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153-699: After the conquest in October 1716 of the Timișoara Fortress by the Habsburg army under the command of Eugene of Savoy , it was found that the Turkish fortifications could not cope with the new fighting techniques. As a result, the decision was made to restore the entire fortress. The fortification was done in the Pagan system . The Pagan system inspired the first of the fortification systems envisaged by Vauban ;

306-656: A counterguard with a palisade. The wall to the south was protected by the castle, and the walls on the southeast and southwest were protected by swamps. There were deep moats in front of the counterguard, in front of the walls and between them. The walls of the town had five gates: The Counterguard had four gates: the Rooster's Gate (Z), the Sedi Pasha Gate (V), the Osman Aga Gate (X), and Aghas' Pasha Gate (Y). Palanca Mare could be entered in through

459-487: A second language , preferring Romanian. Serbian is more common among older generations educated in it. In 2018, according to official data, over 7,000 foreigners lived in Timișoara. The actual figure is higher, given that many foreigners living in Timișoara do not apply for permanent residence, while spending most of their time in the city. Although much changed throughout its history, the religious composition of Timișoara

612-567: A controversial claim regarding the existence of a castrum, there is no certain documentary , archaeological or epigraphic evidence that one existed near the site of the Timișoara fortress. In the 15th century the Italian architect Paolo Santini de Duccio claimed that he had built fortifications in Timișoara over old Avar earthworks. The idea that such a fortification existed was repeated by Nicolae Ilieșiu , who identified it with Zambara. It has since been proven that Zambara never existed,

765-403: A decrease compared to the previous census in 2011, when 319,279 inhabitants were registered. However, these figures are questioned by local authorities and sociologists due to the defective way in which the census was conducted. According to the mayor's office and local population records, Timișoara numbers over 309,000 inhabitants as of 2023. The population of the city represents roughly 38% of

918-509: A description of what he saw. The counterguard and the fortifications with palisades were made in the second half of the 17th century. Therefore, it is considered that the names Palanca Mare and Palanca Mică date from this period. In 1686, Timișoara Fortress was prepared for battle. According to an inventory of the weaponry, this included 54 pieces of artillery – of which 3 were basilisks – 1346 rifles, 402  bows and 11,760  arrows and 5,156 grenades . In

1071-480: A distance of 30 and 27 km from the city, respectively, mentioned since Roman times for the properties of healing waters. Along with Oradea , Timișoara is part of the Art Nouveau European Route. It is also a member of Eurocities . Timișoara has an active cultural scene due to the city's three state theatres, opera , philharmonic and many other cultural institutions. In 2016, Timișoara

1224-415: A few insectivores and rodents. The birds, on the other hand, are numerous, some of which are of hunting importance (the pheasant ). The urban wildlife , although less varied than the forest wildlife, has a higher number of species of hunting interest ( rabbit , deer , quail , partridge , pheasant , hedgehog , etc.) and reptiles. In the parks of Timișoara there are hedgehogs , moles , tree frogs and

1377-407: A height of 40 meters (130 ft). The guards, the knights' room, the prison and the stables were situated downstairs. The royal rooms, the guest rooms and a chapel were situated upstairs. Huniade Castle was used as a headquarters by Pál Kinizsi , county executive of Timiș from 1478 to 1494. It came into his full possession in 1489 and, like his predecessors, he also strengthened the walls and

1530-604: A lot of birds. Regarding the piscifauna, the dominant species is the carp , along with which live breams , bleaks , roaches , zieges , pikes , natural support for sport fishing . Timișoara used to have the only zoo in western Romania, Timișoara Zoological Garden , but it was closed. The main watercourse is the Bega River , the southernmost tributary of the Tisza . Springing from the Poiana Ruscă Mountains , Bega

1683-399: A powder room. The bastion was designed in this way to be able to function independently, as a last point of resistance, similar to a keep in medieval fortifications. In the current classification, body A consists of the southern ear of the bastion and the southern wall of the retreat, body B consists of the one-story building with attic that closes the bastion to the west, body C consists of

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1836-630: A result, the Ottoman reaction to the takeover of Timișoara by the Habsburgs was not long in coming. In September 1551 Sokollu Mehmed Pasha , the beylerbey of Rumelia , began his campaign. He led an army of 8,000 janissaries , 100,000 akıncılar and 13 sanjak-beys with their troops. To hold Transylvania he relied on the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia and on the Tartars . To isolate Timișoara, Sokollu Pasha started from Belgrade and advanced up

