Румыниядағы Лугож қаласы: тарих, география және мәдениеті

Lugoj (; Lugos; Lugosch; ; ; Logoş) is a city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River 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.

The origin of the toponym Lugoj has generated a series of controversies over time. ro claims that it derives from the Latin word "lucus" (grove, small forest). Iorgu Iordan, in his Romanian toponymy, accepts the origin of the name from the Slavic prefix "lug " or "luh " (swamp forest) and the Hungarian suffix " os". However, linguist Simion Dănilă claims that the name of the city has its origin in the word "logos", a Banat doublet for "rogoz" (sedge, a hydrophilous plant). All these hypotheses refer to the swampy areas that once surrounded the city.

Lugoj is located in southwestern Romania, in Timiș County, in the historical region of Banat and consists of the town of Lugoj and the villages of Măguri and Tapia. Within Timiș County, Lugoj is located in its central eastern part. According to the National Territorial Planning Scheme, Lugoj is a second tier locality – municipality of county and zonal importance at county level, secondary pole at county level, with a balancing role in the network of localities. It is the second largest and most important city in Timiș County, being part of the Western Development Region and the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Lugoj covers an area of 98.03 km2, of which 20.35 km2 in the build up area and 77.68 km2 outside the build up area. It borders Boldur to the west, Darova to the southwest, Victor Vlad Delamarina to the south, Gavojdia to the southeast, Criciova and Bârna to the east and Coșteiu to the north northwest.

The territory of Lugoj belongs to the high plain of Lugoj and the hills of Lugoj. Located in the contact area of these units, the city developed on the lower terrace of the Timiș River, on both its banks. The relief unit in which Lugoj is located is the Lugoj Plain, which penetrates deep into the piedmont hills. The average altitude of the area is .

At the end of the 18th century, Lugoj was recorded as an important viticultural center, with 90% of the population owning vineyards. During this period, the population was engaged in agriculture, viticulture, animal husbandry and crafts. An important moment in the history of Lugoj is the formation of guilds towards the end of the 18th century, marking the transition to the future industrial system. The first industrial activities present in Lugoj were: milling (Elisabeth Imperial Mill, 1722), cloth manufacturing, blanket manufacturing, silk processing and brewing. Mozart, Haydn and Schubert's masses and other sacred music works were performed here while they were still alive. The Minorite Church was the culture bearer of the city. The oldest piano school in Banat also comes from Lugoj, founded in 1760 by a monk from the Minorite Church. The monks themselves dealt with church music, piano lessons and organ building. The Ion Vidu Municipal Choir has existed since 1810; in 1852 another choral society was founded under the direction of composer de – Lugoscher Gesang und Musikverein/Lugosi Dal és Zeneegylet. The cultural life of Lugoj has been enriched over the years with the activity carried out by the Chamber Music Society (1869) and the Philharmonic Orchestra (1926).

The first theater performance in Lugoj took place on 10 May 1841 and was a school theater performance staged by students from the local gymnasium. In January and February 1847, the Romanian Society of Theatrical Singers, under the direction of Iosif Farcaș, made up of several professional actors, presented the first performances in Romanian on the stage of the Lugoj Theater. The current theater in Lugoj, named after tenor Traian Grozăvescu, was built between 1899 and 1900. The initiative to build the current Traian Grozăvescu Theater was made by Imre Jakabffy, count of Krassó Szörény, who, after managing to get the land for the new theater, mobilized the local population who donated 24,000 kroner to build the theater. During the interwar period, in Lugoj, several amateur theater societies were active: Thalia Romanian Theater Association, Banat Academic Circle, Musical Theater Society, which carried out a fruitful activity to promote the Romanian classical repertoire. It is worth mentioning that the Thalia Romanian Theater Association also took care of editing some collections of plays in one act, printing and disseminating, within ten years, almost 300 works.