Timișoara

Timișoara was laid out by Habsburg engineers in the eighteenth century on the site of an Ottoman fortress, and the plan still shapes it: three linked squares, Unirii with its baroque cathedral and Serbian church facing each other, Libertății, and the long Victoriei with the opera at one end and the Orthodox cathedral at the other. The city has a habit of being first, with the earliest electric street lighting in continental Europe among the claims it makes for itself, and it has always been mixed, with Romanian, Hungarian, German and Serbian communities and their churches within a few hundred metres of each other. Restoration ahead of its year as European Capital of Culture in 2023 cleaned the facades and repaved the squares, and the Secession quarter along the Bega canal is being recovered building by building. The canal itself, with its bike paths and water taxis, gives the city an unusually relaxed spine.

History

The Hungarian name Temesvár, the castle on the Timiș, is first recorded as Temeswar in 1315, and the castle itself is named in 1212 as castrum Temesiensis, a date some historians dispute in favour of 1266. The Austrians took the city from the Ottomans in 1716, and from 1848 to 1860 it was the capital of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat (Wikipedia, Timișoara).

What to look for

• The three squares - Unirii, Libertății and Victoriei linked through the centre.
• The Orthodox cathedral - a landmark of Moldavian-influenced design at the head of Victoriei.
• Secession facades - Art Nouveau blocks around the centre and along the canal.
• The Bega canal - waterside paths, bridges and small boats through the city.

When to go

April to October, when the squares fill with terraces; the city is a summer-evening place. Festivals run through the warm months. Winter is flat and grey, though the Christmas market in Victoriei square is good.

Before you go

Restoration is unfinished and whole streets of the Secession quarter remain shabby and propped. Some museums keep short hours and close on Mondays. The city sprawls beyond the centre with little of interest. Summer heat in the Banat plain is heavy.

Nearby

The Banat mountains and Nera gorges lie southeast; the Danube gorge is further south.

Key facts