The Fortified Town Exhibition

This week I had the pleasure to visit a history museum, that hosted a very interesting exhibition. For me it was like a walk back in the 17th century. Those were very different times and even though the 17th century was a long time ago, it's good to learn and remember those times.

This exhibition had as theme Marosvásárhely In The 17th Century. The city is called Targu Mures now in Romanian, but back in the 17th century, it was part of Kingdom of Hungary, that's why the Hungarian name. The exhibition was hosted by the history museum of the city. The building of the museum back in those days was a private residence after which it became a town house, then later was home of military barracks, but more about this later.

The exhibition consisted in objects, manuscripts, weapons among other things. There were these huge panels on the walls with the history of the city in Hungarian, Romanian and English. Having information available in three languages is a huge advantage and not only for me.

The vibe of the exhibition was absolutely amazing. Stepping in here was like walking on the streets of the city in the 17th century. The pavement was made of cobble stones, which was used to pave the streets back then. You can still find cobble stones around the fortress, those sections were left as it was once. The arched ceiling was also something that made you feel like you went back in time. Mission accomplished.

This is a photo of the stone in which the definition of town was carved. I'm going to quote it below as it's pretty interesting.

"... we shall call town the community of burghers come together from many nations. The town is also a multitude of houses and streets, enclosed by necessary walls and fortifications, having the privileges of good and decent life." István Werbőczy (Tripartitum, part III, title 8)

Burghers here means citizens, from the German bürger.

These huge cardboard panels were also in line with the tone of the exhibition, the chosen color was brown, like old paper and most of them had drawings or photos, to illustrate the times they were referring to.

Apart from the cardboard panels, you could also watch these repetitive videos on the big screen, to learn about the town's history. Visualizing what you read, or hearing it may help you memorize it, or understand it better. We live in the digital era, so those brochures you were given once are on the way of disappearance. Pretty soon we'll be able to visit any museum we want through VR, but this is just my theory.

The restoration of the building took place between 2009 and 2010.

These are most likely parts of an porcelain or glass vase, a very fine one I must admit. Whoever owned them was most likely part of the upper class. Poor people used ceramics or metal kitchenware.

Photos documenting the restoration process of the building, in which the museum is today.

This is an interior window, that was left in its original state, or restored to its original state. This window is not the only one, there are several like this on the exterior as well. I did my best to capture it nicely, but the light was not good and I never use a flash at a museum or exhibition, out of respect. The photo looks like sepia, but trust me, I did not set my camera to sepia or edit the photo applying a sepia filter. It's the light or lack of light that makes it look like sepia.

I made a black and white version as well. I don't know which one is better. I'll let you decide.

Here you can read about what makes a royal town free. It's pretty interesting how things were working around 1557.

The stamp of the town. This stamp, in this digital era looks a bit strange, but this is history, this is where things started and then evolved to where we are today.

A copy of a letter from 29th of April, 1616.

On the 29th of April 1616 the prince of Transylvania, Gábor Bethlen issued a letter of privilege to Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures) in which he granted the title of free royal town.

In today's English, that means granting autonomy to the city.

This door at the end of the corridor looked old, but we don't know how old it is.

This was a screen, made it look like a window. The setup was brilliant, but the rest was so annoying I can't even begin to tell you. In the video, the actress was playing a housewife or a servant, sitting in the window and gossiping with whoever was passing by. Back then the window and gossiping were the only for of entertainment for the majority. Her voice was so annoying!

These videos were a great way to introduce you to those times.

This is the first part of my visit. Stay tuned for the next one as it's going to be interesting.

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