Europe Travel Guide

Miercurea-Ciuc (Hungarian: Cskszereda, German: Szeklerburg) is the county seat of Harghita county, Transylvania, Romania.

Demographics
According to the 2002 Census the city has a population of 42,029. Of whom 34,388 or 81.8% are Szkely Hungarians.

Description
Miercurea-Ciuc is the county seat of Hargita county, the former county seat of the Szekler county of Cskszk. The city lies in the east of the county in the Olt valley. Recently the city has been called the Szeklerland capital, as opposed to Trgu Mure? (Hungarian:Marosvsrhely).

After the city became the county seat of Harghita in 1968, a new socialist style city centre was constructed. It began to develop into the centre of Szekler culture and identity. In 2001 the old Hargita Hotel was converted into the Sapientia Transylvanain Hungarian University, which although privately run, is the first Hungarian university in Romania. Other cities in Transylvania also have Sapientia University faculties. Since the university opened it has been attracting more and more young people and intellectuals.

Miercurea-Ciuc is one of the coldest towns in the whole of Romania, with winter temperatures often going under 30C making ideal for winter sports. The MiercureaCiuc icerink year-by-year hosts the national icehockey championships, which is often won by the city team. This achievement gives rise to a feeling of “national pride” in the Szeklerland. The other source of pride in the city is the famous Cski beer, considered by some to be the best beer in Romania.

Pet?fi Street is the main pedestrianised street in the city, today it has a young feel thanks to the student presence, and houses many trendy restaurants and fashionable cafs where you can try Szekler specialities in an atmosphere that conjures up images of a small town in Western Europe.