Lugoj - WikiHQ

Lugoj (; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves: the "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank, and the "German Lugoj" on the left bank. The city administers two villages, Măguri and Tapia.

Etymology

The origin of the toponym Lugoj has generated a series of controversies over time. claims that it derives from the Latin word "lucus" (grove, small forest). Iorgu Iordan, in his Romanian Toponymy, accepts the origin of the name from the Slavic prefix "lug-" or "luh-" (swamp forest) and the Hungarian suffix "-os". However, linguist Simion Dănilă claims that the name of the city has its origin in the word "logos," a Banat doublet for "rogoz" (sedge, a hydrophilous plant). All these hypotheses refer to the swampy areas that once surrounded the city.

Geography

Lugoj is located in southwestern Romania, in central-eastern Timiș County, in the historical region of Banat. It consists of the town of Lugoj and the villages of Măguri and Tapia. According to the National Territorial Planning Scheme, Lugoj is a second-tier locality – a municipality of county and zonal importance at county level, secondary pole at county level, with a balancing role in the network of localities. It is the second largest and most important city in Timiș County, being part of the Western Development Region and the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Lugoj covers an area of 98.03 km2, of which 20.35 km2 in the build-up area and 77.68 km2 outside the build-up area. It borders Boldur to the west, Darova to the southwest, Victor Vlad Delamarina to the south, Gavojdia to the southeast, Criciova and Bârna to the east and Coșteiu to the north-northwest.

Relief

The territory of Lugoj belongs to the high plain of Lugoj and the hills of Lugoj. Located in the contact area of these units, the city developed on the lower terrace of the Timiș River, on both its banks. The relief unit in which Lugoj is located is the Lugoj Plain, which penetrates deep into the piedmont hills. The average altitude of the area is .

History

The beginnings of the settlement can be established since the Neolithic period, the archeological excavations made on the right bank of Timiș and in the Dealul Viilor area highlighting levels of living of a population of shepherds and farmers dating back to the 4th–3rd millennia BC. The later epochs are represented archeologically by the bronze deposit discovered in the Mondial area and vestiges from the Iron Age and the Daco-Roman period signaled both in the city center and in various localities in the vicinity.

Lugoj first appears in written history in 1334, when a papal tithe record mentions a certain priest Martin of Lucas. As an administrative formation, the district of Lugoj, which also included the surrounding villages, dates from 1369, when it is mentioned as posesio Lugas. Later, in 1376, a document issued by King Sigismund of Luxembourg mentions the attribution of the fortress of Lugoj (castrum Lugas) to the count of Temes, and soon, in 1379, it appears in documents as a castle town, with Nicholas II Garai as chatelain.

The 15th century found Lugoj under the authority of the count of Temes, but the settlement enjoyed a wide autonomy. The management of the town was entrusted to a knyaz, assisted by 12 jurors, the inhabitants having in addition to feudal obligations also military duties. Visiting Lugoj when he was count of Temes, John Hunyadi ordered the restoration and strengthening of the fortress on the right bank of Timiș, by building ramparts and palisades.

The merits of the Lugoj District in the battles with the Turks are recognized on 29 August 1457, by a diploma of privileges granted by King Ladislaus the Posthumous. A special moment during this period is the participation of the people of Lugoj, under the captainship of Count Pál Kinizsi, in the battle of Breadfield in 1479.

After the establishment of the Temeşvar Eyalet, the eastern part of Banat was organized in a separate administrative unit, Banate of Lugos and Karánsebes, dependent on the prince of Transylvania. The distinctive role of the town is confirmed on 7 May 1551, by Queen Isabella Jagiellon, who strengthens the old privileges by granting Lugoj the status of civitas regionalis, as well as heraldic signs – a wolf standing above the crown.

During World War II, the Ion Antonescu regime economically sanctioned the Jews, sending male members of the community to forced labor camps near the Olt River and to the Brașov area. Four youths aged 14–15, charged with illegal communist activity, were sent to the Transnistria Governorate, where they died. Many Jews left after the war, mainly to Palestine. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (63.93%), but there are also minorities of Roman Catholics (5.76%), Pentecostals (4.77%), Baptists (2.39%), Reformed (2.34%) and Greek Catholics (1.04%). For 18.03% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.

{| class="toccolours"

! align="center" colspan="2" style="background:#ccccff;" | Census

! align="center" colspan="9" style="background:#ccccff;" | Ethnic composition

! Year !! Population !! Romanians !! Hungarians !! Germans !! Jews !! Roma !! Ukrainians !! Serbs !! Czechs !! Slovaks

| 1880 || 12,389 || 5,987 || 1,475 || 4,696 || – || – || 2 || 69 || – || 32

| 1890 || 13,548 || 6,235 || 1,872 || 5,184 || – || – || – || 67 || – || 37

| 1900 || 17,486 || 6,632 || 3,976 || 6,274 || – || – || 3 || 153 || – || 77

| 1910 || 20,962 || 7,322 || 6,896 || 6,179 || – || – || 5 || 221 || – || 127

| 1920 || 21,172 || 8,723 || 4,257 || 5,995 || 1,774 || – || – || – || – || –

| 1930 || 24,694 || 10,702 || 5,403 || 6,158 || 1,387 || 280 || 27 || 118 || || 264

