The city consists of four neighborhoods: Turda Veche, Turda Nouă, Oprișani, and Poiana. It is traversed from west to east by the Arieș River and north to south by its tributary, Valea Racilor.
Milliarium of Aiton, the oldest known epigraphical attestation of Potaissa – a copy erected in June 1993 in front of the Turda Post Office
There is evidence of human settlement in the area dating to the Middle Paleolithic, some 60,000 years ago.[3] The Dacians established a town that Ptolemy in his Geography calls Patreuissa, which is probably a corruption of Patavissa or Potaissa, the latter being more common. It was conquered by the Romans, who kept the name Potaissa, between AD 101 and 106, during the rule of Trajan, together with parts of Decebal's Dacia.[4]
The name Potaissa is first recorded on a Roman milliarium discovered in 1758 in the nearby Aiton commune.[5]
Objects dated to post-Aurelian retreat found at the site (for example an inscribed onyx gem depicting the Good Shepherd, and silver coins of Diocletian) together with a large burial containing sarcophagi and a cremation stone box point at continuous habitation until the early fifth century.[7] The situation changes in the next two centuries when dwellings and cemeteries superpose the Roman site, in a similar manner to Apulum and Sirmium.[8] After conquering the place, the Huns settled down near.[9] From this time three solidus were found from graves. Burying with coins was a Gepid tradition not typical of the Huns, meaning that they settled their vassals in Transylvania too.[6]
The territory changed hands between the Gepids and Langobards multiple times before both were expelled by the Avars.[9]
After the Hungarian conquest, the kindred Kalocsa settled here. Their center was called Tordavár ("castle of Torda"), and another important estate was Tordalaka ("home of Torda") as of 1075.[6][9] The name probably derives from Old Bulgarian *tvьrdъ meaning citadel, fortress.[10]
Saxons settled in the area in the 12th century. Much of the town was destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1241–1242, however most of its inhabitants survived by hiding in the cave system. King Stephen V ensured its quick revival by giving privileges.[9]
On 8 January, 1288, Ladislaus IV attended the first national assembly in Torda and recruited an army of Transylvanians to repel the Cuman invasion. He pursued the Cumans back to the border. During this time the Hungarians were the absolute majority in the city. Numerous meetings were held here afterwards.[9]
The Hungarian Diet was held here in 1467, by Matthias Corvinus. Later, in the 16th century, Turda was often the residence of the Transylvanian Diet, too. After the Battle of Mohács, the city became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and since 1570 the Principality of Transylvania. The 1558 Diet of Turda declared free practice of both the Catholic and Lutheran religions. In 1563 the Diet also accepted the Calvinist religion, and in 1568 it extended freedom to all religions, declaring that "It is not allowed to anybody to intimidate anybody with captivity or expelling for his religion" – a freedom unusual in medieval Europe. This Edict of Turda is the first attempt at legislating general religious freedom in Christian Europe (though its legal effectiveness was limited).
After 1950, the city became the headquarters of Turda raion within the Cluj Region. Following the administrative reform of 1968, it became part of Cluj County. From the late 1950s, Turda became a rather important industrial centre, housing factories for chemical, electrotechnical ceramics, cement, glass, and steel cables. The nearby Câmpia Turzii town hosted a steel plant. The city centre of Turda saw redevelopment in the late 1980s, including a House of Culture that hasn't been finished up to this date. Many houses in the historic center were demolished to create space for apartment buildings. The town's role of an industrial powerhouse has diminished from the 1990s onwards, but tourist attractions have kept the city in a good state up to today.[citation needed]
Climate
Turda has a continental climate, characterised by warm dry summers and cold winters. The climate is influenced by the city's proximity to the Apuseni Mountains, as well as by urbanisation. Some West-Atlantic influences are present during winter and autumn. Winter temperatures are often below 0 °C (32 °F), even though they rarely drop below −10 °C (14 °F). On average, snow covers the ground for 65 days each winter. In July and August, the average temperature is approximately 18 °C (64 °F), despite the fact that temperatures sometimes reach 35–40 °C (95–104 °F) in mid-summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation and humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy and often violent storms. During spring and autumn, temperatures vary between 13–18 °C (55–64 °F), and precipitation during this time tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.[citation needed]
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1850
8,743
—
1880
10,563
+20.8%
1890
12,370
+17.1%
1900
13,587
+9.8%
1910
15,167
+11.6%
1920
16,692
+10.1%
1930
21,428
+28.4%
1941
32,170
+50.1%
1948
25,905
−19.5%
1956
35,606
+37.4%
1966
44,980
+26.3%
1977
55,294
+22.9%
1992
61,200
+10.7%
2002
55,770
−8.9%
2011
47,744
−14.4%
2021
43,319
−9.3%
Source: Census data
According to the Hungarian census from 1910, the town had 13,455 inhabitants, of which 9,674 were Hungarians, 3,389 Romanians, and 100 Germans.[12]
According to the 2011 Romanian census, there were 47,744 people living within the city. Of this population, 84.7% were ethnic Romanians, while 8.98% were ethnic Hungarians, 6.03% ethnic Roma, and 0.4% others.[13]
At the 2021 census, Turda had a population of 43,319, a decrease of 9.3% from the previous census; of those, 72.46% were Romanians, 5.92% Hungarians, and 4.03% Roma.[14]
