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Timişoara
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In County Timiş
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Timişoara in County Timiş
Timişoara, with over 300,000 people, is in the top five
largest cities in Romania. It is a large economic as well as
cultural centre in Banat in the west of the country.

Timişoara is a multicultural city with influential minorities,
primarily Hungarians, Germans, and Serbs, as well as Italians,
Bulgarians, and Greeks. It was the birthplace of Johnny Weissmuller
(an Olympic swimmer, best known for his role as Tarzan).
Little Vienna
The downtown heart of Timişoara is indeed a cultural wonderland
of Viennese style buildings constructed at the height of the
Habsburg Empire.
The centre of the city was built to serve as the regional
administrative capital for the twin crowns of Habsburg Vienna and
Budapest, after the city was "rescued" in 1716 from the 164-year
Turkish administration of the region. Most of the
buildings downtown today were built during the Austro-Hungarian
period, making Timişoara an essential stop for any fan of 18th and
19th century central European architecture.
Research and Technology
Timişoara is an important university city with the
emphasis subjects like medicine, mechanics and electro-technology.
An industrial city with extensive services.
It was the first
European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It was
also the second European and the first city in what is now Romania
with horse-pulled trams in 1867.
There are numerous claims that Gustave Eiffel, the creator of
the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built one of Timişoara's footbridges over
the Bega canal.
If you have some information for us about Timişoara or County Timiş,
please
Let us know about it now!
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Timişoara's Bega Canal
Photo: webshots
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The Union Square Old Town Hall
Facing Piaţa Unirii in the middle of Timişoara is the city's
delightful heart with cobbled walkways and lawns
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Timişoara Union Square
The Fabulously Baroque Town Centre
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The Timişoara Cathedral
Beautiful gilding on the alter at Timişoara's
Orthodox Cathedral at Victory Plaza (Piaţa Victoriei)
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The Baroque Castle
Now housing the Art collection of the Banat Museum
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The Huniade Castle
An oil painting by Ştefan Jäger (1877-1962)
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Roman Marble Relief
A second-century Mithraic scene from the local religion favoured
by the locals of the day.
Read
more here
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A Great Town on Foot!
No need for transportation to take in 80% of the great sights around
downtown Timişoara, because the town is considerately laid out across a
series of open squares, all within the circular downtown district.
Timişoara benefitted greatly from the urban planning expertise of
the incoming Habsburg government in the early 1700s, and both the
squares and remaining buildings are a testiment to their smart designs.
The Old Quarters
The old city area of Timişoara is consisted of historic city
quarters with several historic squares and promenades, such as:
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Cetate (Belváros in Hungarian, Innere-Stadt in German)
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Iosefin (Józsefváros, Josephstadt)
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Elisabetin (Erzsébetváros, Elisabethstadt)
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Fabric (Gyárváros, Fabrikstadt)
Numerous bars, clubs and restaurants have opened in the old center, in the
fine old baroque square.
The Downtown Monuments
The Cathedral of Banat
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Banat is the main Romanian
Orthodox cathedral in Timişoara.
It was built between 1937 and 1940. It is dedicated to
the Three Holy Hierarchs, Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the
Theologian, and John Chrysostom. It has 11 towers, of which the central
and the highest has a height of 96 meters.
This cathedral is a great choice if you have limited time
in Timişoara or Romania, as it is home to many valuable religious
objects such as old icons and early writings in Romanian, such as the
1648 Noul Testament de la Bălgrad ("The New Testament of Bălgrad") and
the 1643 Metropolitan Varlaam's Homily, or Cazania lui Varlaam.
The building's style is quite unusual among Romanian
Orthodox buildings, although it is partly based on local religious
tradition and partly on Byzantine architecture (the style developed by
Moldavian and Byzantine artisans had transplanted and adapted).
Elements such as niches under the eaves, starry vaulting
in the interior, and lacquered discs in a variety of colors, can be seen
in monasteries such as Cozia or Prislop (both built in the 14th century
and based on guidelines devised by the monk Nicodim of Prilep).
The church's interior and exterior paintings were created
by the painter Atanasie Demian. The difficult period that followed the
structure's completion (see Romania during World War II) prevented the
paintings from being finished on time, so this work went on for many
years after World War II
St. Georges's Catholic Cathedral
It was not soon after the Habsburg Empire ousted the
Turks that the foundation stone for this magnificent edifice was laid in
1736.
Designed by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach from
Vienna, Hans Lechner continued the building from 1750. Finished by
two architects from Timişoara, Johann Theodor Kostka and Carl Alexander
Steinlein in 1774.
The Dome was built in Austrian baroque style and it
was dedicated to Saint George, the dioceses patron saint. The picture
located at the high altar was painted by Michel Angelo Unterberger, the
director of fine arts academy of Vienna, illustrating the patron saint.
The side altars were painted by Johann Nepomuk Schöpf in
1772.The precious oil-lamps were made by Josef Moser. The organ was made
by Leopold Wegenstein, and it provides an impressive experience for the
ears. The cathedrals bells were refurbished in Germany in 1998.
The Old Prefecture is one of the most valuable monuments from the
Baroque period in all of Timişoara.
Construction between 1752 and 1754, the building served
as the residence of the regional governor for the Banat Region, which
explains the rather regal emblishments found on it's detailed facade.

