Today I'd like to invite you to visit an old and interesting building that is part of Transylvania's history. It dates back to the beginning of the 20th century (1905 - 1907 to be precise), it is the Town Hall of Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures), but serves as the Prefecture Palace. It's bit of an anomaly as everyone calls it town hall but the town hall is in the next building. The reason for this is that when the communist regime took over, they said they want the most beautiful building and this was it.
The building is closed for the public, but once a year, during the event that is called "The Night Of Museums", it is open to 2 guided visits. Last Saturday this event was organized everywhere in Europe, so i used the occasion to visit places where access ids denied otherwise and one of the places was the Town Hall of Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures).
It was not my first visit to the building as I've been there before, but I was in an official business. This means I had to hand my ID over at the the gate, got a visitor tag and a security officer, who was part of the gendarmerie, accompanied me to the office I had business in. You can imagine taking photos and misbehaving was out of question.
In the northeastern part of the building is the 60-meter-high tower, which can be seen from almost every part of the city. The clock was made by János Müller and the bells by Ferenc Thúri. After the Second World War, a red star was added to the mast of the tower helmet, but in 1982 the lightning arrester made based on the original drawings was reinstated. source
The tower was also open and that day is the only day you can climb up to the top, but the line was so long that one hour of waiting was needed to get in. I decided to skip it. The truth is, there's not much space there, no elevator either as back in those days there was no such thing, so climbing the stairs takes time and only a limited number of people are allowed at a time. Maybe another time.
The architectural style of the building is a mix between Art Nouveau and Baroque. When the mayor of the city decided to build this town hall, a construction tender was organized and due to some differences of opinion, the first 6 applicants were hired to complete the project and this is why the style is a mix.
The doors and windows of the building are real masterpieces in my opinion.
There were 2 tours announced. The first one was at midday, this was with Hungarian guide. I missed that as at that time I was elsewhere, but I was able to catch the next one, half an hour later, with Romanian guide. Language is not a problem for me at all as I speak both.
Guided tours are not my thing as I like to go on my own and follow my own pace but here I needed to adapt as there was no other choice. So avoiding taking photos of the crowd was not always possible and good thing I've been practicing aligning lines as it came in handy. Being forced to keep the pace leaves not much room for experimenting with the camera.
The main hall, the entrance is a beautifully decorated one, gives you the feeling of a the theater or a concert hall.
This looks like a door from inside and it is a door from inside indeed, but it leads to that window with metal grates I showed you in one of the photos above. Look at how meticulously executed and decorated it is. I'm a huge fan of stained glass and here there were plenty. Bear with me and I'll show you.
The portrait of György Bernády can't be missing as he was the mayor of the city at that time and the initiator of this project. The floor, the bench, the stairs and the columns are made of marble.
This is a side door, leading to the tower, most likely.
One of the wonderful stained glass windows.
This is the main door, from inside. To be able to understand better, there are two doors here, the wonderful wooden door you see from outside, and this one, from inside. Back in those days they made sure neither the doors, nor the windows were not boring.
When the tour was over, I waited for most of the visitors to leave, then I closed the door and quickly took this photo to be able to show you how it looks like. It's not the best photo as the light was terrible, but I think the essential part is visible.
Marble railing.
This is the entrance of the right wing on the first floor. Not all the building is decorated like this, only a part of it, as you can see, that corridor is painted white and looks much more simpler.
The ceiling of the staircase.
The stained glass window at the end of the stairs. It's a real beauty, featuring the building itself.
I took several shots from different angles, to see which one is better. This is the view from the upper floor.
This is the bottom window on the left.
The stairs to the boardroom.
The door to the boardroom.
The back of the room. Honestly, my jaw dropped seeing this beauty. It's like a small theater. I've never imagined to be this lovely.
This is the room where the county council meetings are held and our guide was telling us that the room has been repainted to match the original style.
On Saturday, you had the chance to be the chairman of the county council and this little girl took the role very seriously. She looked a bit bored, but I'm sure the real chairman of the county council is bored too at times.
I saw the candle holders were still in place and candles have been replaced with light bulbs. Back in 1907, when the building was finished, there was no electricity, so light was brought by using candles.
This is a postcard from 1907, the year when the building was finished. These postcards are all testimony of the past.
The Town Hall is right in the city center, next to the Palace of Culture, so if you are in the area and want to visit, you can't miss it.
I feel lucky to have had the chance to visit this beauty. I hope one day I'm going to visit the tower too.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