1989-579: A riding school, an ethnography school, a fencing school, a printing house, boarding schools or the State Archives . After 1970, the ethnographic collections of the Museum of Banat , a technical museum and the old collections of the County Library were moved here. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Timișoara was defortified. Within it, almost all

2142-478: Is 45. Predominantly under the influence of the maritime air masses from the northwest, Timișoara receives a higher amount of precipitation than the cities in the Wallachian Plain . The average amount of precipitation for the year in Timișoara is 604.4 mm (23.80 in), falling on 87 days. The month with the most precipitation on average is June with 80.8 mm of precipitation. The month with

2295-512: Is a historical fortress in western Romania around which the town of Timișoara was built. It is presumed that there was an earlier earthworks fortification built by the Avars , but the first written record is from the 13th century. At the beginning of the 14th century Charles I of Hungary built the first stone fortification, the Angevin fortress. In 1443 John Hunyadi restored the castle and

2448-440: Is canalized, and from Timișoara to its outflow it was arranged for navigation (115 km [71 mi]). The Bega Canal was built between 1728 and 1760, but its final arrangement was made later. The Bega Canal was designed for the access of barges of 600–700 tons and an annual transport capacity of three million wagons. From the multitude of arms that existed before the canalization of Bega, only Bega Moartă (Dead Bega; in

2601-738: Is diverse. If in 1910 most of the inhabitants were Roman Catholics , in 2011 75% declared themselves Romanian Orthodox . In Timișoara there are 80 churches, 12 of which were built after 1989; 41 belong to the Orthodox Church , eight to the Roman Catholic Church and three to the Greek Catholic Church . In addition, there are three synagogues in Cetate , Fabric and Iosefin neighborhoods, all three built before World War I , when Jews accounted for 10% of

2754-416: Is drawn based on this plan and highlights the details. The various shades of green represent the banquettes , the barbettes , the covertways and the glacis . Blue indicates the trenches, and light blue represents the floodplains in case of siege. Yellow represents the access ways, the bridges and the ramps. In the intra muros area there were fortified buildings represented in dark red: Hunyadi Castle (1),

2907-484: Is located at the intersection of the 45th parallel north with the 21st meridian east . As a mathematical position, it is in the northern hemisphere , almost equally distant from the north pole and the equator , and in the eastern hemisphere, using Central European Time . The local time of the city (considered after the meridian) is 1 h 25' 8" ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time , but it is 34' 52" behind

3060-482: Is made up of people who have moved here from elsewhere. In 2017, the former mayor Nicolae Robu stated that the city of Timișoara has an additional population of over 100,000 people compared to the officially registered residents. This includes students, workers, and other categories of floaters, who are not included in the statistical reports as they no longer acquire a residence visa. Timișoara has stood out since ancient times as an ethnically diverse city. In 1910 ,

3213-566: Is provided by Lake Surduc , an anthropic lake (1976), the largest in Timiș County, located 87 km (54 mi) from the city. Like parts of Romania , Timișoara exhibits a transitional humid continental ( Köppen : Dfb ) and humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ), characteristic of the southeastern part of the Pannonian Basin , with some sub-Mediterranean influences. The dominant air masses, during spring and summer, are

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3366-601: Is the capital city of Timiș County , Banat , and the main economic, social and cultural centre in Western Romania . Located on the Bega River , Timișoara is considered the informal capital city of the historical Banat region. From 1848 to 1860 it was the capital of the Serbian Vojvodina and the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar . With 250,849 inhabitants at the 2021 census , Timișoara

3519-548: Is the country's fifth most populous city . It is home to around 400,000 inhabitants in its metropolitan area , while the Timișoara–Arad metropolis concentrates more than 70% of the population of Timiș and Arad counties. Timișoara is a multicultural city, home to 21 ethnic groups and 18 religious denominations. Historically, the most numerous were the Swabian Germans , Jews and Hungarians , who still make up 6% of

3672-411: Is to represent the national government at the local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of national development plans and governing programs at the local level. In 2003, neighborhood advisory councils were set up as a measure to improve local government consultation with citizens on local public policies. As of 2013, Timișoara had 20 neighborhood advisory councils. Timișoara

