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Timișoara is an exciting city in western Romania with an interesting history and many fine sights. The city is the economic and cultural center of this part of Romania, and it is not without reason that Timișoara has been chosen as European City of Culture in 2023.
Over time, many cultures have left their mark on Timișoara, which today lies on the border between Romania, Serbia and Hungary. Throughout history, the city has, among other things, having been conquered by the Turkish Ottomans and later liberated by Habsburg Austria, before Timișoara came under Austria-Hungary until the union with Romania after World War I.
There are many sights in Timișoara, and these date from the 18th century to the present day. The Habsburgs came to power in 1716, and they established the city as a mighty fortress with a right-angled street grid and large squares, and this can still be seen today, with the Habsburg lines dominating the center.
Among the most famous sights are Timișoara’s three cathedrals, which are respectively Romanian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox and Catholic. You can also sail by water bus on the river Bega, and there are several interesting museums such as the city’s art museum and the Banat Village Museum, where you can experience the region’s old village life.
Piața Victoriei is the central square of Timișoara. Until 1990, the place was called Operapladen/Piața Operei, but after the events that took place here at the end of 1989, the name was changed. It was in Piața Operei that the city of Timișoara proclaimed itself free from the then socialism on December 20, 1989, and the place thereby marked the start of the Romanian revolution.
Piața Victoriei is a square that stretches between the city’s opera house in the north and the Orthodox cathedral in the south. The eastern side of the square is called Surogat, while the western side is called Corso. Along both stretches there are a number of buildings worth seeing that form the framework of the beautiful square.
The wide square was built from the beginning of the 20th century, which happened after Emperor Franz Joseph I’s decision in 1892 to revoke Timișoara’s status as a fort. The fortifications were demolished from 1899, and buildings were erected around the street, which was initially called Bulevardi Regele Ferdinand, from 1910. Lloyd Palæ/Palatul Lloyd was completed as the first house in 1912.
The western side of the square was quickly completed thereafter, and this side was almost finished before World War I, while only the Löffler Palæ/Palatul Löffler was completed on the opposite side; Surrogate. For many years the site was a boulevard with car and tram traffic, but the construction of the Orthodox cathedral 1936-1946 turned the boulevard into a square. The trams ran until 1989, and today Piața Operei is pedestrian only.
From the beginning, the Corso was paved, where the wealthy of Timișoara strolled, and here were fine shops and restaurants. If you walk from the opera towards the cathedral, you will pass the buildings Hotel Timișoara, Weiss Palæ/Palatul Weiss, Lloyd Palæ/Palatul Lloyd, Neuhausz Palæ/Palatul Neuhausz, Merbl Palæ/Palatul Merbl, Dauerbach Palæ/Palatul Dauerbach, Hilt-Vogel Palæ/Palatul Hilt -Vogel and Széchenyi Palace/Palatul Széchenyi.
Unlike Corso, Surogat was the street where workers and the youth went. Students were only allowed to go here if they had permission to do so, and soldiers were only allowed to go here on leave. From the opera you can first see the Löffler Palæ/Palatul Löffler building and then the Chamber of Commerce Palæ/Palatul Camerei de Comerț, which was built in 1938 as Scala Biograf/Cinematograful Scala. The other buildings facing the cathedral on this side are blocks of flats that were built 1961-1963.
Along the middle of the square there are green areas, where you can e.g. can see the sculpture The Capitoline She-Wolf/Statuia Lupoaicei, which represents the she-wolf from which two human children suckle. It shows the story of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome. The sculpture is also a copy of the original Capitoline Wolf, which can be seen in Rome, and it was given to Timișoara as a gift from Rome in 1926. You can also see the city’s Fish Fountain/Fântâna cu Pești in the square, and close to the cathedral is a monument commemorating the victims of the 1989 revolution.
The Orthodox Cathedral is Timișoara’s cathedral under the Romanian Orthodox Church. The church is the seat of an archbishop and is a so-called metropolis in the Orthodox Church, which it is for the Romanian part of the historical Banat region. The cathedral is dedicated to the three hierarchs, which are made up of the Orthodox church fathers; Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and John Chrysostom.
The construction of the cathedral is connected with July 28, 1919, when large parts of the Banat region became part of Romania. The Romanian administration wanted to promote the Orthodox faith instead of the Catholicism that was prevalent under the former Austrian and Hungarian rule. The bishopric of Timișoara was established and a collection was initiated for the construction of a new large church in the city.
In the first half of the 1930s, the architect Ion Trajanescu was given the task of designing a church with room for 5,000 churchgoers. The central land for the construction was donated by the Timișoara city government, which also donated all the bricks needed to build the cathedral. A nearby steelworks provided a discount on the rebar for the construction, and money had been raised to finance the cathedral, which was built from 1936.
The church was completed in 1940 as Romania’s tallest church with 90.5 meters to the top of the tower. However, the official inauguration had to wait until after the end of the Second World War, and in the presence of, among others, King Michael I and the Prime Minister and Patriarch of Romania, the beautiful building was consecrated on 6 October 1946. Fortunately, the church had escaped the German bombardment of Timișoara 30-31. October 1944.
The cathedral’s architectural style is neo-Moldavian, which is based on traditional Romanian Orthodox style and on i.a. Ottoman and Byzantine building style. The monumental building sits enthroned in the city on the southern part of Victory Square/Piața Victoriei, where the central dome dedicated to the almighty Christ Pantecrater rises 83.7 meters above street level with an approx. 7 meter high cross on top.
