Târgu Neamț (; german: Niamtz, hu, Németvásár, he, נאמץ טרגו, la, Ante Castrum Nempch) is a town in

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,76 ...

Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the Pr ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered by the town: Blebea, Humulești, and Humuleștii Noi.

History

Originally a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

, hence its name (in Romanian "

târg A târg was a medieval Romanian periodic fair or a market town. Originally established on the places where periodic fairs were held, some of them (but not all) became permanent settlements, as craftsmen built their workshops near the place where th ...

" = '' market''), it had an important role in Moldavian culture. It was first mentioned in a late-14th century document. The name '' neamț'' is a generic name of Slavic origin for the German people in the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

. This has led to speculation of a German foundation of Târgu Neamț, according to which

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

colonists crossed the Carpathians from the Bistrița area and built a commercial township. Some Romanian historians, including

Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu ( 26 February 1838 – ) was a Romanian writer and philologist, who pioneered many branches of Romanian philology and history. Life He was born Tadeu Hâjdeu in Cristineștii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi O ...

consider that Târgu Neamț was probably a German settlement from the 13th century, when the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

made incursions from Transylvania against the Cumanic peoples that were living in Moldavia. Nowadays, historians disagree with this possibility mostly because of the long-lasting influences of the communist-nationalistic historiography which refused to accept the town was anything else than a Romanian-founded settlement.

Access

The town is located at the crossing of two

national roads National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and

. The planned East-West Motorway will bypass the town on its south when completed, providing access to Iași (to the east) and

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, th ...

to the west. The railroad station is the terminus station of CFR Line 517 linking it to Pașcani via an electrified railway.

Tourism and attractions

* The

Neamț Fortress Neamț may refer to the following places in Romania: *Neamț County, an administrative division *Neamț Mountains *Neamț Citadel, a fortress near Târgu Neamț, Neamț County *Piatra Neamț, the capital city of Neamț County *Târgu Neamț, a town ...

(''Cetatea Neamțului'') was built in the 14th century by Voivode Petru I (possibly on the ruins of a smaller Teutonic castle), and is located on the north bank of the Neamț River. * Târgu Neamț is an appropriate starting point for trips to the monasteries in the region, located all on an average radius:

Neamț Monastery The Neamț Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Neamț) is a Romanian Orthodox religious settlement, one of the oldest and most important of its kind in Romania. It was built in the 15th century, and it is an example of medieval Moldavian architecture. ...

, , Agapia Monastery, Văratec Monastery, , and . It is close to the Ceahlău Massif, Durău, and the Bistrița Valley. * Ion Creangă memorial house in Humulești, across the Ozana river: This is the house where the famous Romanian writer was born and where he spent his childhood. The stories from Ion Creangă's masterpiece, ''Amintiri din copilărie'' ("Memories of my childhood"), revolve around Humulești, Târgu Neamț, and the surrounding villages. * ''Monumentul Eroilor'' (Heroes' Monument): an obelisk that commemorates the Romanian soldiers who fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

is found on Pleșu Hill, near the Pometea suburb. It commands views of the town and the surrounding mountains. * The Vânători-Neamț Natural Park, housing a herd of

wisent The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...

, the European bisons that once roamed the Eastern Carpathians. * The Nicolae Popa ethnographic museum în Târpești.

Natives

* Dumitru Botez * Constantin Cojocariu * Ana Conta-Kernbach * * * Ion Creangă * * * Emanoil Dumitrescu * * Moshe Idel * Irving Layton * Gabriela Mihalschi * Mariana Simionescu *

Valentin Ursache Valentin Niculae Ursache (born 12 August 1985 in Târgu Neamt) is a Romanian former rugby union player. Ursache played in Romania for Contor Zenner Arad, Steaua Bucharest and CSM Baia Mare. He also played in France for Pays d'Aix RC and Oyonna ...

Gallery

File:Neamt.citadel1.cristibur.jpg, Neamț Citadel, located on Pleșu Hill File:TgNeamtViewFromCitadelSeptember22 2009.jpg, View from Citadel File:Neamt monastery 1.cristibur.jpg,

, located 10 km west of Târgu Neamț File:Cetate 20CahleTeracotass.png, Image discovered from the stove's remains in Neamț Fortress, showing Zubr/

Aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene ...

the coat of arms of Moldova

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Targu Neamt Populated places in Neamț County Shtetls 13th-century establishments in Romania Towns in Romania Localities in Western Moldavia Monotowns in Romania