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| Sfântu Gheorghe Sepsiszentgyörgy |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country |  Romania |
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| County | Covasna County |
| Status | County capital |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Antal Árpád (from Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania) |
| Population (2002) | |
| - Total | 61,543 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Website: http://www.sfantugheorghe.ro/ | |
Sfântu Gheorghe (also spelled Sfîntu Gheorghe in Romanian) or Sepsiszentgyörgy (in Hungarian; Yiddish: סנט דשזארדזש) is a municipality and city in the central Romanian region of Transylvania. It lies on the Olt River in a valley between the Baraolt and Bodoc Mountains. Sfântu Gheorghe is the capital of Covasna County. The villages of Chilieni / Kilyén and Coşeni / Szotyor are also administratively part of Sfântu Gheorghe Municipality.
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Demographics
The majority of the city's inhabitants are Székely Hungarians. In the census of 2002, 46,178 (75%) of the city's 61,543 inhabitants classed themselves as ethnic Hungarians, 14,178 (23%) as Romanians, 932 as ethnic Roma, and 255 as "others."
History
Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the oldest cities in Transylvania, the settlement first having been documented in 1332. The city takes it name from Saint George, the patron of the local church. Historically it was also known in German as Sankt Georgen. The Sepsi prefix denotes the origins of the local Szekler population which has its roots in the region of Sebeş in Western Transylvania's (Alba county, Fehér or Alsó-Fehér in Hungarian), where a town with a similar name Sebiş in Romanian or Szászsebes in Hungarian,is located. The town Sebiş became inhabited later mostly by Transylvanian Saxons which had called it Mühlbach.
While part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the city was the economic and administrative center of the Hungarian county of Háromszék, which spanned the present-day Covasna county and parts of Braşov county. In the second half of the 19th century, Sepsiszentgyörgy witnessed the development of light industry, namely a textile and a cigarette factory was built. It became part of the Kingdom of Romania following the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, after the end of World War I. After the Second Vienna Award in 1940 the city came under Hungarian control for 4 years. At the end of the Second World War the Paris Peace Treaties reaffirmed the city and the entire Transylvania as a Romanian territory. From 1952 it was the southernmost town of the Hungarian Autonomous Province, abolished finally in 1968 when Romania was reorganised based on counties rather than regions.
Sfântu Gheorghe is one of the centres for the Székely people in the region known to them as Székelyföld, and is home to the Székely National Museum. The city hosts two market fairs each year.
Sights
- Fortified Church (Romanian: Biserică Fortificată; Hungarian: Vártemplom) - constructed in the 14th century in the Gothic style
- State Archive, the former headquarters of the Hussar battalions
- County library constructed in 1832 as the seat of the county council
- Theater used from 1854–1866 as the city hall
- The market bazaar built in 1868, with a clock tower built in 1893
Economy
The predominant industry in the city is the textile industry.
Sports
Sfantu Gheorghe has a women basketball team called: CSS Liceul Mikes Kelemen Sfantu Gheorghe. In the 2007/2008 season the team has finished in the 2nd place in the Regular Season, and the lost the Final againts BC ICIM Arad, but they win the Romanian Cup. In the 2008/2009 season the team play in the FIBA EuroCup Women.
Sfantu Gheorghe has also a futsal team in the Romanian First Division. The team is: Spicom Sfantu Gheorghe.
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