Inside you can see a large and beautifully decorated church room with high ceilings. You can also see the cathedral’s museum collection of e.g. religious art from the Banat region. The collection contains many fine books, countless icons and various church objects. There are also early writings in the Romanian language. The site is also the necropolis of the Metropolitans of Banat, and the relics of Joseph the New/Iosif cel Nou are also kept in the cathedral.
Piața Unirii is the oldest square in Timișoara, and it has a long and important history in the city and this part of Romania. The current name was given to the square in memory of the Romanian troops who rode into Timişoara on August 3, 1919. The troops established the Romanian administration in the city, thereby making the reunification of this part of the Banat region with Romania a reality.
The beautiful square was built after the Austrian liberation of Timişoara from the Turks in 1716. The Austrians laid out the city as a modern fortress city with right-angled streets and with the two important squares, Reunification Square/Piața Unirii and Freedom Square/Piața Libertății as central parts of the city plan. At that time, the current Piața Unirii was named after Count István Losonczy, who fell in battle when the Turks captured and occupied the fortress of Timișoara in 1552. It was called Piața Losonczy until its current name.
Piața Unirii also offers a number of noteworthy buildings and constitutes the heart of Timişoara from the Baroque era and architecture. Around the square you can, among other things, see the city’s Roman Catholic cathedral, and the Serbian Orthodox cathedral is also located here. The churches are opposite each other to the east and west respectively. To the south is the city’s most beautiful baroque mansion, which now houses the Timişoara Art Museum.
You can also notice some other of the many fine buildings around Piața Unirii. To the northwest is the House with the Lions/Casa cu Lei, which was built in 1758 and which was remodeled in Habsburg Viennese Baroque around 1900. To the south is the house Casa Brück and behind it Casa Emmer. Both of these were designed by the architect László Székely and built in baroque and art nouveau style in the years 1908-1910.
The square itself was laid out by the Austrians, and it was given a size of 150×110 metres. It happened around 1740, and thus it was the fortress city’s largest square. The construction of the two cathedrals was started, and the city’s prefecture and civil governors were seated here. The center of the square was redesigned in neo-baroque to its current appearance in 1988-1989. In the square you can see the Trinity Column with the most frequently used name, the Plague Column/Coloana Ciumei. The baroque column was made by Georg Raphael Donner in Vienna and erected in 1740 to commemorate the just-over plague epidemic that had ravaged Timişoara in the 1730s. In the green facility there is also an artesian spring that springs with thermal water.
Piața Libertății is one of two large squares in the old Austrian town plan of the fortress city of Timișoara, which followed the liberation from the Turkish occupation in 1716. The current name, Freedom Square, was given to the place in connection with the Trianon Treaty of 1920, which led to Timișoara and a part of the former Hungary were united with Romania.
In the Middle Ages, three trade routes met at the place where Piața Libertății is located today, and here the first settlement arose. The Turkish Ottomans built the city’s largest bathing facility here, where there was also a Turkish bazaar during the Ottoman period. With the Austrian liberation, the square got its rectangular shape, which happened soon after 1716.
From the beginning, Piața Libertății was called the Parade Square/Paradeplatz, as it served for military training and for concerts with military bands. Timișoara’s garrison building was built in 1731 on the southern part of the square, while the city’s town hall was built 1731-1734 on the northern part. A Franciscan church was also built here in the 1730s, but it was demolished in 1913.
In the square you can also see a statue of Jan Nepomuk and the Virgin Mary, Monumentul Sf. Maria şi a Sf. Nepomuk. The statue was produced in Vienna 1753-1756 and subsequently brought to Timişoara and erected in memory of the plague victims in the city in 1738-1739. Jan Nepomuk is the Catholic patron saint of the Banat region, where Timișoara is located.
Saint George’s Cathedral is one of Timișoara’s three cathedrals. Sankt Jørgens is a Catholic cathedral, while the other two are Romanian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox respectively. Located on the eastern side of Piața Unirii square, the cathedral stands as one of Timișoara’s architectural landmarks.
The Catholic Habsburgs liberated Timișoara from the Muslim Turks in 1716, and the Catholic cathedral was built on the main square of the fortress city from 1736. It is believed that the famous Austrian Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach designed the cathedral, which is one of the largest in the region baroque constructions.
The cathedral area was not originally located in Timișoara, but when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI moved his seat here in 1733, the city’s importance increased, and therefore a cathedral had to be built. The church was completed in 1774, and it was officially consecrated in 1803.
Behind the cathedral’s facade with the two 35.5 meter high towers, there is a lot to see in the beautiful and bright church space. Here are i.a. nine altars, which were designed by Johannes Müller in baroque and rococo. The motif of the main altar was painted by Michelangelo Unterberger of Vienna, and it is flanked by statues produced by Johann Josef Rößler.
Banat National Museum is a museum housed in Hunyadi Castle in central Timișoara. The museum dates back to 1872, when its predecessor was established as the Society for History and Archaeology/Societatea de Istorie și Arheologie. And precisely history and archeology continue to make up the most important exhibitions at the museum.