3825-625: The 2024 local elections , the Local Council has the following composition by political parties: Additionally, as Timișoara is the capital of Timiș County , the city hosts the Administrative Palace, the headquarters of the County Council ( Romanian : Consiliu Județean ) and the prefect , who is appointed by Romania's central government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and his role

3978-673: The Dacians who left traces of their past. Several Romanian historians have advanced the idea that the current location of Timișoara corresponds to the Dacian settlement of Zurobara . Although its location is unknown, the coordinates given by geographer Ptolemy in Geographike Hyphegesis place it in the northwest of Banat. It is assumed that in the 9th century Knyaz Glad ruled over these lands, accepting Hungarian sovereignty, though no contemporary accounts exist. Timișoara

4131-597: The Janissaries ' period of service ended, so Sokollu Pasha had to raise the siege and retreated towards Bečej . The troops of the garrison went on the attack and on 29   October they reconquered Cenad Fortress. On 4   November the Imperial troops commanded by Giovanni Battista Castaldo  [ de ; hu ; it ; ro ] arrived in Lipova and, after a two-week siege, the town surrendered. According to

4284-538: The Mediterranean Sea is also strongly felt, which in winter generate complete thawing and in summer impose periods of stifling heat. The average annual temperature was 11.8 °C (53.2 °F) between 1991 and 2020. The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 22.7 °C (72.9 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 1.0 °C (33.8 °F). The lowest temperature recorded in Timișoara

4437-646: The Pannonian Plain is bounded by the Mureș , the Tisza and the Danube ; the region was very fertile and already offered favourable conditions for food and human livelihood in 4000 BC. Archeological remains attested the presence of a population of farmers, hunters and artisans, whose existence was favoured by mild climate, fertile soil and abundant water and forests. The first identifiable civilisation in Banat were

4590-570: The counterscarp . The construction was delayed due to the prior execution of hydrotechnical works to provide the water needed for the Fortress, executed between 1728 and 1732. The first defensive wall belts of the fortress were finished in 1740. The first wall had 8 bastions (there were 9 eventually) in Pagan style (precursor of the Vauban style fortifications) and the curtain walls between them. The second one had eight ravelins placed in front of

4743-547: The dome (10) and the Rascian Church  [ de ; ro ] (11) – and a small triangular square (the current St. George Square) where there was a church, the former Great Mosque (12). The ground level is shown in white. The vertical profile of the fortifications was of Vauban type, with three wall belts, each facing floodplains. The first wall belt, whose parapets are represented in red, consisted of nine bastions and curtain walls. The bastions and

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4896-697: The fodder supplies had to remain. After the Austrians’ conquest of Belgrade in 1718, the Austro-Turkish war ended. The Treaty of Passarowitz confirmed the transfer of the Banat of Temeswar , including Timișoara Fortress, to the Habsburg monarchy . After its capture the fortress was in badly damaged state and the Austrians began to repair and rebuild it. There was not a clear plan and coherence

5049-474: The interwar years saw continuous economic and cultural development. A number of anti-fascist and anti-revisionist demonstrations also took place during this time. During World War II , Timișoara suffered damage from both Allied and Axis bombing raids , especially during the second half of 1944. On 23 August 1944, Romania, which until then was a member of the Axis, declared war on Nazi Germany and joined

5202-508: The kuruc and the Turkish civilian population were forced to leave the city after a 48-day siege marked by repeated bombings that destroyed much of the city's buildings. After the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), the Banat of Temeswar became the province of the Habsburg monarchy and was proclaimed "possession of the Crown" with a military administration which ruled Timișoara until 1751 when it

5355-774: The ravelin of the Vienna Gate, a portion of the Eugeniu bastion and a small part of the curtain wall between the Eugeniu and Elisabetha bastions. All these vestiges form the historic monument "Timișoara Fortress". In the Roman period there was a castrum at Tibiscum , although the Castrum Temesiensis has been located in Jupa , not in modern Timișoara, and it is registered on the List of Historical Monuments . It

5508-505: The Allies. The German and Hungarian troops attempted to take the city by force throughout September, but without success. After the war, the People's Republic of Romania was proclaimed, and Timișoara underwent Sovietisation and, later, Systematisation . The city's population tripled between 1948 and 1992. Timișoara became highly industrialised both through new investments and by increasing

