The 18th century is for Tîrgu-Mureș a period of reorganization and re-dimensioning of the urban space. Stimulated by the administrative take-over by the Hapsburg Empire, the aspect of the town enhanced over time.  In order to consolidate its hegemony in Transylvania, the Austrian Empire appealed to subtle methods such as cultivating a certain architectural style that would become a distinctive sign of the Hapsburgs in urban Transylvanian centers. The chosen trend was the central European Baroque, first applied to public buildings and later used by local noblemen in building modern and comfortable residences. One of the priorities of the Court of Vienna was to establish schools to educate noblemen”™s children to be loyal to the Empire. In Tîrgu-Mureș such a school was established by Jesuit monks in 1705, a few years after their arrival in the city. At first, the school functioned in the house of nobleman Boer Simion, while later, in 1732, with the help of substantial donations, construction works were started for a building dedicated exclusively to teaching activities. The building on the corner of Calarașilor street and Trandafirilor Square, known as the House on Arches, acquired its final form during several centuries, by the gradual expansion of a house facing Trandafirilor Square and further remodeling works - the last one performed between 1985 and 1986. In 1772, the ground floor and first floor were erected on a length of 56.55 meters and the archway gallery was built to serve as a covered pedestrian passage. Empress Maria Tereza herself donated funds to the school, as certified by the marble plaque on the façade of the building. Between 1787 and 1792 the school ceased to function here as the building was turned into headquarters for the Austrian military. The top floor of the building was erected after 1870, and the archway gallery was closed in order to reinforce the ground floor. After the school was moved to the new building on Mihai Viteazu street in 1905, the spaces of the first and second floors were turned into living quarters, whereas the ground floor was adapted for commercial activities. The space was compartmentalized accordingly and could be entered directly from the street. The covering of the rooms differs according to the building period. Thus, the rooms on the ground floor are covered with arched ceilings with double arcs or semi-cylindrical arched ceilings with penetrations, typical for the 18th century, while the rooms added in the 19th century have flat ceilings. Even though it was built in several stages, the House on Arches has a compact and unitary appearance. The openings in large semicircular arches are framed by simple-capped pilasters. The façade of the two floors follows the structure of the ground floor, thus forming eight vertical registers with one or two windows each. The house still serves the same purpose as it did at the beginning of the century when the school moved to a different location.

Bibliography: 

Ioan Eugen Man, Tîrgu-Mureș, istorie urbană de la începuturi până în 1850,Tîrgu-Mureș, Ed. Nico, 2006, pp.222-224.

Keresztes Gyula, Marosvásárhely régi épületei, Marosvásárhely, Difprescar, 1998, pp.101-102.

Orbán Balázs, A Székelyföld, leirása, Pest, IV, Ráth Mór Kiadása, 1870, (volume republished in1991), p. 150.

Grigore Ionescu, Istoria arhitecturii în România, vol. II, București, Ed. A.R.S.R., 1965, p. 235.