Lugoj is a city in Timiș County, Banat, western Romania. The river Timiș divides the city into two halves, the so-called Romanian Lugoj that spreads on the right bank and the German Lugoj on the left bank. The city administers two villages, Măguri and Tapia.
Etymology
In Lugosch; in Lugoš ; in Lugos; in Logoş.
History
Lugoj was once a strongly fortified city that developed along the river Timiș. During the Middle Ages and eighteenth century, it was of greater relative importance than at present. A diploma dated Wednesday 22 August 1376, signed by King Sigismund of Luxemburg, shows that Lugoj city was donated to Losonczy family. At the end of the 14th century, after the Battle of Nicopolis, the Turks crossed the Danube, invading the region of Banat and reached the gates of Lugoj. The city was strengthened with trenches, ramparts and palisades in 1440 by the initiatives of Hunyadi, as a comite of Timis, in order to its defense system. It resisted Ottoman pressures until 1658, when the Prince of Transylvania asked Lugoj and Caransebeș to accept the decision taken by the Diet of Sighișoara to agree to Turkish occupation. After the defeat of the Turks during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Habsburgs went on the offensive and briefly occupied the cities of Lugoj and Lipova. On September 25, 1695 the battle between the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire that took place near Lugoj ended with the defeat of the Austrians. After signing the Treaty of Karlovitz, the region of Banat remained under Ottoman rule for nearly 20 years. The Treaty of Passarowitz was signed and the Turks were expelled. The Habsburg Monarchy wanted to repopulate the Banat, which had emptied following the years of occupation and earlier bubonic plague. The government recruited Germans from Bavaria, Swabia and Alsace-Lorraine, particularly farmers to revive agriculture in the rich floodplain. They traveled down the Danube River on boats to this area. They later took the rafts apart to use to build their first houses. In this area, the first German colonists settled on the left bank of the river Timiș, creating what was called "German Lugoj". The government had offered them the privileges of keeping their German language and religion; most were Roman Catholic. In the 18th century, many public buildings were built in the city, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church "Assumption". In 1778, following the incorporation of Banat into Hungary, Lugoj became the county seat of Caraș. In 1795 the government unified the Romanian Lugoj and the German Lugoj. Eftimie Murgu settled in Lugoj in 1841. In June 1848 he chaired the second National Assembly of Romanians of Banat, where they expressed in postulates the National Order of Romanians during the Revolutionary Movement from Banat, whose center was Lugoj. In the summer of 1842 a great fire took place, in which about 400 houses and important buildings were destroyed. In August 1849 Lugoj was the last seat of the Hungarian revolutionary government. It served as the last refuge of Lajos Kossuth and several other leaders of the Revolution prior to their escape to the Ottoman Empire. Under the imperial resolution of 12 December 1850, Lugoj became the seat of the Greek-Catholic Diocese of Banat. Lugoj was the seat of Krassó-Szörény County from 1881 to 1918. Following the break-up of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, the region of Banat, after a brief period of Serbian occupation came under Romanian administration. Severin County was organized and named, and its seat was located in Lugoj until the temporary abolition of counties in 1950. The Iron Bridge, a symbol of Lugoj, was built in 1902. On November 3, 1918 a Great National Assembly took place in Lugoj. The right of self-determination of the Romanian nation was proclaimed after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I. In modern times, the city was the home town of famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi. It is the seat of the Eparchy of Lugoj in the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic.
