Târgu Mureș

Târgu Mureș stands on the Mureș River in the Székely lands of eastern Transylvania. Its Hungarian name, Marosvásárhely, recalls a market on the river. A fortified church and the town's guilds reflected the importance of this meeting place for the surrounding communities.

The Reformed community maintained a school recorded in 1557. In 1616 Prince Gabriel Bethlen granted the town free royal status, strengthening its longstanding civic privileges and autonomy. The school continued as a centre of learning, and a printing press was established there in 1786. In 1802 Count Sámuel Teleki opened his extensive library to the public in a building specially enlarged to house it. Gathered over decades, its books and manuscripts made Târgu Mureș an important place for scholarship as well as trade.