Timisoara – One of the great Romanian cities
Visiting Timisoara, Romania
View over the city Timisoara
Timisoara is one of the largest cities in Romania and it is by far the largest city in the western part of the country. The area has been settled for a long time with the first record of the city of Timisoara dating back to 1212 and mentioning that it is built on the site of an ancient Roman fortress, Castrum Regium Themes.
Timisoara is filled with a plethora of sights and attractions
Timisoara by night
As you can imagine, present-day Timisoara is the result of almost two thousand years of history and throughout the centuries it has been influenced of many cultures. During Roman times the fortress was an important defensive building at the crossroads between the central and the eastern parts of the Empire, then came the Tatars who destroyed it in the 13th century and then there came a few centuries of Turkish domination and influence, after which the area came under Austrian rule for about two hundred years. This plethora of activity has left its mark on the city and you can see these influences in the various neighborhoods and building throughout the city.
All of that history and more, add up to create Timisoara’s present-day charm, a progressive and cosmopolitan place with a distinct architectural character and a very vibrant cultural life. It benefits from a much milder climate than most of the country does and thanks to this the city has many public squares and lush green parks, all of which are great places to sit, relax and take a break from the sightseeing.
One architectural characteristic of the city is its abundance of Secessionist architecture, this is also the reason why some call it “Little Vienna”. There are two distinct phases of Secessionism which one can see in Timisoara, the first phase ending at around 1908, being characterized by sinuous lines and floral decorations, while the second phase lasted until the First World War and saw larger and simpler buildings being erected featuring geometrical designs.
Most of the city’s interesting sites can be found around its many squares, especially its main square, Piata Victoriei or Victory Square. This is where you can see the towering Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral with its green and roof mosaic design roof tiles. In front of the cathedral you can see a memorial built for those who lost their lives during the 1989 Revolution which overthrew the Communist rule and which started in Timisoara. If you’re interested in getting more insight into that major event in Romania’s history, make sure to visit the Memorial Museum of the 1989 Revolution.
Union Square is a very picturesque Habsburg-era square where you can see both the Romano-Catholic and the Serbian Orthodox Cathedrals facing each other and historic buildings line the square. This is also where you can see the Nicolas Lenau College, a building from 1761 which was initially home to the earliest theater in the city.
The historic residential areas were mostly built during the late 19th century, these are the Josefin, Elisabetin and Fabric residential districts, these are true gems of art nouveau architecture and the small residential square of Piata Plevnei is bordered by many examples of the first phase of Secessionist architecture as exemplified by the Gemeinhardt’s Peacock House.
A couple more interesting facts about Timisoara are that it was the first European city to introduce horse-drawn trams and then electrical street lighting at the end of the 19th century. It was the second city in the world after New York City to introduce electrical street lighting.
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