5661-422: The Angevin fortress in poor condition and in need of major restoration. During his reign the areas exposed to attack were restored and strengthened with palisades. The castle was also restored and Scolari used it as his residence until his death in 1426. At the same time various public edifices in the city were erected or rebuilt, which led to the revival of the city's economic life. In 1441 John Hunyadi became

5814-599: The Banat plain. By the middle of the 14th century, Timișoara was at the forefront of Western Christendom 's battle against the Muslim Ottoman Turks . In 1394, the Turks led by Bayezid I passed Nagybecskerek (present-day Zrenjanin ) and Timișoara on their way to Wallachia where they were defeated by Voivode Mircea the Elder in the battle of Rovine . Timișoara once again served as a concentration point for

5967-658: The Christian armed forces, this time for the battle of Nicopolis . After the Christians' defeat, the Ottomans devastated Banat to Timișoara, from where they were expelled by Count István Losonczy. Appointed Count of Timiș in 1440, John Hunyadi moved with his family to Timișoara, which he would turn into a permanent military camp. John Hunyadi would come to be known throughout the region for his victory in Belgrade over

6120-471: The Christian army conquered several towns, but Timișoara remained untouched. Another attempt to retake the city took place in 1596, when an army of Sigismund Báthory began the siege of the city. After 40 days of futile efforts, the besiegers drew back. After the victory at Petrovaradin on 5 August 1716, the Austrian army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy decided to conquer Timișoara. The Ottoman military,

6273-702: The Diet and that of disposing its own revenues. The city was under siege in 1848 for 107 days. The Hungarians unsuccessfully tried to capture the fortress in the battle of Temesvár . It was the last major battle in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 . By the March Constitution , the region was incorporated to the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar , which became a crownland of the Austrian Empire . The new imperial province,

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6426-574: The Fabric neighborhood) and Bega Veche (Old Bega; to the west, flowing through Săcălaz) are preserved inside the city. In addition to permanent courses and those that dry out, often during the summer, on the territory of Timișoara there are a number of lakes: either natural, formed instead of the old meanders or subsidence areas, such as those near Kuncz, Giroc, Pădurea Verde, etc., or of anthropic origin, such as those from Fratelia, Freidorf, Ciarda Roșie, Ștrandul Tineretului, etc. Timișoara's drinking water

6579-778: The Gate of the Long Toggle Bridge (in the northwest, in front of the Rooster's Gate), the Forforos Gate (&), the Martoloz Gate (2) and the Customs Gate (in the northeast, 3). Palanca Mică could be entered through the Gate of Belgrade (4). The walls and the counterguard had bastions – the bastion of Arsenal of the Artillery was located in the north-east (5). The Water Gate was defended by

6732-771: The Hungarian Forest Service. About 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Timișoara is the Bazoș Dendrological Park, a forest reserve which since 1994 has the status of protected area. The first trees of the reserve were brought in 1909 from the Harvard University nursery. Today, the reserve includes 800 different species of trees and shrubs and is part of the International Association of Botanical Gardens. The fauna of Timișoara includes few mammals, represented only by

6885-1395: The Hungarian form. The Habsburg/Austrian authorities also used Temeschwar or Temeswar , names that have become commonplace in current usage. The name of the city comes from the river which passes the city, Timișul Mic ( German : Kleine Temesch ; Hungarian : Kistemes ), hydronym which was in use until the 18th century when it was changed to Bega or Beghei. [REDACTED] Kingdom of Hungary (1212–1526) [REDACTED] Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (1526–1551) [REDACTED] Kingdom of Hungary (1551–1552) [REDACTED]   Ottoman Empire (1552–1716) [REDACTED]   Habsburg Monarchy (1718–1779) [REDACTED] Kingdom of Hungary (1779–1849) [REDACTED]   Austrian Empire (1849–1867) [REDACTED]   Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) ( de jure Hungary until 1920 ) [REDACTED] Banat Republic (1918) ( de facto ) [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Serbia (1918) ( de facto ) [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1919) ( de facto ) [REDACTED]   Kingdom of Romania (1920–1947) ( de facto from 1919) [REDACTED]   Romanian People's Republic (1947–1965) [REDACTED]   Socialist Republic of Romania (1965–1989) [REDACTED]   Romania (1989–present) The southeastern part of

