Mehala

Coordinates: 45°45′52.84″N 21°11′58.46″E / 45.7646778°N 21.1995722°E / 45.7646778; 21.1995722
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mehala
Ferencváros (Hungarian)
Franzstadt (German)
Мехала (Serbian)
District of Timișoara
Coordinates: 45°45′52.84″N 21°11′58.46″E / 45.7646778°N 21.1995722°E / 45.7646778; 21.1995722
CountryRomania
CountyTimiș
CityTimișoara
Area
[1]
 • Total4.93 km2 (1.90 sq mi)

Mehala (Hungarian: Ferencváros; German: Franzstadt;[2] Serbian: Мехала, romanized: Mehala;[3] obsolete: Măhală)[4] is a district of Timișoara. Mehala evolved from a slum-like village (in Turkish mahale means "slum") to a neighborhood of houses, villas and many gardens.[5] It is one of the oldest satellite villages of Timișoara and was built in the higher part of the city, west of Palanca Mare.[6] It officially became part of the city in 1910.[7]

History

Antiquity

Mehala was supposedly inhabited in the pre-Dacian period. An

Eneolithic settlement was identified here in the 1970s. Further archeological excavations brought to surface several ceramic fragments from the classical Dacian period (1st century BC–1st century AD) and the Árpád dynasty (11th–12th centuries).[8]

Ottoman occupation

Mehala has long been an independent commune, whose name comes from the

Eugene of Savoy. The residence is said to have been connected to the fortress by underground passages.[11] The Wells of the Pashas were later renamed Präsidentengarten and were used by local leaders as a place of relaxation until 1849 when Timișoara was besieged by revolutionaries and the residence was completely destroyed.[5] In the many decades of Turkish rule even slight offenses were severely punished. This could be the reason why the few people who settled here chose to live as far away from the fortress as possible.[12]

Habsburg rule

Mehala (Mihalla) in the Josephinian Land Survey of 1769–1772

For the next 65 years Mehala was made part of the city and in 1716 it received the name Neustadt

Joseph II (1790) many of his decisions and contracts concluded during his reign were annulled. This also happened with Mehala's contract of sale. As the price agreed in 1781 in the "Deed of privilege of the free city" was not paid to the Chamber by the city, the actual handover of Mehala did not take place.[11] Mehala was thus separated from the city and placed under the control of the administration of the Temes County as an independent village under the name "Mehala".[12] At the beginning of the 20th century, the commune had about 300 houses with gardens, grouped in four distinct colonies – Ronaț, Anheurer, Blașcovici and Weisz – between which there were no roads or paved sidewalks.[5] On today's territory of Mehala there was a large forest, called Cioca Forest, which was cut down entirely, because it was considered that the land brought a higher income if it was used as arable land.[5]

Annexation and following years

Lengthy judicial arguments about where Mehala belonged were finally concluded after much trial and tribulation with a judicial sentence on 1 January 1910.

street lighting was introduced and kindergartens and schools were established.[5] In 1923 Mehala was connected to the Timișoara tram network; since then line 4 has connected Avram Iancu Square with the central Liberty Square. In the interwar period, the district was temporarily renamed Prince Michael, after soon-to-be King Michael I; however, the use of this name was limited, with Mehala being preferred.[13]

Avram Iancu Square

The Romanian Orthodox church in 1964
The Serbian Orthodox church in 1916
The Roman Catholic church in 1960

Avram Iancu Square, nicknamed the "square with three churches", is the central square of the district, where the

Roman Catholic churches are located. The Serbian church dedicated to Saint Nicholas was the first church in Mehala. It was built of brick between 1786 and 1793.[16] This church served both Serbian and Romanian worshipers, with services held in both languages, until the hierarchical separation of the Romanian Church from the Serbian Church. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 the church was transformed by the revolutionaries into a stable.[5] The church once had a confessional school, a football team and a choir called Zora.[17]

The second-oldest church is the Roman Catholic one; it was built in 1887 with money donated by the Catholic inhabitants of Mehala.[13] It rises on the western side of the square and stands out for its neo-Gothic style with neo-Romanesque elements.

The Romanian church, also called the Mehala Cathedral due to its imposing dimensions, was built between 1925 and 1937 in

Polytechnic School, and Adrian Suciu, the chief architect of the city.[6] The groundbreaking ceremony was attended, among others, by King Ferdinand I, Queen Marie and princes Carol and Ileana.[6] The church is dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus and commemorates the Romanian martyrs who fell during World War I.[6]

Notable people

References

  1. ISBN 3-7995-2501-7
    .
  2. ^ "Mehala". Erdély, Bánság és Partium történeti és közigazgatási helységnévtára. Arcanum.
  3. ^ "Serbische und kroatische Ortsnamen in Rumänien // Srpski i hrvatski imena mesta u Rumuniji". Exonyme – Vergessene Ortsnamen NG.
  4. ISSN 1221-678X
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Tănăsescu, Claudia (15 May 2015). "Cartierul Mehala". Merg.În.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bălan, Titus (14 May 2017). "Timișoara ieri și azi: "Catedrala noastră din Mehala" sau povestea tristă a unei biserici". Banatul Azi.
  7. ^ a b c Both, Ștefan (23 March 2019). "Cum s-a făcut unirea între fosta comună Mehala și Timișoara. "Principala cauză o constituie apropierea de teritoriul orașului"". Adevărul.
  8. ISBN 978-973-7724-84-7
    .
  9. ^ "Fiecare cartier cu povestea numelui său, la Timișoara! Al tău știi de unde se trage?". Opinia Timișoarei. 4 March 2017.
  10. ISBN 978-3-7917-6197-8
    .
  11. ^ a b c Milleker, Felix (2019). Mehala 1723 - 1910: Ein dreisprachiger Nachdruck. Banat Media.
  12. ^ a b c d e "History of Mehala - Franzstadt". DVHH.org.
  13. ^ a b c "Die Mehala-er Pfarrkirche". Banater Aktualität. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18.
  14. ^ Ilieșiu, Nicolae; Ilieșu, Petru (2018). Timișoara - Istoria unui oraș european. Vol. I. Biblioteca Virtuală Banat. p. 73.
  15. ^ Varga, E. Árpád. "Temes megye településeinek etnikai (anyanyelvi/nemzetiségi) adatai 1880-1992" (PDF). A Kulturális Innovációs Alapítvány Könyvtára. p. 3.
  16. ^ "Timișoara :: Biserica Sârbească Sf. Nicolae". Biserici.org.
  17. ^ "Lăcașul care a unit sârbii și românii". Digi24. 15 January 2018.
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