| 1941 || 27,871 || 14,395 || 4,729 || 6,037 || – || – || – || – || – || –

| 1956 || 31,364 || 19,884 || 5,594 || 4,280 || 536 || 718 || 106 || 89 || 130 || 153

| 1966 || 36,728 || 24,989 || 6,004 || 4,540 || 250 || 301 || 199 || 106 || 76 || 145

| 1977 || 44,537 || 32,315 || 6,154 || 4,747 || 113 || 490 || 348 || 73 || 74 || 96

| 1992 || 50,939 || 40,665 || 5,442 || 2,658 || 55 || 1,097 || 737 || 101 || 32 || 108

| 2002 || 44,636 || 37,043 || 4,272 || 1,319 || 33 || 1,032 || 701 || 44 || 20 || 77

| 2011 || 40,361 || 31,885 || 2,752 || 748 || 26 || 928 || 520 || 34 || 7 || 37

| 2021 || 35,450 || 26,672 || 1,357 || 369 || 12 || 581 || 334 || 14 || 3 || 22

Politics and administration

The city of Lugoj is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 19 councilors. The mayor, Călin-Ionel Dobra, from the Social Democratic Party, has been in office since 2024. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties:

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | Party

! Seats

! colspan="7" | Composition

| style="background-color:" |

| Social Democratic Party || 7

| style="background-color:" |

| National Liberal Party || 5

| style="background-color:" |

| Save Romania Union–People's Movement Party–Force of the Right || 4

| style="background-color:" |

| Alliance for the Union of Romanians || 2

| style="background-color:" |

| Ind. || 1

| style="background-color:" |

Economy

At the end of the 18th century, Lugoj was recorded as an important viticultural center, with 90% of the population owning vineyards. During this period, the population was engaged in agriculture, viticulture, animal husbandry and crafts. An important moment in the history of Lugoj is the formation of guilds towards the end of the 18th century, marking the transition to the future industrial system. The first industrial activities present in Lugoj were: milling (Elisabeth Imperial Mill, 1722), cloth manufacturing, blanket manufacturing, silk processing and brewing. Mozart, Haydn and Schubert's masses and other sacred music works were performed here while they were still alive. The Minorite Church was the culture bearer of the city. The oldest piano school in Banat also comes from Lugoj, founded in 1760 by a monk from the Minorite Church. The monks themselves dealt with church music, piano lessons and organ building. The Ion Vidu Municipal Choir has existed since 1810; in 1852 another choral society was founded under the direction of composer – Lugoscher Gesang und Musikverein/Lugosi Dal- és Zeneegylet. The cultural life of Lugoj has been enriched over the years with the activity carried out by the Chamber Music Society (1869) and the Philharmonic Orchestra (1926).

Performing arts

thumb|Traian Grozăvescu Theater

The first theater performance in Lugoj took place on 10 May 1841 and was a school theater performance staged by students from the local gymnasium. In January and February 1847, the Romanian Society of Theatrical Singers, under the direction of Iosif Farcaș, made up of several professional actors, presented the first performances in Romanian on the stage of the Lugoj Theater.

The current theater in Lugoj, named after tenor Traian Grozăvescu, was built between 1899 and 1900. The initiative to build the current Traian Grozăvescu Theater was made by Imre Jakabffy, count of Krassó-Szörény, who, after managing to get the land for the new theater, mobilized the local population who donated 24,000 kroner to build the theater.

During the interwar period, in Lugoj, several amateur theater societies were active: Thalia Romanian Theater Association, Banat Academic Circle, Musical Theater Society, which carried out a fruitful activity to promote the Romanian classical repertoire. It is worth mentioning that the Thalia Romanian Theater Association also took care of editing some collections of plays in one act, printing and disseminating, within ten years, almost 300 works.

Religious buildings

Lugoj has 16 churches, chapels and conventicles, of which six Orthodox, three Roman Catholic, one Reformed and one Lutheran. A symbol of the city that also appears on the seal from 1793 is the Dormition of the Theotokos Church, Lugoj with its two bell towers. The construction made between 1759 and 1766, from the donations of the Romanian parishioners led by obor-knez Gavril Gureanu, follows a plan similar to that of the Timișoara Dome, designed by Viennese architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach. Also to the north, in connection with the A1 motorway, a section of about 11 km of the A6 motorway was inaugurated in 2013, which will connect Lugoj and Calafat. Lugoj is also served by a 9.6 km ring road, inaugurated in 2010. The network of streets in Lugoj totals about 99 km, of which 75 km are modernized streets. At the municipal level, 95% of Lugoj streets are paved.

Public passenger transport services are provided by Meridian 22, established in 2007, on four urban lines: 1C (train station–Agricultural High School), 7 (Tirol–Banatului Street–I.C. Drăgan neighborhood), 15 (I.C. Drăgan neighborhood–Old Post–Tirol) and 17 (Tapia–Măguri–Agricultural High School).

Szekszárd (1993)
Jena (1993)
Orléans (1994)
Nisporeni (2001)
Corinth (2004)
Vršac (2005)
Monopoli (2006)
Kriva Palanka (2011)
Makó (2016)
Veliko Gradište (2016)

Etymology

Geography

Relief

History

Politics and administration

Economy

Performing arts

Religious buildings

References