Székelyudvarhely - Odorheiu Secuiesc Traditional Geocache
Székelyudvarhely - Odorheiu Secuiesc
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Odorheiu Secuiesc, is the Székely center, west of the Mountains of Hargita (Hung. Hargitai havasok).
The cache is in the rock near the Jesus hearth (Jézus szíve) chapel in the end of the street.
Transylvania, is the conserved beauty of former Europe. There are few places on this continent where you can travel and still meet authentic culture like that of the Transylvanians. This land is also caracterized by rough mountains cliffs, mysterious lakes and "virgin" forests. Among theese beauties we can found Odorheiu Secuiesc (Székelyudvarhely). Its environs have been inhabited since ancient times. This fact is proved by the finds which have been excavated in this area, such as stone tools, and pottery from the Neothic era, bronze tools and objects belonging to the early Iron Age. On the place where the ruins of the Székely Támadt fortress can be found today, there was established a Roman castrum (military camp). The fortress built on the Budvár and the pottery finds here belonging to the 11th and 12th c. The Seklers from Udvarhely are first mentioned in the document in 1224. The only monument which remained from this period is the Jesus Chapel, which can be found at the edge of the town on the left side of the road to Segesvár.
Another important factor in the development of the town was the two secondary schools: the first is the Jesuit school which had been functioning since 1593, (the predecessor of the today's Tamási Áron high-school). The second was the Reformed College which was founded in 1670, (the today's Benedek Elek Teachers' Training School). At the beginning of the 18th c. the town was tried by the wars and by a devastating plague, but after all these its economy recovered again. This is reflected by the Baroque monuments which were built: between 1712 and 1779 the Franciscan Church and Nunnery, the Reformed Church ( 1780 - 1781) and the Catholic Church (1787-1793).
The revolution from 1848-49 and the following totalitarian regime restrain the development of the town but around the 60's of the XIX century we can witness the advance of the embourgeoisement and urbanization. The increasing cultural demands of the merchants and craftsmen are satisfied by different cultural societies and clubs. The school network is enlarged. In that the age of dualism represented the most dynamic period in the development of Odorheiu Secuiesc which determined the today's look of the downtown.
After the World War II came the socialist regime, a period of contradictions. The population of the town increases, it is four times larger. The villages become depopulated. The people from the countryside are moved to town where they become proletarians but they can not adjust themselves to the requirements of a town life. The large-scale industry was born. But most of them haven't been able to face the conditions of the free competition of our decade. All these represent our inheritance of several centuries which makes us hope that hardships of the transition period will pass, and Székelyudvarhely will become again a flourishing settlement, where the patina of the past and the economic prosperity will be in harmony.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre gur ovt fgbar arne gur cngu