After the foundation of the society, a major collection of archaeological finds from the Banat region around Timișoara started. The result of the continued work can be experienced today in the archaeological-historical exhibition, which spans from Neolithic times through the Middle Ages to recent times, and thereby gives you a good impression and historical cultures in the region.
Among the museum’s many effects, you can see, for example, ceramics from the Neolithic period and bronze objects and jewelery from the Bronze Age. There are also finds from the Roman era, and you can see Greek ceramics, Egyptian art, coin finds and much more. The museum also has a department for natural sciences with a large ornithological and zoological collection as well as a large exhibition with, for example, minerals and palaeontological finds.
Banat Village Museum is a museum belonging to the institution Banat National Museum/Muzeul Național al Banatului, which is the regional museum of Banat, where Timișoara is located. The village museum is outside the city centre, and here you can take a closer look at typical villages in Banat and get an impression of life here.
The village museum was established on a 52-hectare area, where a village environment was recreated by relocating more than 50 village houses and farms from the Banat region. The many buildings give a good impression of villages from this part of Romania, and in the center of the village you can see important buildings such as a church, a school, a cultural center and an inn. The church was originally built in 1746 in Remetea-Luncă.
Village life itself can be experienced through the site’s ethnographic exhibitions. They offer i.a. on items of use such as household goods, furniture, machinery, clothing and various handicrafts. The museum also gives a fine impression of the different peoples who have inhabited Banat. Here, for example, there are houses that represent Hungarians, Germans, Slovaks and Serbs.
At the northern end of Victory Square/Piața Victoriei is Timișoara’s Opera House and National Theatre. It is one of the city’s leading cultural institutions, and here you can enjoy operas, ballet productions and theater performances. The opera and theater building was built 1872-1875 and named after the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Fires destroyed the theater building in 1880 and again in 1920, when most of the construction had to be rebuilt. Romania’s King Ferdinand laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction in 1923, and the theater opened again in 1928. This time, a larger water reservoir had been built in for future firefighting. In 1930, i.a. moved a museum and an academy into the building as a supplement to the theatre, and therefore the place was named the Palace of Culture/Palatul Culturii.
The classical theater architecture from the end of the 19th century still formed the style of the Palace of Culture entering the 1930s, but new buildings on Piața Victoriei had outgrown the old theatre, and so Duiliu Marcu was given the task of redesigning the building. He raised the facade and rebuilt it in the style of a colossal and austere triumphal arch that can still be seen today. The architecture was inspired by the fascist style from contemporary Italy, and Marcu found his inspiration not least in the works of Marcello Piacentini.
The Palace of Culture has written itself into Romanian history several times over time. On October 31, 1918, the Banat Republic was established in Timișoara Military Casino/Cazinoul Militar. The founders of the republic wanted ties or union with Hungary, but the Romanian officers present would no longer take orders from Budapest, so they went to the Kronprinz Rudolf restaurant located in the theater. Here they formed a Romanian National Military Council, which was to work militarily to unite the Banat and Romania.
In 1989, a significant part of the Romanian revolution took place in and in front of the Palace of Culture. There was growing excitement in socialist Romania, where opposition to the regime grew, as had been seen elsewhere in Eastern Europe. In Timișoara, discontent culminated in a large demonstration on December 20, 1989, where the Democratic Romanian Front/Frontul Democratic Român was formed in the building, and where Timișoara was declared from the balcony of the Palace of Culture as a city free from socialist rule.
The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Timișoara is one of several cathedrals in the city. As the name suggests, the church is the episcopal seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the area’s eparchy, which is a division that originates from the administrative districts of the defunct Eastern Roman Empire. The cathedral is located in the central quarter, Cetate, and there are also two Serbian Orthodox churches in other parts of the city.
The current cathedral was built in Baroque style in 1744-1748, after the previous church on the site had burned down a few years before. The local congregation donated money for the construction, which became a larger version than the old church, and in the latter part of the 18th century the two church towers were added.
The cathedral has been changed since the 18th century, and this applies both externally and internally. The facade facing Reunification Square/Piața Unirii dates from 1822, and part of the interior decoration is from the 1830s and 1840s; it concerns i.a. about the church’s icon wall.
In the beginning, masses were held for both the Serbian and Romanian Orthodox congregations in the cathedral, but after the separation of the two churches in 1864, the building has belonged to the Serbian congregation. However, Romanian Orthodox are still welcome at masses with the close relationship between the churches.
Immediately next to the cathedral itself, you can see two beautiful buildings that belong to the Serbian Orthodox church complex. To the north of the church is the house of the Serbian congregation, which today i.a. houses a restaurant with outdoor seating on Piața Unirii, and to the south is the episcopal seat of the church and thereby the administration of the cathedral and the bishop.
The Old Town Hall of Timișoara is located on the north side of Freedom Square/Piața Libertății. The town hall was built in 1731-1734 at the behest of German settlers who came to the fortress town after the Austrian liberation of Timișoara from the Turks in 1716. The Austrians allowed Germans to settle in the center of the fortress town, and they were allowed to build a civilian town hall.
Following this permission, the mayor Peter Solderer was able to lay the foundation stone for the town hall building on 24 December 1731. The town hall was then built according to a design by the Italian architect Pietro del Bronzo. The town hall was built on the foundations of the Turkish baths, which had been destroyed during the Austrian liberation.
