History[edit]

Varadinum (Oradea) in a 1617 engraving by Braun & Hogenberg

Main article:  History of Oradea

While modern Oradea is first mentioned in 1113, under the Latin name "Varadinum" in a diploma
belonging to Benedictine Zobor Abbey – Bishop Sixtus Varadiensis and Saul de Bychar are mentioned
in the document – recent archaeological findings, in and around the city, provide evidence of a more
or less continuous habitation since the Neolithic. [13] The Dacians and Celts also inhabited the region.
After the conquest of Dacia the Romans established a presence in the area, most notably in the Salca
district of the city and modern day Băile Felix.[14][15] According to the Gesta Hungarorum, a Hungarian
chronicle written after 1150 by an unidentified author, referred to as Anonymus, the region was
ruled by Menumorut at the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries, until the Hungarian
land-taking. Its citadel was centred at Biharea. [16] Historians debate whether Menumorut was an
actual ruler or a fictional character created by the author, since the Gesta tells of multiple figures,
including Menumorut, who are not identified in any other primary sources, and does not name any
of the enemies of the invading Hungarians written of in other contemporary accounts of the
invasion. According to Anonymus, Menumorut's duchy was populated primarily
with Khazars and Székelys, and he acknowledged the suzerainty of the (unnamed) ruling Byzantine
Emperor at the time.

In the 11th century when St. King Ladislaus I of Hungary founded a bishopric settlement near the city
of Oradea, the present Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea. The city flourished both economically and
culturally during the 13th century as part of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was at this time that
the Citadel of Oradea, first mentioned in 1241 during the Mongol invasion, was first built. It would
be destroyed and rebuilt several times over the course of following centuries. The 14th and 15th
centuries would prove to be of the most prosperous periods in the city's history up to that point.
Many works of art would be added to the city, including: statues of St. Stephen, Emeric and Ladislaus
(before 1372) and the equestrian sculpture of St. King Ladislaus I (1390) were erected in Oradea. St.
Ladislaus' fabled statue was the first proto-renaissance public square equestrian in Europe. Bishop
Andreas Báthori (1329–1345) rebuilt the Cathedral in Gothic style. From that epoch dates also the
Hermes, now preserved at Győr, which contains the skull of St. Ladislaus, and which is a masterpiece
of the Hungarian goldsmith's art.
It was at this time that astronomer Georg von Peuerbach wrote his Tabula Varadiensis, published
posthumously in 1464, at (?) the Observatory of Varadinum, establishing the city's observatory as
the Earth's point of reference and prime meridian.

In 1474, the city was captured by the Turks after a protracted siege. Their mostly tolerant policies
towards others peoples ensured that the city would become an ethnic mosaic
of Romanians, Hungarians, Austrians, Slovaks, Ruthenians and Turks,[17][18] causing Oradea to grow as
an urban area starting with the 16th century.

After the Ottoman invasion of Hungary, in the 16th century, the city became a constant point of
contention between the Principality of Transylvania, the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg
Monarchy. The Peace of Várad was concluded between Emperor Ferdinand I and John Zápolya here
on 4 February 1538, in which they mutually recognized each other as legitimate monarchs.

The Ottomans laid siege to the city in 1598, however the siege failed. After the Treaty of Vienna
(1606), the city was permanently incorporated in the Principality of Transylvania by imperial decree.

As a result of Gyorgy Rakoczi II's, at the time Prince of Transylvania failed attempt to gain the throne
of Poland the Ottomans sent yet another punitive expedition against him and
his Wallachian and Moldavian allies. In 1660 the Ottomans, with a force of 45,000 men, besieged the
city for the last time. The 850 defenders managed to hold out for 46 days, but eventually the city fell
on 27 August due to internal treachery. The Ottomans designated the city as the capital of the newly
formed Eyalet of Varat. The eyalet included the sanjaks of "Varat"
(Oradea), Salanta, Debreçin, Halmaş, Sengevi and Yapışmaz. The siege itself is described in detail
by Szalárdy János in his contemporary chronicle. Ottoman dominance of the city ended in 1692,
when, the Habsburg imperial forces conquered the city after a 14-month siege.

Map of Oradea in 1897

Under the Habsburgs, the city entered its golden age. The Viennese engineer Franz Anton
Hillebrandt given the task of planning the city in the Baroque style and, starting with the year 1752,
many of the city's current landmarks were constructed such as the Roman Catholic Cathedral,
the Moon Church, the State Theatre and the Baroque Palace.

The city played a major role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, being the home of the largest
Hungarian arms factory.

At the end of World War I Oradea became a part of the Kingdom of Romania under the Treaty of
Trianon. In 1925, the status of municipality was given to Oradea dissolving its former civic autonomy.
Under the same ordinance, its name was changed from Oradea Mare ("Great" Oradea) to simply
Oradea.

The Second Vienna Award brokered by Hitler and Mussolini in 1940 allowed Hungary to

recover Northern Transylvania, including Oradea, and mass of celebrations welcomed the Hungarian
administration.[19] On 12 October 1944, Oradea was captured by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian
Front in the course of the Battle of Debrecen. After World War II, Hungary had to relinquish claims to
it under the Treaty of Paris concluded on 10 February 1947.

Ethnic tensions sometimes ran high in the area in the past but the different ethnic groups now
generally live together in harmony[according to whom?], thriving on each other's contributions to modern
culture[citation needed].

After the December 1989 revolution, Oradea aimed to achieve greater prosperity along with other
towns in Romania. Both culturally and economically, Oradea's prospects are inevitably tied to the
general aspirations of Romanian society to achieve freedom, democracy and a free market economy.
Due to its specific character, Oradea is one of the most important economic and cultural centers of
Western Romania and of the country in general, and one of the great academic centers, with a
unique bilingual dynamic.