After about 1779 the building was known as the County
Prefect's House, and in 1885, the building was modified to change the
facade and attic roof structure. Today it houses the art
section of the Banat Museum, and since 2002 has been in various stages
of restoration.
The Museum of Banat
The Huniade Castle
Rather grandly housed in the Huniade Castle
(Castelul Huniazilor in Romanian), the museum is in the oldest monument
of Timişoara, built between 1443 and 1447 by John Hunyadi.
Built over the old royal castle dating from the 14th century (built
during the reign of Charles of Anjou), today you'll find the History
Section and the Natural Sciencies Section of Timişoara's Banat Museum.
The Banat Museum is divided into three exhibit bodies, being
History, Natural Science, and Archeology, with a separate Restoration
and Conservation section.
In 2006, the Art Section was renamed the Timişoara Art Museum
(Muzeul de Artă Timişoara), and the Ethnography collection was
consolidated into the Timişoara Village Museum (Muzeul Satului
Timişoara). All are favourites of school groups so aim for a
rainy weekend day for a bit more quiet.
History Museum
The History Museum was constructed under the asupices of the History
and Archeology Society founded in 1872. Over the years, the
museum was headquartered in different locations, and was moved to the
Huniade Castle in 1947.
The highlight of the history section centres on the history of the
Banat region, covering the entire swath of time from prehistoric times
to the present. Principal collections are structured into archeological
exhibits, numismatic displays, as well as a section on cartography.
The Collection of Musical Memoirs
It's a combined science of museology, library and book collecting
often not encountered in the west, that of memoirism, or
"memorialistică" in Romanian.
Founded in 1975 as an integrated part of the History
section of the museum, the Memoirs Sector contains a wealth of over
20,000 documents and object, about 90% of which are related to the life
and the creative processes behind the music of Banat.
The large part of the collection is made up of documents
donated and obtained from Romanian and ethnic minorities of the region,
from Banat musicians Sabin Drăgoi, Iosif Velceanu, Hermann Klee, Filaret
Barbu and Vadim Şumski amongst many others.
Some of the displays include the actual musical instruments, as well
as personal objects, posters, concert programs, photographs, books,
letters and more.
The collection is greatly enriched with items associated
with the Timişoara Philharmonic Society in the second half of the 19th
century, many donated by the Musician's Friends society, and from the
Hungarian Choir, the Vidu Choir from nearby
Lugoj, and form the
Banatian Romanian Choir and Brass Band Association (al Asociaţiei
Corurilor şi Fanfarelor Române din Banat).
The Dacians and the Romans
Today's Timişoara was in the lower marshlands during
Roman occupation of their Dacian provinces, and the whole region was a
crossroads between the Panonian provinces and the Moeisia provinces to
the south and east.
A great weatlh of Dacian and Roman artifacts is contained
in the archeological collections of the Banat Museum, in the permanent
display on the Dacian-Romaan period. These displays draw from
metal and glass works from Tibiscum, pottery from Ramna, Pojejena,
Mehadia, as well as Tibiscum and Gornea.