On 15 February 1735, a new mayor with a seat in the new town hall building was to be elected for the first time, and Peter Solderer was re-elected on that occasion. Later, the old town hall building was expanded and remodeled, and today it partly houses the regional administrative offices and partly the music faculty of the university Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara.
Cazinoul Militar on Freedom Square/Piața Libertății is one of Timișoara’s oldest buildings. The casino was built in the years 1744-1775, and it happened in the aftermath of the Austrian conquest of the fortress of Timișoara from the Turks in 1716. The Turkish fortress was destroyed, and a new construction of the fortress and thereby the city took place on the Austrian pattern.
The Austrian fortress city was designed with right-angled streets and two squares, which today are Reunification Square/Piața Unirii and Freedom Square/Piața Libertății. Piața Libertății was then called the Parade Square, and here the town hall and some military administration buildings were built. Among them was the seat of the Austrian military commander, and it is the current Cazinoul Militar. The building was originally on one floor, and the others were added in 1910.
It was in this building that Otto Roth proclaimed the Republic of Banat on 31 October 1918. The territory of the Republic of Banat was located in the borderland between Romania, Serbia and Hungary, and it also had a German-speaking population. The German-speaking socialist Otto Roth became the leader of the republic, and the desire was a union with the Republic of Hungary. Romanians and Serbs opposed this, and at the meeting on 31 October, Aurel Cosma left the casino with the Romanian officers who wanted union with Romania.
The military casino’s architecture comes from several styles. You can see the late Baroque building style from the original construction, and there are also Rococo elements here. Finally, there are also different styles in the 20th century expansion, which include spoke the ballroom on the first floor. Today, a military club has been set up in the old building.
Maria Theresia Bastion is a well-preserved part of the former Austro-Hungarian fortress in Timișoara. The rather large bastion is named after the Austrian empress Maria Theresia, and the bastion east of Timișoara’s center is today part of the cityscape with, among other things, a through road.
The Austrian Habsburgs liberated Timișoara from Turkish rule in 1716, and the fortifications at that time were not rated up to date for modern combat. Therefore, the Habsburgs initiated a colossal expansion of the fortresses in the star-shaped military architecture of the time, inspired by the designs of Blaise François Pagan and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
The new Timișoara Fortress was laid out as a city entrenched behind three star formations, where water could be filled between the individual stars. In addition, there were three entrance gates to the city and nine bastions, all of which were named after kings, queens, generals and, of course, Empress Maria Theresia.
With the city’s rapid development in the 19th century and the diminishing military importance of old fortifications, most of Timișoara’s bastions etc. demolished in the latter half of the 19th century, but Bastionul Maria Theresia from 1720-1735 survived this time. In the 1900s, they wanted to demolish the bastion, but it was restored and is today a place that, among other things, is furnished with museum exhibitions and shops.
Timișoara Vaporetto is a water bus that plies the Bega river that runs south of the center of Timișoara. The water buses sail on a relatively long stretch of the river starting southwest of the center and to the northeast of the city.
There are several water bus stops along the route where you can get on and enjoy a different tour through Timișoara. One of the most centrally located stops is Stație Vaporaș Catedrala Mitropolitană, which is located on the river immediately south of the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Piața Victoriei square.
The vaporetto service is part of Timișoara’s public transport system, and you can sail between the Mihai Viteazu station, which is close to the city’s hydroelectric plant, and the Ardealul station, which is close to the Modoş-Freidorf bridge.
Timișoara North Railway Station is the city’s main railway station, and it is located close to the city center a little southwest from here. The railway construction in Timișoara started in 1857, when a small station was built, and from here you could e.g. take the train to Arad and Bucharest. Passenger traffic increased steadily, and the need for a new railway station became urgent.
A new and monumental railway station building was erected and opened in 1897. It was built in the impressive railway architecture of the day, which was the case across much of Europe. It was the Hungarian architect Ferenc Pfaff who designed the railway station, then called Josefstädter Bahnhof in German and Józsefvárosi indóház in Hungarian.
With the region’s unification with Romania after World War I, the name of the railway station was changed to Gara Domniţa Elena, before after World War II it was given its current name. Bombings in 1944 left the 1897 building in ruins, and it was subsequently opened in a new design. In 1976, the railway station’s architecture was radically changed to the modern style from the socialist era that can be seen today.
Muzeul de Artă or the Museum of Art in Timișoara is an exciting museum located centrally in Piața Unirii square. It is a museum where you can experience a number of exhibitions, spanning both Romanian and international artists and works of art.
For example, you can visit collections focusing on old and new works from the Banat region, where Timișoara is located. There is also an exhibition of modern art based on various modern art forms in Timișoara. There is also European art from the 16th-19th centuries, and you can also see a special exhibition with many works by the painter Corneliu Baba.
The art museum is housed in a beautiful house called Barokpalæet/Palatul Baroc, which was built in 1733. The building contained various administrative offices, and over time it has been furnished for both military purposes and as the seat of the governor of the region. After World War II, your beautiful building was used for teaching and as reading rooms before the current art museum moved in.
Hunyadi Castle is the oldest building in Timișoara. It was originally built 1307-1315 as the seat of the Hungarian king Charles I. The king took up residence here and ruled from the castle for approximately 8 years. After the time of Charles I, the castle fell into disrepair, and it was at one point destroyed by an earthquake.
