The Turkish Bazaar, Lipova

Lipova (Hungarian: Lippa, German: Lippa, Serbian: Lipova, Turkish: Lipva) is a town in Romania, Arad County, located in the Banat region of western Transylvania. It is situated at a distance of 34 km from the Arad and it consists of two rural settlements called Radna and Şoimoş, its total surface is 134,6 square km.

The first written record of the town dates back to 1314 under the name Lipva. In 1324 the settlement was mentioned as castellanus de Lypua, a place-name that reflects its reinforced character of that time. Situated at the crossing of the roads leading to Transylvania, Banat and Ţara Românească, Lipova had a history full of vicissitudes. It was situated strategically at the Mureş River's exit from the defile, and consequently it was an extremely enviable centre. After the Tartar invasion in 1241 the fortresses were rebuilt, and the lines of the future urban settlement started to get contoured around the castle. Due to the continuous disputes, the town has became two times under Turk administration (between 1552-1595 and between 1613-1716), and starting with 1716 it became under Habsburg domination. In the 18th-19th centuries Lipova was a well-developed economic centre with famous craftsmen working here. In the period of the revolution in 1848-49 and in the beginning of the 20th century Lipova became an important centre of political and national emancipation.

The Turkish Bazaar is perhaps the most important and interesting monument, a true emblem of Lipova. It lasts from the second phase of Ottoman rule (1613-1716), and its construction began in 1637. Its imposing proportions confirm the data in documents about the intense exchange that took place here between merchants coming from the three Romanian countries and from central Europe. The Bazaar, as it survived until today, kept its original shape, with a large facade guarded by eight massive cylindrical pillars connected by arches. In the center of the facade there is a triangular frontispiece, decorated with five ceramic discs with figures, probably added later. Behind the columns there is a wide passage, where merchants, according to Eastern traditions, exposing the merchandise to reach buyers. The rooms of the Bazaar have been transformed and adapted to other requirements during time. Under the Bazaar is a huge basement, originally used for storage.

The Turkish Bazaar is listed in the catalog of the Ottoman monuments in the world and is unique in Romania.

Photos: CiMEc, Wikipedia.

Şoimoş Fortress

The Şoimoş Fortress is situated in the village of Şoimoş, now part of the city of Lipova, Arad County, Western Romania. It was raised on the right bank of Mureş River, on Cioaca Tăutului Hill.


The fortress was built by the end of the 13th century by a noble family. It is assumed that the first owner was Paul, Ban (marquis) of Severin, between 1272-1275, which yields it first to his brother Nicolae, and then to his grandson, Posa, son of his brother Ioan, in 1278. The role of the fortress was already manifested in the situation of the centrifugal movement of Transylvania and Western Hungary, under the authority of Prince Ladislaus Kán II. The prince ruled the fortress by two of his vassals, counts of Arad: Alexandru (in 1310), and Dominic (1311). After 1315, in the time of King Carol Robert of Anjou, it become a royal citadel, associated with the dignities of count or viscount of Arad.


Towards the middle of the 15th century, the fortress was donated successively. In a document drafted in Buda in 1442, it is said that the citadel was initially mortgaged for the sum of 19,000 florins to Ladislau Hagymasi of Bereczko and his family, by King Albert (1439). The faithful of the new king, Vladislav I, took it over (1440), then the king donated it to the Ország family. The two sides agreed on the common rule in 1442. Under unclear circumstances, the Şoimoş Fortress became property of Corvin family (1446). Ion (or Iancu) de Hunedoara had dismissed his opponents giving them other compensations. Some clues have led to the assumption that the time of John Hunyadi the city was rebuilt. The truth is that only since 1453, his rule was formalized by the young King Ladislaus V. Historian Gerö László believes that Italian craftsmen were involved, and Entz Géza has made an association between the frames of gates from Şoimoş, with Deva fortress and the Hippolit tower in Eger (Hungary). Window frames still kept in the city are not belonging to the middle of the 15th century, but are almost 50 years newest.


In the time of King Matthias it was mortgaged again, to Jan Giskra, former commander of the Bohemian Hussites (1462), during which city maintenance was estimated at 1,000 florins a year. Since 1471 it was ruled by Nicolae and Iacob Bánffy, the first being count of Arad. In 1487 it was confiscated by force from Bánffy family, unfaithful to the King. The citadel belonged then to Ioan Corvin, natural son of the King, then came to Gheorghe Hohenzollern de Brandenburg by his marriage with the widow of Ioan, Beatrix of Frangepan. In peacetime, the number of soldiers was only 12. In the citadel lived Hungarians, Germans and Romanians, all in the service of George of Brandenburg; around the fortress were about 95 settlements.


In June 1515, after the conquer of Lipova, the city was besieged by the rebels of Gheorghe Doja. Details of the siege are well known because of the investigation carried out subsequently, after suppressing the peasants' uprising. After defeating the rebels under the walls of Timişoara, the prince of Transylvania, Ioan Zápolya, held the fortifications of the Mureş Valley, and give the citadel into possession to palatine Perenyi. Around the middle of the 16th century, it became the princely residence of the widow of Ioan Zapolya, Izabella. In 1551, the fortress was given to Andrei Báthory, who represented the King Ferdinand of Hapsburg. It was occupied by the Turks in 1552, then released in 1595 by Borbély György, a captain in Ştefan Bathori's army. It was finally gave to the Turks by Prince Gabriel Bethlen, and remained under Turkish occupation by March 26, 1688.


The fortress had a military role in the early 18th century, without being involved in any major military event. It was officially abandoned in 1788 and subject to demolition, but the difficult access and the relative remoteness were the reasons for the stopped destruction. In the 19th century the monument was protected by law and the last repair occurred in the early seventh decade of next century.