it, find it not only interesting, but useful as well.
This part of the canal bed looks a bit neglected, those plants would have needed a good trimming, but the rest looks good.
On the left side of the canal there's the road, on the other side there are flats and a playground for the little ones. I love the idea of having this canal view when you look out the window and those steps allowing anyone to go down to the water is very cool.
I'm not the only one who likes this canal. Look at these little cuties, enjoying the nice sunny weather.
There's another park in the city center, another blessing for the city. In the middle of the park there was this info point for tourist.
The statue of Petru Maior (1781 - 1821), a Romanian writer who is considered one of the most influential personalities of the Age of Enlightenment in Transylvania (the Transylvanian School).
The other statue is a tribute to Patriciu Barbu, who lived between 1842 and 1902.
There's a third statue as well, of Constantin Romanu Vivu (1821 - 1849), a leader of the Transylvanian revolution.
Next, there's this fountain, which is a creation of the communist era, the specific design that was very common back in those days. The good thing about it is that fountain was working, refreshing the hot air, making it actually breathable.
As a proof, these oldtimers were playing some game under the shade of the old trees.
Feel free to visit my previous posts about the city:
- Another Medieval City Tour
- Medieval Church Tour - The Lutheran Church
- Church Tour - The Catholic Church of Reghin