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Arad is situated at an altitude of 116 m on the Mureș river in the historical Crișana region (Hungarian: Kórósvidék; German: Kreischgebiet), Transylvania, in western Romania. Arad is the capital city of Arad County and has a population of about 167,000 (2007). According to the 2002 census, the ethnic breakdown of the city was as follows: Romanians (82.7%), Hungarians (13.0%), Roma (1.7%), Germans (1.3%), and other nationalities (1.2%).

Arad was first mentioned in documents in the 11th century. After the Mongol invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1241 stone fortresses were built at Soimos (Solymos), Siria (Világos) and Dezna (Dézna). The Ottoman Empire conquered the region from Hungary in 1551 and kept it until the Peace of Karlowitz (today Sremski Karlovci, Serbia) of 1699. She was also an eyalet center, which compromised sanjaks of Varad (Arad), Logoș, Kacaș, Beșlek and Yanova since 1660 until 1697, when she was captured by Austrians during the Ottoman-Habsburg wars (1683–1699). After 1699, the city was ruled by the Habsburg Monarchy. According to 1720 data, the population of the city was composed of 177 German families, 162 Serbian, and 35 Hungarian. The new fortress was built between 1763 and 1783. Although it was small, it proved formidable having played a great role in the Hungarian struggle for independence in 1849. Bravely defended by the Austrian general Berger until the end of July 1849, it was captured by the Hungarian rebels, who made it their headquarters during the latter part of the revolution. It was from Arad that Lajos Kossuth issued his famous proclamation (11 August 1849), and where he handed over the supreme military and civil power to Artúr Görgey. The fortress was recaptured shortly after the surrender of Görgey to the Russians at Șiria (Világos). Thirteen rebel generals were executed there on 6 October 1849, by order of the Austrian general Julius Jacob von Haynau. These men are known collectively as the "13 Martyrs of Arad", and since then Arad is considered the "Hungarian Golgotha". Arad enjoyed a great economic development. In 1834 it was declared a "free royal town" by Emperor Franz I of Austria.
[Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arad,_Romania]

The picture on glass no.2490 shows a view of Péter Atzél Street (labelled in Hungarian Atzél Péter utca), which was named for a former mayor of Arad.

The church depicted in the background is the church of the Minorite Monks (Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua), built in 1902–1904 in Renaissance revival style after the plans of architect Emil Tabacovics. The Greek-Catholic Church had settled in Arad around 1770 and from 1776 on had its first house of worship. In 1948, the communist regime abolished the Greek-Catholic Church and the ownership of the churches passed to the Orthodox cult. In 1991 the Greek-Catholic parish was restored.