The mysterious Mithraic spiritual culture of the lower
classes and soldiers of the mostly Romanised Dacians from the second to
fifth centuries is shown through finds from the digs at
Timişoara-Friedorf, Moldova Veche, and Greoni, with quite a few vases,
customary household metal objects, glass, pewter and clay jewellery.
Migrations through the third to thirteenth centuries
through what is today's Romania are represented in a huge map with
associated archeological finds and photographs from sites around
Romania.
The Critters of Banat
Alot of time, effort and money went into the Natural
Sciences section of the Banat museum, which features permanent exhibits
on Banatian wildlife and plants, the evolution of man and animals, and
minerology.
The
Natural Science section holds over 50,000 catalogued pieces, with the
more important and impressive specifimens finding their ways into the
displays on rocks and minerals, paleoentology, butterflies, beetles,
molusks, birds and other creepy-crawlies.
The diaramas are quite well done, featuring mostly deer, wolves,
geese, weasels, wild cats, and tree martins, all intertwined with local
pines and other flora of the marshy plains and low mountains which frame
The Banat to the north and east.
Telefon: +40 (256) 491339 Fax: +40 (256) 201321
Email the Museum Here
Museums of the Banat open daily except Mondays, 10am - 4pm
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Listed below are some local agents who can help you with bookings and organize
local tours
in
the Timişoara area.
Check in with Corina
at Sfara Tours -- they will pick you up
at the Timişoara International Airport and deliver you to your hotel as part of
your tour package with them! Check out
their great tours here!

+40 (256) 433.333 FAX:
+40 (256)
433 333


+40 (256) 194.444

+40 (256) 295.833 FAX:
+40 (256)
400 854

+40 (256) 49.97.06 FAX:
+40 (256) 49.97.06

+40 (256) 29.26.06 FAX:
+40 (256)
29 26 36

+40 (256) 499.409 FAX:
+40 (256)
499 409

+40 (256) 43.54.14 FAX:
+40 (256)
43 54 20
Student Adventure, Str.Lascar Catargiu ( fosta Alexandru Lazar), nr.2,
bl.15, sc.B, et.1, camera 12[in complexul studentesc],
in Timişoara

+40 (256) 240.042 FAX:
+40 (256)
240 042

+40 (256) 27.08.27 FAX:
+40 (256)
27 08 27

+40 (256) 200.577 FAX:
+40 (256)
200 068
Eximtur (Timiş), Str.Aristide Demetriade nr.1, Mall Timisoara, parter
magazin BA 64,
in Timişoara

+40 (256) 247.613 FAX:
+40 (256)
247 613

+40 (256) 49.14.80 FAX:
+40 (256)
29 43 93

+40 (256) 29.32.44 FAX:
+40 (256)
293 299

+40 (256) 22.10.25
 +40 (256) 494.523 FAX:
+40 (256) 201.500

+40 (356) 101.745 FAX:
+40 (256)
499 450

+40 (256) 431.005
Kusadasi, Strada Regiment 5 Vanatori, Nr 1, Ap. 5 (langa Piata Unirii),
in Timişoara

+40 (256) 43.20.55

+40 (256) 29.30.60

0258-430.287 FAX:
+40 (256)
430 287

+40 (256) 295.017 FAX:
+40 (256)
295 016

+40 (256) 435.210 FAX:
+40 (256)
435 210

+40 (256) 294.299 FAX:
+40 (256)
294 299
+40 (256) 270.545

0246-492.958 FAX:
+40 (256)
492 958

+40 (256) 43.57.99 FAX:
+40 (256)
43 57 99

+40 (256) 433.333

+40 (256) 435.529

+40 (256) 293.974 FAX:
+40 (256)
305 688

+40 (256) 49.40.74
Classicom, Divizia 9 Cavalerie - Centrul Comercial Terra
in Timişoara

