Turda | ||
---|---|---|
Municipality | ||
Republic Square
|
||
|
||
Location on Romania map | ||
Coordinates: 46°32′00″N 23°52′00″E / 46.53333°N 23.86667°ECoordinates: 46°32′00″N 23°52′00″E / 46.53333°N 23.86667°E | ||
Country | Romania | |
County | Cluj | |
Status | Municipality | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | Tudor Ștefănie (Democratic Party) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 91.43 km2 (35.30 sq mi) | |
Population (2011 census) | ||
• Total | 47,744 | |
• Density | 520/km2 (1,400/sq mi) | |
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | |
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | |
Website | http://www.primturda.ro/ |
Turda (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈturda]; German: Thorenburg; Hungarian: Torda; historical name: Potaissa) is a city and Municipality in Cluj County, Romania, situated on the Arieş River.
There is evidence of human settlement in the area dating to the Middle Paleolithic, some 60,000 years ago. 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.
The name Potaissa is first recorded on a Roman milliarium discovered in 1758 in the nearby Aiton commune.
Milliarium of Aiton is an ancient Roman milestone dating from 108 AD, shortly after the Roman conquest of Dacia, and showing the construction of the road from Potaissa to Napoca, by demand of the Emperor Trajan. It indicates the distance of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) (P.M.X.) to Potaissa. This is the first epigraphical attestation of the settlements of Potaissa and Napoca in Roman Dacia.