In the years 1442-1447, the statesman and army commander János Hunyadi had the castle expanded, and he also built fortifications around it. The Italian architect Paolo Santini de Duccio was responsible for the task. The fortified castle then maintained its position for centuries as the seat of the city’s civil and military administration. Thus, the so-called pasha stayed in the castle during the Ottoman occupation, which lasted from 1552 to 1716.
Over time, the castle was continuously expanded, and the current appearance largely dates from the middle of the 1800s, when Hunyadi Castle had to be rebuilt again. This time it happened after the revolution in 1848, when Hungarian troops had destroyed the castle. Hunyadi Castle maintained its military purpose, and it was the barracks and military warehouse until the end of World War II.
Since 1948, the old castle has been set up as a museum. Here you can visit the Banat Museum/Muzeul Banatului, which functions as a branch of the region’s Banat National Museum. The most important theme in the museum department is history, and the exhibition includes the time from early settlements and migrations to Romans, kings and communists.
Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist or the Museum of the Communist Consumer is a museum where you can go back to Romania’s socialist and communist era that lasted for decades until the change of system at the end of 1989. The museum was opened in 2015 and it is decorated in a period typical apartment from the era.
In the apartment you can experience life as a Romanian consumer in a living room, kitchen, children’s room and other rooms from daily life in the old days. Here are furniture, clothes, household items, electronic devices, games, toys, etc.; in short, more or less everything you used and could buy as a family and consumer.
You can see well-known Arădeana dolls, cigarettes from the brands Carpați and Amiral, soaps from Cheia and cassette tapes with the music of the time. Through the many things and effects such as newspapers and magazines, you can see and learn more about the time and thus recover memories of the socialist period in Romania.
The Reformed Church in Timișoara is a church that was built in 1902. The architects Karoly Nagy and László Jánosházi designed the church, which was not designed like the other churches in the city. The architectural style of the Reformed Church was inspired by English Gothic, and the complex consisted of a church room and several residences.
The church became known in the history of the Romanian revolution in 1989, when it was here that pastor László Tőkés from the Hungarian congregation spoke against socialism and the Romanian regime led by Nicolae Ceaușescu. László Tőkés had long been an opponent of the existing system, and this culminated in December 1989.
Before then, the Romanian government intended to expel László Tőkés from the Hungarian Reformed Church, and according to a judgment, this was to happen on 15 December. When the day dawned, crowds had gathered at László Tőkés’ apartment, and this prevented the authorities from carrying out the sentence. It ended with clashes between protesters and the Romanian authorities, and it escalated the demonstration to be about the socialist rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. The rebellion then spread to the rest of the country.
Cetate Synagoge is a rather large synagogue that was designed by the Viennese architect Carl Schumann. It was built in the years 1863-1865 for the significant Jewish congregation of Timișoara. The name Cetate comes from the neighborhood that makes up central Timișoara, and the building is also known as the Fortress Synagogue.
Between the two world wars of the 20th century, around 13,000 Jews lived in the city, but this number is significantly lower today. The synagogue was in operation throughout most of the 20th century, but it was closed in 1985, which was the end of the socialist era in Romania.
The building style is eclectic with inspiration from Moorish architecture and from Romanticism. And the design is impressive, and with space for 3,000 in the bedroom, the Cetate synagogue opened then as one of the largest in Europe. Today, the synagogue is awaiting restoration, but concerts are sometimes held in the large prayer room.
Located in southwestern Romania, this national park encompasses almost 370 square kilometers of beautiful nature. The park is located in a beautiful and mountainous area characterized by the two rivers Nera and Beu. The Beu flows into the Nera, which in turn flows into the Danube.
There is a sumptuous flora and fauna in the national park, which i.a. inhabited by bears, wolves, wild boar, otters, wild cats and a multitude of bird species. You can also enjoy the beautiful nature in the form of canyons such as Nera Kløft-Beușnița, valley stretches and some very nice waterfalls. You can also visit cozy villages with atmospheric churches such as Ciclova Montană.
The Iron Gates is the name of two hydroelectric power plants and a stretch of gorge where the Danube River cuts through steep mountains on the border between Romania and Serbia. The stretch itself, which in Romania is called Porțile de Fier and in Serbia •ердапска клисура, is the part of the river that lies a little south of the town of Orșova. Here the mountains are most impressive, but the whole way from the town of Coronini to Orșova is recommended.
The rock sculpture of Decebalus/Chipul regelui dac Decebal is a special attraction. It is a colossal face of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia, carved out of the rocks along the river. The sculpture is located south of Orșova on the Romanian side of the Danube. It measures 55 meters in height and 25 meters in width and was carved out 1994-2004.
Corvin Castle is an impressive castle complex located in the city of Hunedoara. The castle belongs to the largest and most impressive of this type of facility in Romania. The construction of the castle was initiated by the Transylvanian leader János Hanyadi in the 1440s, but over several phases the castle was not completed until the 19th century.
The castle was built on an earlier and smaller fortification. It is beautifully situated on a ridge above the river Zlaști and with its walls, bastions and towers almost resembles a medieval castle. Appearance is partly due to a reconstruction after a recent fire, but the result is beautiful and the castle is interesting to visit.
Sibiu is one of the larger cities in Transylvania, which is a region where Sibiu has been the capital on several occasions. The river Cibin runs through Sibiu, and both of these names come from the Latin name for the city; Cibinium. Sibiu is an old city that already in the 14th century was an important trade center where crafts thrived, and over the centuries several cultures have developed the city.
