Now that you decided to come to AWAKE, we have to tell you the truth. It’s not only about the festival experience, about dancing until the sun rises or making new friends while having the time of your life. AWAKE is also about the fabulous Mureș county, Târgu Mureș and all the magical places filled with history and good juju. Multicultural festival asks for multicultural places. 

We partnered with Visit Mures, a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Mureș County as a tourist destination, to give you a shortlist of places you can’t miss. Check them below, make sure you download Visit Mureș mobile app and enjoy discovering a gem!

You’ll enter for free, based on your AWAKE bracelet, all thanks to Mureș Museum, at:

• The Palace of Culture

The city’s most famous building, known as Palatul Culturii or Kultúrpalota, was built between 1911-1913 to be used as a multipurpose center for cultural activities. Perhaps the most celebrated room of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors. The long hallway is covered on one side with colorful, detailed stained glass work depicting regional folklore and tales. The palace also houses an art museum and the Concert hall is usually open for tourists also, you even might hear the orchestra rehearsing. 

Address: Piata Victoriei nr. 1, Targu-Mures

Visiting Hours: 
Tuesday-Friday: 9.00-17.30
Saturday-Sunday: 9.00-15.30
Closed on Mondays and legal holidays.
The ticket office closes at 5.30pm and 3.30pm respectively.

• Toldalagi Palace (Museum of Ethnography and Traditional Art)

It is one of the most important monuments in the city, dating back to the 18th century. This is the first palace built by a noble family in Târgu Mureș. In 2016 the palace gets back its original look after a long period of renovation and restoration. Downstairs you can visit traditional room interiors from the Târnava valley, also a temporary archeological exhibition, an aerial view about the Trenches of the Great War. On the first floor, a part of the history of Târgu Mureș is represented by an exhibition called ‘Mureș Fairs and the Rural World’.

Address: Piata Trandafirilor, 11, Targu-Mures

Visiting Hours:
Tuesday – Friday: 9-16
Saturday: 9-14
Sunday: 9- 13
Closed on Mondays & legal holidays.

• Archaeology Museum

The citadel in Targu Mures was built during the 17th century. Inside the walls, you’ll find the 7 bastions and the Fortress Church, the oldest church in Targu-Mures, which was built in the 14th century, now under restoration. The citadel is also home to the Archaeology Museum, located in one of the sections of the citadel, where you can visit the exhibition “From the rock to the stone ax. From the forest to the desert. Human impact on prehistoric climate change: the history of a tool.”

Address: Street Avram Iancu / Bd. Fortress, Targu Mures

Visiting Hours:
Tuesday – Friday: 9-16
Saturday: 9-14
Sunday: 9- 13
Closed on Mondays & legal holidays.

Photo credits: Mureș Museum

Teleki Library

also known as Teleki-Bolyai Library and Bibliotheca Telekiana, is one of the richest Transylvanian collections of cultural artifacts. It was founded by the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki in 1802, at the time when Transylvania was part of the Habsburg Monarchy, and has been open to the reading public ever since. It was among the first institutions of its kind in the Kingdom of Hungary.

It houses over 200,000 volumes, of which many are rarities, constituting a comprehensive scientific database. The book collection is divided into several smaller libraries, of which the two main donations are the original 40,000-volume Teleki Library and the 80,000-volume Bolyai Library; the rest, grouped as the Miscellaneous Collection, is made up of several private libraries, volumes previously held by religious schools and those of a Franciscan monastery. Overall, the library constitutes a collection of most traditional types of Transylvanian book.

Visiting Hours:
Tuesday-Friday: 10.00-18.00
Saturday: 10.00-16.00
Closed on Mondays & legal holidays.

Legendary places

Read all about local legends and myths, then get to know the places they emerged from. 

• Beat lake – Sovata
• God’s chair – Calimani mountains 
• Polenta Hill – Sângeogiu de pădure
• Danger Hill – Bekecs Hill 
• Kate’s well – Măgherani

Discover them all on visit-mures.ro!

Castles 

Into fairytales much? Mureș has over 10 marvelous and perfectly preserved castles. One of them you’ll get to know very well. Teleki Castle is the heart of Teleki Estate, home of AWAKE Festival since the very first edition, in 2017. 

The complete list of the 12 Mureș Castles on visit-mures.ro.

Cycling, Hiking & Trails

Mureș and its picturesque surroundings are a delight for any cyclist, no matter how he or she chooses to practice this hobby. The Cornești Plateau and its forest offer numerous marked trails for mountain biking, here being the place where a 24-hour race takes place, but also one of the stages of the National Cyclocross League.

If you’re fit and adventurous, get to Miercurea Nirajlui, we recommend the road to Câmpul Cetății, which will take you through a typical Transylvanian landscape. On your way back to the city feel the interbelic cycling flavor on the stone-paved streets that still cover what the locals call the “Old Serpentine”.

Visit-mures.ro has all the hiking & trails info you need to embark on an endorphin-raising experience.

Photo credits: Roxana Radu, Marc Sandu