Climate

The climate is temperate continental, with weak Mediterranean influences. It is manifested by milder winters and summers that are not excessively hot, the average annual temperature being 10.8 °C (51.4 °F), and the average multiannual rainfall being 536.3 mm (21.11 in).^[5]

From Morisena to Cenad

Cenad was known until the 13th century as Morisena. The legionary camp of the Legio XIII Gemina was located there. In the Middle Ages, the site was a temporary capital for Huns and then for Avars. It was subsequently ruled by the First Bulgarian Empire, prior to the Hungarian conquest. At the beginning of Stephen I's reign, the first King of Hungary, Ahtum had his residence here, who brought architects from Greece to build a church, a monastery and a palace.^[6] Being a pagan, his rulership was marked by several abuses against the local population, which is why Stephen I decided to send against him Chanadinus, a relative of the king and a former friend of Ahtum, Christianized at Esztergom. Chanadinus defeated and killed Ahtum, occupying his realm.^[7] As a reward, the king establishes a new county bearing Chanadinus' name and having its seat at Morisena, which also receives the status of royal fortress.

In 1030 the king established a diocese led by Gerard, bishop of Venice, who would become a saint of the Catholic Church.^[6] He built a church and established a monastery dedicated to the Mother of God. On this occasion he brought Italian engineers, who settled here and built on the site of the old fortress of Morisena the fortress of Cenad.^[8]

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Cenad was quite important in the Kingdom of Hungary. As proof are the visits that different kings made here over time: Ladislaus IV in 1278, Charles I in 1322, Louis I in 1366, Sigismund several times between 1394–1436 and Ladislaus V in 1459. John Hunyadi was at one time prefect of Csanád County.

Cenad was attacked and destroyed during the great Tatar invasion of 1241. It was later rebuilt by Bishop Bulcsú Lád. Cenad was the initial seat of the homonymous county, until 1526. It was part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom between 1526 and 1551, before the Ottoman conquest. It was the center of the Sanjak of Çanad between 1551 and 1595 and again between 1598 and 1707. From 1707 to 1716, it was a kaza center within the Sanjak of Temeşvar in the Eyalet of Temeşvar. Ottoman rule there was interrupted when the area was occupied by the Principality of Transylvania between 1595 and 1598, and ended with the Austrian conquest in 1716.

18th–20th centuries

After the defeat of the Turks by the Austrians, among the conditions of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 was the demolition of the fortresses in Banat, as was the case of Cenad. The actual demolition took place under the coordination of General Oettingen. At that time, Cenad was inhabited mostly by Serbs. Under the Austrians, colonizations with Germans began, and the first wave settled here in 1764–1765. For this reason, a new locality is practically established, "German Cenad" (or "Old Cenad"), unlike "Great Cenad" (or "Rascian Cenad"), which was inhabited by Serbs. The two settlements later merged into a single entity.

In 1779, Csanád County was abolished and the commune became part of Torontál County. In 1858 it became the property of the Aromanian family Nakó, who also built a castle here. Cenad was occupied by Serbian troops in 1918 and finally passed to Romania after the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.