There are many things to see in Sibiu, starting from the central square, Piața Mare, where colorful houses from past centuries lie side by side. Close to the square is Sibiu’s large Lutheran church, which was built by the German congregation. You can also visit the national museums under the Muzeul Național Brukenthal, which, among other things, has an art museum and a natural history museum.
Salina Turda is a salt mine that takes its name from the nearby town of Turda. The mine has been known for centuries and was first mentioned in 1075, and salt was produced in the mine until 1932. After this, several years passed before the mine was opened to tourists in 1992, and it is an impressive sight to see when you visit Today.
There are several things to see when you get below the surface and down into Salina Turda. The Iosif mine can be seen, and here salt has been carved into the 112-metre-high room. In another room you can see one of the machines used in 19th-century mining. Perhaps the most impressive place is the underground lake, where you can experience the salt mine from a rowing boat.
Cluj-Napoca is one of Romania’s largest cities, and for centuries it has been both the main city and the capital of Transylvania, which after being subject to Austria and Austria-Hungary from 1804 to 1920 became part of Romania. The city remains an important commercial and cultural center, and Cluj-Napoca is also one of the country’s largest educational cities with Babeș-Bolyai University.
In Cluj-Napoca there are several beautiful churches that you can visit. On the square Piața Unirii is the Gothic St. Michael’s Church, Biserica Sfântul Mihail, which was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. A short distance to the east on Bulevardul Eroilor is the fine square, Piața Avram Iancu, where the impressive Romanian Orthodox cathedral is located and can be seen opposite the city’s opera house.
The town of Oradea is located in northwestern Romania close to the border with Hungary. Oradea was first mentioned in 1113 under the Latin name Varadinum, and since then many countries and cultures have developed the city, which has been under Hungarian, Turkish and Habsburg rule. Today, a significant number of ethnic Hungarians still live in the city, and these were a significant majority right up until the middle of the 20th century.
The center of Oradea is architecturally characterized by the Baroque during the Austro-Hungarian era and by a number of Art Nouveau buildings. Oradea is actually one of the cities in Romania with the greatest representation of the beautiful art nouveau designs. From the baroque, you can see the city’s cathedral, which is Romania’s largest church in this style, and the bishops’ old baroque palace, where they had their residence until 1945.
Strada C. A. Rossetti 5
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Piața Consiliul Europei 2
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Calea Șagului 100
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Strada Alba Iulia, gaderne omkring Piața Libertății, Piața Iancu Huniade
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Timisoara Timișoara, Romania[/caption]
Overview of Timișoara
Timișoara is an exciting city in western Romania with an interesting history and many fine sights. The city is the economic and cultural center of this part of Romania, and it is not without reason that Timișoara has been chosen as European City of Culture in 2023.
Over time, many cultures have left their mark on Timișoara, which today lies on the border between Romania, Serbia and Hungary. Throughout history, the city has, among other things, having been conquered by the Turkish Ottomans and later liberated by Habsburg Austria, before Timișoara came under Austria-Hungary until the union with Romania after World War I.
There are many sights in Timișoara, and these date from the 18th century to the present day. The Habsburgs came to power in 1716, and they established the city as a mighty fortress with a right-angled street grid and large squares, and this can still be seen today, with the Habsburg lines dominating the center.
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Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
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Language: English
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At the northern end of Victory Square/Piața Victoriei is Timișoara’s Opera House and National Theatre. It is one of the city’s leading cultural institutions, and here you can enjoy operas, ballet productions and theater performances. The opera and theater building was built 1872-1875 and named after the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Fires destroyed the theater building in 1880 and again in 1920, when most of the construction had to be rebuilt. Romania’s King Ferdinand laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction in 1923, and the theater opened again in 1928. This time, a larger water reservoir had been built in for future firefighting. In 1930, i.a. moved a museum and an academy into the building as a supplement to the theatre, and therefore the place was named the Palace of Culture/Palatul Culturii.
The classical theater architecture from the end of the 19th century still formed the style of the Palace of Culture entering the 1930s, but new buildings on Piața Victoriei had outgrown the old theatre, and so Duiliu Marcu was given the task of redesigning the building. He raised the facade and rebuilt it in the style of a colossal and austere triumphal arch that can still be seen today. The architecture was inspired by the fascist style from contemporary Italy, and Marcu found his inspiration not least in the works of Marcello Piacentini.
The Palace of Culture has written itself into Romanian history several times over time. On October 31, 1918, the Banat Republic was established in Timișoara Military Casino/Cazinoul Militar. The founders of the republic wanted ties or union with Hungary, but the Romanian officers present would no longer take orders from Budapest, so they went to the Kronprinz Rudolf restaurant located in the theater. Here they formed a Romanian National Military Council, which was to work militarily to unite the Banat and Romania.
In 1989, a significant part of the Romanian revolution took place in and in front of the Palace of Culture. There was growing excitement in socialist Romania, where opposition to the regime grew, as had been seen elsewhere in Eastern Europe. In Timișoara, discontent culminated in a large demonstration on December 20, 1989, where the Democratic Romanian Front/Frontul Democratic Român was formed in the building, and where Timișoara was declared from the balcony of the Palace of Culture as a city free from socialist rule.
