castle is a small Skanzen (museum village), consisting of a few traditional Csíki houses and wooden gates. Across the road from the castle is the city hall built in 1886, originally the county hall of the old Hungarian Csík County. Beside the castle is the 1904 Courthouse. The latest significant addition to the architectural landscape is the controversial 2001 Millennium Church, designed by Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz and located next to the Baroque Church of the Holy Cross. There is a large Romanian Orthodox church (1929-1939) in the city center. The Orthodox Church has Neo-Byzantine characteristics. It was built in the former administrative center of Miercurea Ciuc, the Castle Square. Șumuleu/Csíksomlyó Pentecost Pilgrimage A few kilometres to the east of the city centre is the Franciscan monastery of Șumuleu Ciuc, known in Hungarian as Csíksomlyó. A wooden-sculpture figure of the Virgin Mary, known as the Weeping Mary, can be found in the monastery church, which is the destination of a traditional pilgrimage of Roman Catholic Székely held since 1567, called the "Csíksomlyó Pilgrimage" (Romanian: Pelerinajul de la Sumuleu; Hungarian: Csíksomlyói Búcsú). The event, held on the Saturday before Pentecost, attracts several hundred thousand people every year. The mass for the pilgrims is held on a meadow near the church. This traditional gathering is not only attended by Székely and Csángó Hungarians living in the region, but also by a great number of mostly Hungarian Catholics from other parts of Transylvania region, Hungary and all over the world. Beside its religious importance, the pilgrimage has also become a demonstration of the awareness and solidarity of Catholic Hungarian people living in and outside the historical region of Transylvania. Politics Miercurea Ciuc is a municipality with a mayor–council form of government. The mayor and council members are elected to four-year terms. The present mayor is Attila Korodi from the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ). He was elected in September 2020 with over 73% of the vote. The local council has 19 members with the UDMR holding the majority of the seats: Diplomatic missions Consulate of Hungary Twin towns — sister cities Miercurea Ciuc is twinned with: References External links https://web.archive.org/web/20160814203034/http://regizene.ro/html/2016/en/ Populated places in Harghita County Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Székely communities Localities in Transylvania