Trip to Csiksomlyó
June 25, 2009
GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY
June 14, 2009
Csikszereda is a town in Romania, situated in the Eastern part of Transylvania, in Hargita County. Csikszereda is the Municipality of Hargita County. Around the town there are volcanic mountain ranges called the Hargita and Csik Mountains, at the crossing of the roads which pass through the Carpathian Passes of Tolvajos (Vlăhiţa) and Gyimes.
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The town is situated on the banks of the river Olt, at the foot of the Nagysomlyó Mountain (1033m). The altitude of the town is between 655m and 730m above the sea level, Geographical coordinates: lat.:46˚21’ N, long.: 25˚ 48’ E.
Csikszereda was founded in the 16th century, nearby still exist localities as Somlyó (1333), Csiktaploca and other villages – with which the town has merged in the flood area of the river Olt, where market (peasant pairs) was held on Wednesdays (hungarian szerda).
The first known authentic document which certifies this town as “a plain town” is a letter of Queen Izabella, mother of János Zsigmond, Prince of Transylvania, dated back from August, 5th, 1558, in which the inhabitants of the town were exempted from the taxes but not from the ones for the Ottoman Empire.
At Somlyó in 1630, there was a Franciscan gymnasium, and in 1676 there was a printing shop founded by the Franciscan monk Joannes Kájoni. The parish church was built in 1758.
Csikszereda’s oldest street is Petofi street. It was built up in 1869.
Today the people calls it Walking street, because car traffic is not let in.
Here you can see Live Webcam from Petőfi street.
Castle of Mikó
June 13, 2009
The Castle of Mikó is situated in the southern part of Csíkszereda and it is the most famous landmark of the town. Ferenc Mikó of Hidvég (1585-1635) was Gabor Bethlen’s relative and confident, he was chief Commander of Csík-, Gyergyó-, and Kászon Chairs (traditional names for the Székely counties). He built the castle with four bastions on the corners, a regular rectangular ground, planed and sketched in the style of the most beautiful Italian Renaissance sketches from the period between1620-1635. It’s “Golden Bastion” was mentioned by sources in 1654. The fortress was burnt down by the Tartars in 1661, and then fortified in 1714 by the Austrian garrison troops with an external defense ring consisting mainly of ramparts.
Today, the Castle of Mikó, among others, hosts the Museum of the Székelys of Csíkchair.
Church from Csiksomlyó
June 12, 2009
The Franciscan church and cloister in Somlyó were founded around 1400.
The Baroque church was build between 1804 and 1876 in Somlyó.

Due to the prayers of the relatives of the Szekler from Csík, Gyergyo and Kaszon chairs that fought against the Protestant reigning prince Janos Zsigmond in 1564, the Holy Virgin helped them to obtain the victory. To commemorate this event, pilgrims gather at Csíksomlyó every Whit Sunday.
Hungarian and Székely anthem on Csíksomlyó:
Csikszereda’s Hockey teams
June 2, 2009

The Vakar Lajos ice ride from outside
My favourite team is HC Csikszereda, this team won the Mol League in the 2008-2009 season. The Mol League is a championship, there play teams from Romania and Hungary. My favourite Romanian player is Mihály Árpád, he currently plays in HC Csikszereda.

The Vakar Lajos ice rink from inside
The standard of the local hockey leauge is behind that of the American hockey but the local people watch the Romanian hockey with big interest.
About me
May 13, 2009
I live in the centre of Csikszereda. When I look around from my windows I can see the center of the town where are many interesting buildings.
Firstly I can see the county hall, the Sapientia university, the urban park, this is the biggest park in Csikszereda and the cultural centre. Here are many concerts, lectures. Furthermore I can see the Nagy Istvan Art Secondary School, a Bank named Carpatica, and a Greek catholic church. The most interesting is the main square (here you can see a panorama of this) where are many exhibitions and one or two concerts a year. Finally when I look around I can see the forest, which is around the town, this is a very relaxing sight.
I like to live here, because here I’m close to everything and the view is good.






