Timisoara

Being the farthest among the urban centers in the west of Romania, with a population of more than 400.000 inhabitants, Timisoara is situated in an area open to the European penetration. Being strategically placed and being involved in holding back the Ottoman advancement towards the Central Europe, Timisoara makes its history a chapter of the history of Europe. All historical epochs let their own mark upon Timisoara; it is their joint influences that have lent it a remarkable unity and equilibrium in spite of the inherent heterogenity.

The town was built in the middle of a plain covered till the 18th century by marshes formed after the floods of the rivers Timis and Bega. From this point of view, the many imposing buildings that embellish the streets of the town, make us realize the difficulty of the work of the architects of those times, who had to find technical solutions required by that kind of land, besides the esthetical aspect of the buildings.

The central and the oldest area of the town is suggestively called "The Citadel". This was the nucleus from which the development of the town started. The Citadel underwent important changes, especially under the Habsburg domination , its complete restoration being accomplished around the year 1765.At that time, it was considered one of the four important citadels of the Habsburg Monarchy. The oldest architectonic monuments of Timisoara, except the Castle, date from that century (the XVIIIth century).

The Castle, today the Banat Museum, was originally built between the years 1307-1315,another Castle being built by Iancu of Hunedoara between the years 1443-1447 on the same site.It was reconstructed approximately in its present shape in the year 1856. Squares and streets with nicely lined up buildings, with churches , monuments and administrative palaces make the architectonic decoration of the citadel:

• The Union Square with the Roman-Catholic Cathedral (the Dome) built in 1763, by the Viennese architect Fischer von Erlach Junior, blending classic patterns and baroque decorations; the Serbian Orthodox Church, erected between 1744 and 1748, having very nice baroque sculptures; the Baroque Palace (the President's House), existing since 1733, restored and completed in the following century; the monument of the Holy Trinity sculptured in Vienna in 1739-1740, remarkable baroque work situated in the middle of the square, representing a group of human beings suffering from plague which, unfortunately, haunted Timisoara more than just one time.
• The Liberty Square, the military center of the town, dominated by the Commander in Chief's Residence (1744-1753) with its rococo-decorated fa?ade; the Old Townhall erected between 1731 and 1734 on the foundations of a former Turkish Bath; the War Chancellery (1730) sculptured by Blim and Wasserburger in Vienna.
• Other monumental edifices dating from the same period adorn the architecture of the Citadel near the two squares: the Episcopal Palace, the Deschan Palace, the Mercy Palace, the Theresia Bastion, the Greco-Catholic Church from the Fabric district.

The monumental buildings from the 19th century are in a greater number and make a specific trait of the architecture of the town: the Dicasterial Palace (1855-1860), the biggest building of Timisoara, the facades being decorated in the Florentin Renascence style; the Higher Science School (today the Lenau Highschool); the New Synagogue(1863-1865 ), situated near the Union Square, with its Moorish style bringing a special "color" into the architecture of the place; the New Synagogue from the Fabric district (1899) built also in Moorish style; the Roman-Catholic Church from the Fabric district (1896), built in Roman style, etc. Among the historical monuments of the last century we mention: Victory Memorial (today in the Lipovei Street Cemetery), set up to commemorate the victory of the Austrian troops in the Revolution of 1848/49; the St. Mary's Monument, erected in St. Mary's Square, in the place where, according to tradition, Gheorghe Doja (leader of the peasant uprising against feudalism in 1514) was executed. Legends say that, while Gheorghe Doja was tortured, the Jesuit monks who were singing religious hymns, saw St. Mary' face. The present shape of the monument dates from 1 906 and it is made of Carrara marble. It rests inside a Roman granite chapel. One of the most beautiful achievements of Romania between the two World Wars is the Victory Square dominated by the National Theatre (1923-1928 ) built in Neo-Byzantine style and the Orthodox Cathedral (1936-1946 ) realized in the traditional Romanian architecture (Moldavian style). The sides of the square are occupied by monumental buildings (the Lloyd Palace, the Lofler Palace, the Dauerbac Palace, the Merbl Palace). In the middle of the square one can see the Mother - Wolf statue the gift from Rome in the year 1926, as a symbol of the Latin origin of the Romanian people.