During the Communist regime, the Baroque architectural ensemble built in Târgu Mureú in the eighteenth century by the Franciscan Order was erased from the List of Monuments in 1966 and demolished in 1972. The purpose behind this was to clear the way for the erection of a National Theatre and the creation of a new “piazza” that preserved only the nineteenth-century tower of the former church. Our study, based on information gathered from documents in the archives of the National Heritage Institute (NHI), aims at presenting the unfortunate destruction of this monument and the restructuring of the city’s former market square.

Fig. 1. The former Franciscan church in Târgu Mureș, accessed 9 December 2018, https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=17270.

Fig. 2. The interior of the church, view towards the altar, accessed 9 December 2018, https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=17270.

Fig. 3. The southwestern corner of the former Franciscan monastery in 1963. Directorate of Historical Monuments (DHM) Fund.

Fig. 4. First floor layout of the ensemble. Eugenia Greceanu. “Puncte de vedere asupra noțiunii de valorificare a monumentelor și ansamblurilor istorice”. Revista Muzeelor și Monumentelor. Monumente Istorice și de Artă LIX, 1 (1990): 61.

Fig. 5. The First Plan for the Theatre (1965). DHM Fund.

Fig. 6. The northern side of Trandafirilor Square in 1905, accessed 4 December 2018, https://kepeslapok.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/marosvasarhely/#jp-carousel-8533.

Fig. 7. The demolition of the neighbouring house at 9 Trandafirilor Square, accessed 9 December 2018, https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=17270.

Fig. 8. The demolition of Franciscan Church, accessed 9 December 2018, https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=17270.

Fig. 9. The remaining tower of the church, accessed 9 December 2018, https://www.biserici.org/index.php?menu=BI&code=17270.

Fig. 10. View towards the ensemble of the new theatre during the 1980s, accessed 3 December 2018, https://adevarul.ro/locale/targu-mures/galerie-foto-imagini-arhiva-arata-piata-teatrului-targu-mures-placea-mai-reabilitareb-1_50aefc297c42d5a 663a1f47f/index.html.