+40 (256) 20.14.72 FAX:
+40 (256)
20 14 72

+40 (256) 241.864

+40 (256) 491.011

+40 (256) 303.472

+40 (256) 492.368 FAX:
+40 (256)
492 368

+40 (256) 498.862 FAX:
+40 (256)
306 424

256 292 960 FAX:
+40 (256)
292 958

+40 (256) 120004 FAX:
+40 (040)
256) 120004
+40 (256) 49.83.35 FAX:
+40 (256)
49 83 35
+40 (256) 432.164 FAX:
+40 (256)
432 184
+40 (256) 43.11.53 FAX:
+40 (256)
43 11 48
+40 (256) 35.43.43 FAX:
+40 (256)
35 06 71
+40 (256) 294.689 FAX:
+40 (256)
294 689
+40 (256) 33.14.00 FAX:
+40 (256)
22 14 01
+40 (256) 201.073 FAX:
+40 (256)
201 073
+40 (256) 246.596 FAX:
+40 (246)
493 471
+40 (256) 200.119
+40 (256) 432.324
+40 (256) 29.28.69
Informations,tickets
+40
(256) 220534
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See More Maps of Romania and
Timişoara at
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See
More Street Maps of Timişoara at
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From the Rest Romania Website at
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Romania's Number Two Air Hub
Carpatair SAAB 2000
at Timişoara
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The ATC Tower at Timişoara
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Timişoara Airlines:
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Skyteam
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Romanian Airlines:
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Other Regionals:
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The city is served by Romania's second-busiest airport, Traian
Vuia International Airport, just 10km from the city center.
It is the hometown hub of the Romania's second-largest airline,
Carpatair. There are regular flights from and to all major European
and domestic destinations.
The airport is 12km northeast of Timişoara along the E70 highway,
near Ghiroda village, and car hire is available at the airport and at some downtown
offices (see Rental Cars below), but most
tour companies will arrange transport to your downtown hotel or
other onward arrangements. Bus 26 also will get you into
town if you don't have too much luggage.
Nine One-Stops to Timişoara
If you're flying from North America, you can benefit from nine
single-stop flights through major European air centers.
Fly to your choice of Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, Vienna or Budapest
and connect to your direct flight to Timişoara. Or, you
can also connect via Munich, Milan, Prague or even Athens from your
North American flight.
Timişoara is the perfect starting point for your travel across
Romania, with over ten short flights to all of the major tour areas.
Timişoara serves 11 domestic destinations in Romania, with
non-stop flights to Bacău, Iaşi, Bucharest (Baneasa and
Otopeni), Oradea, Sibiu, Cluj, Suceava, Constanţa, Târgu,
Mureş, and Craiova; with connecting flights to Baia Mare and
Suceava. Timişoara's air traffic is only growing, with
new international routes added in 2008 by
Carpatair, including Kiev and
Odessa in Ukraine, Bari in Italy, and Thessaloniki in Greece.