The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Timișoara is one of several cathedrals in the city. As the name suggests, the church is the episcopal seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the area’s eparchy, which is a division that originates from the administrative districts of the defunct Eastern Roman Empire. The cathedral is located in the central quarter, Cetate, and there are also two Serbian Orthodox churches in other parts of the city.
The current cathedral was built in Baroque style in 1744-1748, after the previous church on the site had burned down a few years before. The local congregation donated money for the construction, which became a larger version than the old church, and in the latter part of the 18th century the two church towers were added.
The cathedral has been changed since the 18th century, and this applies both externally and internally. The facade facing Reunification Square/Piața Unirii dates from 1822, and part of the interior decoration is from the 1830s and 1840s; it concerns i.a. about the church’s icon wall.
In the beginning, masses were held for both the Serbian and Romanian Orthodox congregations in the cathedral, but after the separation of the two churches in 1864, the building has belonged to the Serbian congregation. However, Romanian Orthodox are still welcome at masses with the close relationship between the churches.
Immediately next to the cathedral itself, you can see two beautiful buildings that belong to the Serbian Orthodox church complex. To the north of the church is the house of the Serbian congregation, which today i.a. houses a restaurant with outdoor seating on Piața Unirii, and to the south is the episcopal seat of the church and thereby the administration of the cathedral and the bishop.
The Old Town Hall of Timișoara is located on the north side of Freedom Square/Piața Libertății. The town hall was built in 1731-1734 at the behest of German settlers who came to the fortress town after the Austrian liberation of Timișoara from the Turks in 1716. The Austrians allowed Germans to settle in the center of the fortress town, and they were allowed to build a civilian town hall.
Following this permission, the mayor Peter Solderer was able to lay the foundation stone for the town hall building on 24 December 1731. The town hall was then built according to a design by the Italian architect Pietro del Bronzo. The town hall was built on the foundations of the Turkish baths, which had been destroyed during the Austrian liberation.
On 15 February 1735, a new mayor with a seat in the new town hall building was to be elected for the first time, and Peter Solderer was re-elected on that occasion. Later, the old town hall building was expanded and remodeled, and today it partly houses the regional administrative offices and partly the music faculty of the university Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara.
Cazinoul Militar on Freedom Square/Piața Libertății is one of Timișoara’s oldest buildings. The casino was built in the years 1744-1775, and it happened in the aftermath of the Austrian conquest of the fortress of Timișoara from the Turks in 1716. The Turkish fortress was destroyed, and a new construction of the fortress and thereby the city took place on the Austrian pattern.
The Austrian fortress city was designed with right-angled streets and two squares, which today are Reunification Square/Piața Unirii and Freedom Square/Piața Libertății. Piața Libertății was then called the Parade Square, and here the town hall and some military administration buildings were built. Among them was the seat of the Austrian military commander, and it is the current Cazinoul Militar. The building was originally on one floor, and the others were added in 1910.
It was in this building that Otto Roth proclaimed the Republic of Banat on 31 October 1918. The territory of the Republic of Banat was located in the borderland between Romania, Serbia and Hungary, and it also had a German-speaking population. The German-speaking socialist Otto Roth became the leader of the republic, and the desire was a union with the Republic of Hungary. Romanians and Serbs opposed this, and at the meeting on 31 October, Aurel Cosma left the casino with the Romanian officers who wanted union with Romania.
The military casino’s architecture comes from several styles. You can see the late Baroque building style from the original construction, and there are also Rococo elements here. Finally, there are also different styles in the 20th century expansion, which include spoke the ballroom on the first floor. Today, a military club has been set up in the old building.
Maria Theresia Bastion is a well-preserved part of the former Austro-Hungarian fortress in Timișoara. The rather large bastion is named after the Austrian empress Maria Theresia, and the bastion east of Timișoara’s center is today part of the cityscape with, among other things, a through road.
The Austrian Habsburgs liberated Timișoara from Turkish rule in 1716, and the fortifications at that time were not rated up to date for modern combat. Therefore, the Habsburgs initiated a colossal expansion of the fortresses in the star-shaped military architecture of the time, inspired by the designs of Blaise François Pagan and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
The new Timișoara Fortress was laid out as a city entrenched behind three star formations, where water could be filled between the individual stars. In addition, there were three entrance gates to the city and nine bastions, all of which were named after kings, queens, generals and, of course, Empress Maria Theresia.
With the city’s rapid development in the 19th century and the diminishing military importance of old fortifications, most of Timișoara’s bastions etc. demolished in the latter half of the 19th century, but Bastionul Maria Theresia from 1720-1735 survived this time. In the 1900s, they wanted to demolish the bastion, but it was restored and is today a place that, among other things, is furnished with museum exhibitions and shops.
Timișoara Vaporetto is a water bus that plies the Bega river that runs south of the center of Timișoara. The water buses sail on a relatively long stretch of the river starting southwest of the center and to the northeast of the city.
There are several water bus stops along the route where you can get on and enjoy a different tour through Timișoara. One of the most centrally located stops is Stație Vaporaș Catedrala Mitropolitană, which is located on the river immediately south of the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Piața Victoriei square.
The vaporetto service is part of Timișoara’s public transport system, and you can sail between the Mihai Viteazu station, which is close to the city’s hydroelectric plant, and the Ardealul station, which is close to the Modoş-Freidorf bridge.