7038-755: The Infantry Casemated Barracks (later known as the Transylvanian Barracks), The Barracks of the Fortifications Construction Service (The Engineer's House ) (3), Vienna Barracks (later Franz Joseph Barracks) (4), the gunpowder magazine (5), the dermatology hospital (6) and the military hospital (7). There were three squares: The Parade Square  [ de ; ro ] (8), The Main Square  [ de ; ro ] (9) – next to

7191-839: The Ottoman Empire into the Habsburg Empire. The main route of the Ottoman attack was along the right bank of the Danube towards Belgrade , Buda and Vienna . In Serbia forts were established or reinforced in Golubac , Smederevo , Kovin , Belgrade , and Petrovaradin . As there was a bottleneck on the Danube at the Iron Gates , there were numerous fortresses in the Clisura Dunării : Turnu Severin , Ada Kaleh , Orșova , Dubova (Peci), Svinița and Drencova . One of

7344-456: The Ottoman conquest. For example, Matthäus Seutter 's 18th-century map showed the Island and Fabric areas as smaller than they were; nevertheless, the map was popular due to the author's fame and its use of colour. Another inaccurate vedute was published in 1656 by Nicolas Sanson or Gabriel Bodenehr  [ de ] ; there were many others. A sketch closer to reality was made in 1602 by Ferenc Wathay  [ hu ] . This sketch

7497-440: The Ottomans during the 1551 campaign had been recovered. The Ottoman campaign began on 22   April 1552 when the Ottoman troops commanded by Kara Ahmed Pasha , the second vizier, left Adrianople and headed for Belgrade. They crossed the Danube together with the army of Rumelia commanded by Sokollu Pasha and reached Timișoara on 24   June with a vanguard of 1,500 horsemen. The siege began on 28   June. Sokollu Pasha

7650-411: The Ottomans, considered at that time a defender of Christianity. An important event in the city's history was the peasant uprising led by György Dózsa . On 10 August 1514 he tried to change the course of Bega River to be able to enter more easily into the city, but he was defeated by attacks from both inside and outside the city. The fall of Belgrade in 1521 and the defeat at Mohács in 1526 caused

7803-401: The Spanish and Austrian mercenaries admitted that the town could no longer be defended and they capitulated. On   27 July, in accordance with the surrender convention, the garrison left the town through the Praiko Gate. Nevertheless, as a reprisal for the massacre of the Lipova garrison the previous year, the Ottomans violated the armistice conditions and launched an attack that led to

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7956-403: The Tisza River by conquering Novi Bečej (19   September) and Zrenjanin (25   September). He continued along the River Mureș to Lipova, occupying the fortresses of Dudeștii Vechi , Cenad , Igriș , Felnac , Zădăreni , Nădlac , Ciala, Arad, Mândruloc , Păuliș and Chelmac . Lipova was occupied without a fight on 5   October by Ulama Pasha, who remained there as sanjak-bey of

8109-429: The Viennese Imperial Court accepted that the three counties of Banat to be reincorporated into the Hungarian Kingdom, in 1779. In 1781 Joseph II declared Timișoara free from the county authority and, to prevent the nobles from interfering with the administration of the city, he raised it to the rank of a "free royal city". This status would secure Timișoara's internal self-government, the right to have representatives in

8262-403: The Water Gate Bastion (6). The bastion of Arsenal was flanked by the bastion of Gate of the Azaps (7) and Ali Pasha Bastion (8). Azig Pasha (9) and the Rooster's bastions were located on the north side (10). The Yamak Bastion (11) and the Blood Tower (12) were located on the west side. There were two bastions on either side of the Castle's Small Gate and two other bastions in the southern corners of

8415-410: The aftermath of World War I , the Banat region was divided between the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , and Timișoara came under Romanian administration after Serbian occupation between 1918 and 1919. The city was ceded from Hungary to Romania by the Treaty of Trianon on 4 June 1920. In 1920, King Ferdinand I awarded Timișoara the status of a University Centre, and