By Train
Timişoara is similarly well-served by international and domestic
rail lines, being a natural regional centre for train travel due to
it's location at the intersection of 3 countries and 3 domestic
regions.
Travel through the best of the Habsburg Empire, travelling
through the capital cities of Vienna and Budapest on your way to
Timişaora, or come into Romania via Belgrade if your coming from
Serbia or points to the south-west. Check out
train schedules to and from Timişoara on the
CFR website
If you're driving into Romania from Belgrade (Serbia), Timişoara
is 150km or 2˝ hours away by car, and from Budapest (Hungary), 320km
along some good freeways.
Renting a car can make alot of sense in Romania, with a reasonable
road network and several European graded routes through the country.
Timişoara in particular offers great road connections to the north to
Arad and Oradea, as well as routes to the east and the wide Wallachian
Plains. See our Map section here for more, and
our Guide to Driving in
Romania for more information.
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+1(800)
331 1212
+44
(844) 581 0147
+40 723 623309
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+1(800)
331 1212
+44
(844) 581 0147
+40 (256) 203234
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+1(800)
527 0700
+44
(8445) 81 22 01
+40 723 055168
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+1(877)
940 6900
+44
(845) 758 5375
+40 (256) 303486 FAX:
+40
(256) 201107
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+1(877)
940 6900
+44
(845) 758 5375
+40 (256) 386084 FAX:
+40
(256) 386084
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+1(800)
654 3131
+44
(8708) 44 88 44
+40 (256) 492211 FAX:
+40
(256) 492909
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+1(800)
847 4389
+44
(1494) 751 540
+40 (256) 386013 FAX:
+40
(256) 386013
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+1(888)
SIXTCAR
+44
(0870) 1 567 567
+40 (256) 386074 Buc: (21) 350 4860 FAX:
+40
(256) 386074
Also in Timişoara Airport:
City Car +40 (256) 386-090
TopRent: +40
(721) 720760
EMail TopRent
Localities in the
Western Timiş and Bega Canal area:
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For other towns in
OTHERREGION,
please see our OTHERPAGENAME
section! |
Population
The municipality of Timişoara has a population of 317,660 (2002
Census). Ethnic composition:
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Romanians: 271,677 (85.52%)
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Hungarians: 24,302 (7.65%)
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Germans: 7,157 (2.25%)
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Serbs: 6,311 (1.98%)
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Rroma: 3,062 (0.96%)
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Bulgarians: 1,218 (0.38%)
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Others: 3,926
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Dialling Timişoara
All of the phone numbers in
Timişoara start with (256) or (356), depending on whether
the service is through the old state-run operator RomTelecom, or
from one of the newer entrants into the market in Romania.
Dialling into anywhere in County
Timiş, you must
remove any leading zero from the county code portion of the phone
number, so that (0256) becomes (256). Dialling a mobile
number (Vodaphone, Zapp, Orange, Cosmote, etc), you do the same, dropping the zero from the (07XX) part of
the number, to make it (7XX). Both landlines and mobiles
have 6 digits following the initial county code.

