Sovata

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Sovata
Szováta

County	Mureş County
Status	Town
Mayor	Ferenc Peter, Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, since 2004
Population (2002)	11,568
Geographical coordinates	46°35′46″N, 25°4′28″E

Sovata (Hungarian: Szováta) is a town in Mureş County, Transylvania, central Romania. As of 2004 the town had a population of 11,568.

[edit] Geography

Sovata is the northernmost settlement of the territory called Sóvídék (Salt Land), situated between the Corund stream and the valley of the Târnava Mică. It can be reached from Târgu-Mureş, Miercurea-Ciuc and Odorheiu Secuiesc on the 13A main road and from Reghin on a connection road.

[edit] History

The first data about Sovata are from 1578. By 1583 it already was a village. Due to its warm-water, salty lakes it became increasingly popular during the next centuries. It gained the status of town in 1952.

[edit] Spa

The geological events in 1875 gave birth to the Bear Lake, which is unique in Europe, its water being helio-thermal and salty, with well-known therapeutic effects (for chronic gynecological symptoms, severe rheumatic pains, peripheral nervous system and post-accidental motor diseases). The therapeutic effects o for chronic gynecological symptoms have earned Sovata a "let's get hopping and breeding" fame, which has become quite legendary.

There are four more salty lakes: Nut Lake, Black Lake, Red Lake and Green Lake. Between the two wars Sovata became one of the most fashionable spas in the country, visited several times even by the Romanian Royal Family.