Timișoara North Railway Station is the city’s main railway station, and it is located close to the city center a little southwest from here. The railway construction in Timișoara started in 1857, when a small station was built, and from here you could e.g. take the train to Arad and Bucharest. Passenger traffic increased steadily, and the need for a new railway station became urgent.
A new and monumental railway station building was erected and opened in 1897. It was built in the impressive railway architecture of the day, which was the case across much of Europe. It was the Hungarian architect Ferenc Pfaff who designed the railway station, then called Josefstädter Bahnhof in German and Józsefvárosi indóház in Hungarian.
With the region’s unification with Romania after World War I, the name of the railway station was changed to Gara Domniţa Elena, before after World War II it was given its current name. Bombings in 1944 left the 1897 building in ruins, and it was subsequently opened in a new design. In 1976, the railway station’s architecture was radically changed to the modern style from the socialist era that can be seen today.
Muzeul de Artă or the Museum of Art in Timișoara is an exciting museum located centrally in Piața Unirii square. It is a museum where you can experience a number of exhibitions, spanning both Romanian and international artists and works of art.
For example, you can visit collections focusing on old and new works from the Banat region, where Timișoara is located. There is also an exhibition of modern art based on various modern art forms in Timișoara. There is also European art from the 16th-19th centuries, and you can also see a special exhibition with many works by the painter Corneliu Baba.
The art museum is housed in a beautiful house called Barokpalæet/Palatul Baroc, which was built in 1733. The building contained various administrative offices, and over time it has been furnished for both military purposes and as the seat of the governor of the region. After World War II, your beautiful building was used for teaching and as reading rooms before the current art museum moved in.
Hunyadi Castle is the oldest building in Timișoara. It was originally built 1307-1315 as the seat of the Hungarian king Charles I. The king took up residence here and ruled from the castle for approximately 8 years. After the time of Charles I, the castle fell into disrepair, and it was at one point destroyed by an earthquake.
In the years 1442-1447, the statesman and army commander János Hunyadi had the castle expanded, and he also built fortifications around it. The Italian architect Paolo Santini de Duccio was responsible for the task. The fortified castle then maintained its position for centuries as the seat of the city’s civil and military administration. Thus, the so-called pasha stayed in the castle during the Ottoman occupation, which lasted from 1552 to 1716.
Over time, the castle was continuously expanded, and the current appearance largely dates from the middle of the 1800s, when Hunyadi Castle had to be rebuilt again. This time it happened after the revolution in 1848, when Hungarian troops had destroyed the castle. Hunyadi Castle maintained its military purpose, and it was the barracks and military warehouse until the end of World War II.
Since 1948, the old castle has been set up as a museum. Here you can visit the Banat Museum/Muzeul Banatului, which functions as a branch of the region’s Banat National Museum. The most important theme in the museum department is history, and the exhibition includes the time from early settlements and migrations to Romans, kings and communists.
Muzeul Consumatorului Comunist or the Museum of the Communist Consumer is a museum where you can go back to Romania’s socialist and communist era that lasted for decades until the change of system at the end of 1989. The museum was opened in 2015 and it is decorated in a period typical apartment from the era.
In the apartment you can experience life as a Romanian consumer in a living room, kitchen, children’s room and other rooms from daily life in the old days. Here are furniture, clothes, household items, electronic devices, games, toys, etc.; in short, more or less everything you used and could buy as a family and consumer.
You can see well-known Arădeana dolls, cigarettes from the brands Carpați and Amiral, soaps from Cheia and cassette tapes with the music of the time. Through the many things and effects such as newspapers and magazines, you can see and learn more about the time and thus recover memories of the socialist period in Romania.
The Reformed Church in Timișoara is a church that was built in 1902. The architects Karoly Nagy and László Jánosházi designed the church, which was not designed like the other churches in the city. The architectural style of the Reformed Church was inspired by English Gothic, and the complex consisted of a church room and several residences.
The church became known in the history of the Romanian revolution in 1989, when it was here that pastor László Tőkés from the Hungarian congregation spoke against socialism and the Romanian regime led by Nicolae Ceaușescu. László Tőkés had long been an opponent of the existing system, and this culminated in December 1989.
Before then, the Romanian government intended to expel László Tőkés from the Hungarian Reformed Church, and according to a judgment, this was to happen on 15 December. When the day dawned, crowds had gathered at László Tőkés’ apartment, and this prevented the authorities from carrying out the sentence. It ended with clashes between protesters and the Romanian authorities, and it escalated the demonstration to be about the socialist rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. The rebellion then spread to the rest of the country.
Cetate Synagoge is a rather large synagogue that was designed by the Viennese architect Carl Schumann. It was built in the years 1863-1865 for the significant Jewish congregation of Timișoara. The name Cetate comes from the neighborhood that makes up central Timișoara, and the building is also known as the Fortress Synagogue.
Between the two world wars of the 20th century, around 13,000 Jews lived in the city, but this number is significantly lower today. The synagogue was in operation throughout most of the 20th century, but it was closed in 1985, which was the end of the socialist era in Romania.
The building style is eclectic with inspiration from Moorish architecture and from Romanticism. And the design is impressive, and with space for 3,000 in the bedroom, the Cetate synagogue opened then as one of the largest in Europe. Today, the synagogue is awaiting restoration, but concerts are sometimes held in the large prayer room.
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