Iegar, Diana - Sárándi Tamás: Satu Mare. Amprentele trecutului (Satu Mare, 2009)
Introducere
PREFACE assaults and military occupations devastated the two cities, the medieval constructions being entirely destroyed in the period between 1560 and 1711.The greatest blow was the siege of the fortress in the first decade of the 18th century, during which the whole Satu Mare and Mintiu were burned and finally the castle was demolished, too. With the destruction of the fortress, the military and strategic role of the settlement also disappeared, and a new era of civic development started for the towns. One of the most important events, determining the subsequent development of the cities was their union in 1715 (under the name of Satu Mare / Szatmárnémeti), which was followed by the acquiring of the title of "free royal city.'The new statute offered the city a high degree of autonomy, the right of free economical, social and religious development. During this period, the city expanded, occupying primarily the territories of the medieval settlements of Mintiu and Satu Mare and that of the fortress. In parallel with the expansion of the city, the centre of urban life became the square near the former fortress. This space, today Libertăţii Square (Liberty Square), get its central role in this period: it was the place of the fair as well as the site where the first stone buildings were constructed. Around 1772, the Old Town Hall with a tower (on the site of the Dacia Hotel) was built here, and later, around the year 1830, the Roman Catholic cathedral. The first military survey, made between 1783 and 1785, show Satu Mare as an extended, diffuse settlement with visible rural character. The urban development accelerated during the next period, an impetus being given to it by the fundation of the Roman Catholic bishopric of Satu Mare. Besides the ecclesiastical buildings constructed during this period (the Calvinist churches of Mintiu and the Church with Chains, the old Greek Catholic churches of Satu Mare and Mintiu, the Roman-Catholic Cathedral and the Episcopal Palace), 19