Timişoara HotSpots
We're hoping to extend this list in the near future.
Van Graph KFe (Cafe), Str. Matei Corvin at Unification
Square in Timişoara
Spaced out
place, hosts to annual concerts and events.  
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The Iulius Mall
Even in the Banat region of Romania, there is at least one
you-could-be-anywhere mall, just to give you that feeling of home!
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(256) 391355 (256) 225463 FAX: (256) 289266 Motel Petrom, DN 69, km 18+0,8 in Ortisoara (256) 205127 Hotel Zoppas INN, Drumul Cenadului 31-37 in Sânnicolau Mare (256) 303909 (256) 270171 FAX: (256) 270170 (256) 480181 (256) 407299 (2256) 291790 (256) 439406 (256) 401080 FAX: (256) 401079 (256) 228754 FAX: (256) 228755 Hotel Timişoara, Str. Mărăşeşti, nr.1-3 in TimişoaraHotel Timisoara, with its elegant style and functionality offers you a warm atmosphere, all the conveniences and facilities you would expect . (256) 498851 (256) 293280 (256) 491166 FAX: (256) 491166 (256) 293797 FAX: (256) 294945 (256) 497504 (356) 807600 (256) 407373 FAX: (256) 407374 (256) 303304 Pensiunea Dominique & Nathalie, Str. Mureş, nr. 57 in TimişoaraHotel Dominique & Nathalie
is the ideal hotel in Timisoara for tourists coming to Timişoara. (256) 465262 (256) 494144 FAX: (256) 494145 (256) 225463 (256) 490091 (256) 309409 FAX: (256) 309410 (256) 439410 FAX: (256) 439410 (256) 494384 FAX: (256) 215500 (256) 287576 FAX: (256) 287578 (256) 201253 FAX: (256) 221444 (256) 207837 FAX: (256) 207837 (256) 490130 FAX: (256) 490130 (256) 306433 FAX: (256) 306432 (256) 306880 FAX: (256) 306881 (256) 275090 (256) 489987 FAX: (256) 489988 Vila Sara, Str. Chisoda Izlaz, nr.15 in Timişoara (356) 109005 Pensiunea Elena, Str. Oraviţa in Timişoara (256) 282900 Hotel Perla 4, Str. Turgheniev, nr.9 in Timişoara (256) 203100 Pensiunea Cătălin, Calea urseni, nr.21/A in Timişoara (256) 222172 Hotel Perla 1, Str. Petre Râmneteanu, nr.11 in Timişoara (256) 495201 Hotel Boca Junior, Str. Simion Barnuţiu 29 in Timişoara (256) 287828 |
See also County Timiş
for accommodation in other nearby towns
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The area code for County Timiş is (256) or (356)
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Early Timişoara History
In the Roman period, there was a military camp named Zambara or
Zurobara in the place where Timişoara is today or in the immediate
vicinity. During the time of the invasions of the nomad tribes of the
Central-Asian plains, especially that of the Avars, on the site of the
ruins of Zambara, a new settlement was built – Beguey.
In 1019 Timişoara was mentioned for the first time in written documents by the Byzantine
Emperor Basil II, although not all historians agree with this
identification.
In 1154 the Arabian geographer Sarif al Idrisi mentions the city saying
it's a "nice city offering a lot of riches".
The first mention of the fort of Timişoara (Castrum Temesiensis) is
found in the decree of King Andrew II of Hungary dating from 1212.
Timişoara was first mentioned in the official documents as a city in
1474. It was captured by the Ottomans in 1552 and remained under Ottoman
control until it was captured by Habsburg officer Prince Eugene of Savoy
in 1716.
The demographic conditions of the region changed dramatically during
the 167 year of Ottoman rule. In 1582 the city of Temeswar in spite of the
bloody siege still has a Hungarian majority (the chief judge was István
Herczegh - Preyer, Johann N.: Monographie der konigliche n Freistadt
Temesvar - 1853). Later, the largest ethnic group in the city were Muslim
Turks, and other smaller groups were Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies.
After the city was captured by the Habsburg Empire, the Turkish
population fled and we know about 600-700 inhabitants out of which 446
were Serbs, 144 Jewish, and 35 Armenians.
According to the 1720 data, the largest ethnic group in the city were
Serbs, and other smaller groups were Romanians and Jews, there were no
Hungarians and Germans in the city at that time. Later, many Germans
settled in the city, and they became the largest ethnic group.
The "Armenische Stadt" as a separate quarter existed until the great
plague from 1738.
In 1718 the first beer factory in Transylvania was built. The first
tobacco mill in today's Romania was set up in Timişoara. Between 1728 and
1771 a canal Bega was built to unite the city with the Danube river.
In
1849 Timişoara was named the capital of the Austrian crownland of
Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat as the result of the Spring of
Nations revolution; the province was enthically extremely diverse, with
its population made out of Romanians, Germans, Serbs, and Hungarians. The
crownland was abolished in 1860 and passed to Hungarian rule in 1867 with
the creation of dual monarchy.
The city was also the first city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to have
public lighting using suet candles and lamps with oil and grease.
Timişoara also became the first city in Europe to have electric public
lighting on the 12th of November 1884, (four years after New York City). A
tram hauled by horses also came into service around this period.
Meanwhile, in 1869 Timişoara was the first city to have an ambulance
station in the Kingdom of Hungary.
After World War II, as result of city development, Romanians became a
majority in the city. At the same time, many ethnic Germans emigrated in
Germany. Timişoara's population has more than tripled over the last
50 years (it was slightly more than 90,000 at 1930 census), but the
Magyars' percentage has decreased from 30% to 7.5%, the Germans from 30%
to 2% and the Jews from 8% to almost 0%.
On December 16 1989 townspeople supported Hungarian Calvinist pastor
László Tőkés against efforts to deport him by the Securitate, or secret
police. On the 17th a popular uprising began in Timişoara against the
Communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu. This was the beginning of the
Romanian Revolution of 1989, which ended the Communist regime a week
later.
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Read More about Timişoara at:
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From the Rest Romania Website at
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