Iegar, Diana - Sárándi Tamás: Satu Mare. Amprentele trecutului (Satu Mare, 2009)

Strada Ştefan cel Mare

STRADA ŞTEFAN CEL MARE • ŞTEFAN CEL MARE UTCA • ŞTEFAN CEL MARE STREET

Ştefan cel Mare Street

Ştefan cel Mare street has been one of the most important streets of the city since the Middle Ages, as it connected Satu Mare and Mintiu. In 1566, it is mentioned in documents as the Mill Road. The name comes from the existence of a mill at the northern end of the road, near the arm of the Someş river that divided the two cities in the 16th century. Later, after the construction of the bridge over the river, the name of the street became Stone Bridge. After 1883 its official name was Kazinczy, and since 1920 it has been called Ştefan cel Mare with the exception of a short interval between 1941-1944, when its name was Mussolini. Despite its age, the buildings of the street are not older than the 19th century. The majority of the houses here were rebuilt at the highpoint of the urbanization of Satu Mare, at the end of the 19th century. The buildings has two-level, reflecting perfectly the concepts of this age. The street revived during this period as an important commercial artery with various shops.Thefacades are decorated mostly in Classical style.The street has not changed its aspect of the second half of the 19th century at all, even the yellow macadam pavement was preserved. Today it is an architecturally protected assemblage. Individual buildings, including the Roman-Catholic Church of Immaculate Conception, the house of the Association of Small Entrepreneurs, the Kölcsey Ferenc High School, the Quttman House are themselves historical monuments, too. A part of the Roman Catholic High School, today Doamna Stanca High School was built in 1816. Later, the building met radical changes, and its current aspect is due to the works from the year 1895.

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