Турда қаласының тарихы мен географиясы

Turda (; Torda, ; link=no; Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj Napoca, to which it is connected by the European route E81, and from nearby Câmpia Turzii. The city consists of four neighborhoods: Turda Veche, Turda Nouă, Oprișani and Poiana. It is traversed from west to east by the Arieș River and north to south by its tributary, Valea Racilor.

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. The legionary fortress established as the basecamp of the Legio V Macedonica from 166 to 274 was named Potaissa too. The city became a municipium, then a colonia. The Potaissa salt mines were worked in the area since prehistoric times. From the reign of Gordian III (238–244) numerous treasures were excavated from Turda, Țaga, Viișoara, and Mărtinești, showing that in this time the defense was breaking under the Carps, Goths, Gepids, and Vandals. Objects dated to post Aurelian retreat found at the site (for example an inscribed onyx gem depicting the Good Shepherd, and silver coins of Diocletian) together with a large burial containing sarcophagi and a cremation stone box point at continuous habitation until the early fifth century. The situation changes in the next two centuries when dwellings and cemeteries superpose the Roman site, in a similar manner to Apulum and Sirmium. After conquering the place, the Huns settled down near. From this time three solidus were found from graves. Burying with coins was a Gepid tradition not typical of the Huns, meaning that they settled their vassals in Transylvania too. Saxons settled in the area in the 12th century. Much of the town was destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1241–1242, however most of its inhabitants survived by hiding in the cave system. King Stephen V ensured its quick revival by giving privileges. In 1944, the Battle of Turda took place here, between German and Hungarian forces on one side and Soviet and Romanian forces on the other. It was the largest battle fought in Transylvania during World War II. From the late 1950s, Turda became a rather important industrial centre, housing factories for chemical, electrotechnical ceramics, cement, glass and steel cables. The nearby Câmpia Turzii town hosted a siderurgy (steel) plant. The city centre of Turda saw redevelopment in the late 1980s, including a House of Culture that hasn't been finished up to this date. Many houses in the historic center were demolished to create space for apartment buildings. The town's role of an industrial powerhouse has diminished from the 1990s onwards, but tourist attractions have kept the city in a good state up to today.

Turda has a continental climate, characterised by warm dry summers and cold winters. The climate is influenced by the city's proximity to the Apuseni Mountains, as well as by urbanisation. Some West Atlantic influences are present during winter and autumn. Winter temperatures are often below , even though they rarely drop below On average, snow covers the ground for 65 days each winter. In July and August, the average temperature is approximately , despite the fact that temperatures sometimes reach in mid summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation and humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy and often violent storms. During spring and autumn, temperatures vary between , and precipitation during this time tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.

According to the Hungarian census from year 1910, from 13,455 inhabitants, 9,674 were Hungarians, 3,389 Romanians, and 100 Germans. According to the 2011 Romanian census, there were 47,744 people living within the city. Of this population, 84.7% were ethnic Romanians, while 8.98% were ethnic Hungarians, 6.03% ethnic Roma, and 0.4% others. At the 2021 census, Turda had a population of 43,319, a decrease of 9.3% from the previous census.