Many places and 3 countries - Part V - Romania - Timisoara

Timisoara was our first destination in Romania. This Middle-Ages city located in the Banat region has an incredibly interesting architecture. Even if a lot of students come to live in Timisoara I didn't have the impression that the city is a very dynamic one. It seems more like a quite, nice, relaxed atmosphere where Cipriano and me enjoyed nice walks and nice talks in the cafés of Timisoara.

Timisoara was during a long time in the hands of the Habsburgs and was consequently heavily influenced by Vienna which allowed to the city to bloom economically and socially. From this period date some of Timisoara's premiers such as the introduction of electrical street lighting and electrical trams.

At the end of 1918, while the Habsburg Empire was living its last days, the citizens of the Banat regiuon decided to unite with Romania.
From 1947 Timisoara, like the all country, came under the communists and it is in the 1970s and the 1980s that Romania is hit by a huge crisis. In that time, the country was led by the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. But in 1989, the Revolution started in the Victoria Square of Timisoara.
After that date, this city benefited from international exposure and shows growth on foreign investments.

Today Romanians make up 85% of the total population; they were 10% in 1900 and 23% in 1930. And yet Hungarians, Germans, Serbians and Roma are active communities, having their own cultural institutions. We even past by a Serbian Orthodox church which surprised me.
 

 Libertatii Square

Libertatii Square (Liberation Square) was once the headquarters of the military administration. It was called "Parades Square" in the time when Timisoara's role of border city of the empire was overwhelming. The square has a lovely aspect, with some elegant baroque monuments, like the statue of St.Mary and St. Nepomuk, a masterpiece of Viennese artists, that you can see above.

 

At Victoria Square 

This square, contrary to the other squares such as Unirii Square and Libertatii Square evolved after 1910 on the grounds of the former fortress walls and water channels. It is much newer than the others, but is soon became the main square in Timisoara up to date.

Main Orthodox church at Victoria Square

This church is located in the southern end of Victoria Square and represents an interesting counterpart to the theater. It was built between 1936 and 1946. 

Victoria Sqaure is considered as a masterpiece of Eastern European urban architecture. Some of the most dramatic episodes of the Revolution in December 1989 against Ceausescu took place here. Some buildings remain till today poke marked by the bullets of the brutal repression forces, testifying for the dictator who dared to order fire against his own people.  

Austrian architecture influence - Unirii Square

Theater building at Victory Square

This building is interesting in the sens that it shows a rupture with the Austrian administration. In 1919, Timisoara undergoes Romanian administration and the façade of the Theater building is restyled.

Lupa Capitolina in the middle of Victoria Square (a guift from Rome's municipality)