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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.
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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
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