It is the second largest university center in Romania. Some of these hills have conspicuous churches perched on top, each of which warrants a different view of the city. MEdieval churches, old European style houses and communist apartment buildings compete for space in this crowded city, which is constantly expanding into the surrounding villages; the urban rush of communism replaced houses, farms and vineyards with apartment buildings.
The land was confiscated from the peasants and they received apartments as compensation in the newly created common living spots. Factories sprung around the intensive urban effort, organized together in the industrial zone, only to be abandoned two generations later with the fall of the regime which gave them and the nation purpose.
The children of those who left the countryside to move to the city now strive to build houses on the outskirting villages, although they drive hondas and not horses.
They are not peasants. They wear jeans and French perfume, but they plant grapes and onions and have begun to enjoy the freedoms of having a house like their grandparents had but their parents moved away from. Tourism in the city takes place around its heritage of archaeological sites, memorial houses, museums and historical and architectural monuments.
Moreover, the folkloric and ethnographic heritage, the nature protection areas, and natural mineral waters as well as the vineyards in the surrounding countryside remain to be discovered.
