Oradea (UK: /ɒˈrɑːdiə/, US: /ɔːˈr-, -djɑː/,[5][6][7] Romanian: [oˈrade̯a]; Hungarian: Nagyvárad [ˈnɒɟvaːrɒd]; German: Großwardein [ˌɡʁoːsvaʁˈdaɪn]) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region.

After the conquest of Dacia, the Romans built in the area, most notably in the Salca district of the city and Băile Felix.

According to Anonymus, Menumorut's duchy was populated primarily by Khazars and Székelys, and he acknowledged the suzerainty of the (unnamed) Byzantine Emperor of the time.

From that epoch dates also the Hermes reliquary, now preserved at Győr, containing the skull of St. Ladislaus, a masterpiece of the Hungarian goldsmith's art.

It was at this time that astronomer Georg von Peuerbach wrote his Tabula Varadiensis, published posthumously in 1464, which marked the city's Observatory of Varadinum as the terrestrial point of reference and prime meridian.

The city was severely damaged, but the king later resettled it with inhabitants from other parts of Hungary whom he exempted from taxes, a policy retained by Ferdinand I in 1553.

[22] The Peace of Várad was concluded between Emperor Ferdinand I and John Zápolya here on 4 February 1538, in which they mutually recognized each other as legitimate monarchs.

After the 1570 Treaty of Speyer, parts of Crișana, including Oradea, were incorporated into the newly formed Principality of Transylvania, a successor to the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.

After the Transylvanian Prince Gyorgy Rakoczi II's failed attempt to gain the throne of Poland, the Ottomans sent yet another punitive expedition against him and his Wallachian and Moldavian allies, Gheorghe Ștefan and Constantin Șerban.

The 850 defenders managed to hold out for 46 days, but eventually, the city fell on 27 August due to internal treachery.

The Second Vienna Award brokered by Hitler and Mussolini in 1940 allowed Hungary to recover Northern Transylvania including Oradea, and mass celebrations welcomed the Hungarian administration.

[24] On 12 October 1944, Oradea was captured by Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during the Battle of Debrecen, and reverted to Romanian administration in March 1945.

After World War II, Hungary had to relinquish claims to the city under the Treaty of Paris concluded on 10 February 1947.

After the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, many of the city's inhabitants looked forward to a more prosperous future as part of Romania's reforms toward democracy and a free market economy.

In 1944, twenty-five thousand Oradean Jews were deported to concentration camps by the Nazis, thus decimating this vital community.

In the center of the city, on the river bank and towering over other buildings in the area, is the large Neolog Temple Synagogue built in 1878.

[29]In 1944, during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany, Hungarian authorities forced the Jewish inhabitants into the Oradea ghetto before sending them to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Descendants of the pre-Holocaust Hasidic rabbinate in Oradea established a synagogue in the Willowbrook area of Staten Island, New York City.

[33] After 1989, due to its base of consumers, Oradea experienced an economic renewal, mostly in the services sector such as trade and tourism.

Oradea's economy is sustained largely by small and medium businesses and the property taxes paid by citizens.

In the fiscal year 2012, Oradea had the largest budget in the Transylvania region, overcoming its neighbour cities, Arad and Cluj-Napoca.

Oradea is using geothermal electricity from water two kilometers below ground, which provides 7% of the energy for its district heating system.

In 1999, the school became entirely independent from the Protestant Theology College of Cluj-Napoca and changed its name to Partium Christian University.

By its independence and personality, Oradea has a place among the large great European families of the firmly contoured 1900 Art, especially regarding the area between the Citadel and the Main Railway Station.

These great architects brought in Nagyvárad (Oradea) the influence of Vienna and Budapest through their work, featuring a new style, different from the academic ones, thus creating the premises of a stylistic diversification based on inventions and originality.Like many European cities, "Small Paris", as Oradea was named at the beginning of the last century, has a belle-époque charm given by its Secession, eclectic, New-Romanian, Neoclassic and Baroque architecture.

Not impressing by size or opulence, the buildings of Oradea have an aura of welfare, refinement and quality that imprints on the memory.

A coherent style is evident in many of the city's structures, characterized by features such as stucco moldings, statues, medallions, ironwork, stained-glass, and colored glass.

The distinctive architecture of Oradea reflects the cultural influences of its diverse ethnic history, resulting in a rich shared heritage.

CA Oradea is one of only three football clubs who played and won national championships in three countries (the other two are SK Rapid Wien and Derry City).

Many important footballers were born in Oradea over time, such as: Iuliu Baratky, Cosmin Bărcăuan, Elemér Berkessy, Zeno Bundea, Zoltan Crișan, Claudiu Keșerü, Attila Kun, Erik Lincar, Marius Popa, Paul Popovici, Francisc Spielmann, Albert Ströck, and Ion Zare.