Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely in Hungarian) served several times throughout the centuries as the seat of the Diet (Council) of Transylvania. Several princes of Transylvania were elected here.

In the early twentieth century, Bernady György, the city's young mayor, invited avant-garde Hungarian artists to reshape the city center. The central district around Piata Trandafirilor (Rose Square) is exceptionally pleasant. The Palace of Culture, inaugurated in 1913, is an emblematic building of Transylvanian Secession.