8568-421: The bastions and walls were destroyed over the following days. On 24   July the Water Tower was destroyed and captured by the Ottomans, but with heavy losses – over 2,000 fighters. With the loss of the Water Tower communications between the castle and the town were broken. On 25   July the last assault took place and the inhabitants demanded again that the fortress surrender. On 26   July

8721-402: The bastions at half past eleven. According to the terms of surrender, the Ottomans and the kurucs were allowed to leave the city with their personal possessions. Approximately 1,000 wagons were available for their withdrawal. They were permitted rations for a 10-day trip to Belgrade. Deserters from the Habsburg army were not allowed to leave, and the heavy weapons, the gunpowder and

8874-408: The bastions. On 15   June 1514 the fortress, defended by Stephen VII Báthory , was besieged by a peasant army led by György Dózsa . To capture the fortress Dósza attempted to reduce the swamps surrounding it by diverting the Timișel River into the Timiș River . He ordered the digging of a 7-kilometre-long (4.3 mi) channel from the area of the current Fabric Quarter to the vicinity of

9027-447: The bombardment increased in intensity as more guns arrived and were installed. The first breaches in the walls appeared between 20 and 22 September. Meanwhile, another army corps, consisting of 14 squadrons and 4 infantry battalions under the command of General Steinville, arrived from Alba Iulia . The Ottomans’ counter-attacks were repelled. There was an intense mutual bombardment on 25   September. Ottoman troops attempting to relieve

9180-538: The buildings only the castle, the mosques and the walls surrounding the castle and the fortress (the southern part of the city, the Angevin fortress) were made of masonry, the rest of the buildings were made of wood and thatch and so burnt easily. During the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718 , Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Ottoman army at Petrovaradin on 5   August 1716. He then headed for Timișoara with his army of about 45,000 infantry, over 23,000 cavalry, 50 field guns and 87 siege cannon. The Ottoman garrison

9333-437: The capacities of the old enterprises in various industries: machine building, textile and footwear, electrical, food, plastics, optical, building materials, furniture, etc. In December 1989, Timișoara witnessed a series of mass street protests in what was to become the Romanian Revolution . On 20 December, three days after bloodshed began there, Timișoara was declared the first city free of Communism in Romania . Timișoara

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9486-433: The captured fortress, including 6 basilisks, were brought to Timişoara. In 1696 the Imperials, under the command of the Electorate of Saxony Frederic August , besieged Timișoara again. However, they were defeated by the Turkish Army, after which the fortifications were again restored. Although they kept repairing the fortifications, they were of earth with wood-plated parapets, unable to withstand modern artillery. Of

9639-452: The city through the Azapilor Gate. After the death of John Zápolya , Habsburgs tried to obtain Transylvania and Banat, including Timișoara, with mixed results; Transylvania even entered into dual vassalage for a time. Timișoara remained under the Ottoman rule for 164 years, controlled directly by the Sultan and enjoying a special status, similar to other cities in the region, such as Budapest and Belgrade . During this period, Timișoara

9792-533: The city was rebuilt and grew considerably during the reign of Charles I of Hungary , who, upon his visit there in 1307, ordered the strengthening of the fortress with stone walls and the building of a royal palace. The palace was built by Italian craftsmen and was organised around a rectangular court having a main body provided with a dungeon or a tower. He even moved the royal seat from Buda to Timișoara between 1316 and 1323. Timișoara's importance also grew due to its strategic location, which facilitated control over

9945-417: The city's population; at present, only the Orthodox synagogue in Iosefin and the Cetate synagogue hold religious services. Timișoara is the seat of the Archiepiscopate of Timișoara, the see of the Metropolis of Banat , as well as the seat of the Diocese of Timișoara , one of the six Roman Catholic dioceses in Romania. The first free local elections in post-communist Timișoara took place in 1992. The winner

10098-411: The city, there was the Water Tower. The castle was surrounded by another four defensive towers, linked by walls. Only the Ottomans inhabited the town. The Catholics and the Serbs lived in the suburbs where they had their own churches. The town was cordoned off by tall earthen walls reinforced by palisades made of tree trunks tied with wickerwork. The walls on the west, north, and east were protected by

10251-416: The county executive of Timiș. On 5   June 1443 a powerful earthquake severely damaged the city walls, the castle and other buildings. Hunyadi restored the fortress by reusing stones from the walls and supplemented them with materials from the quarries in Vršac . Between 1443 and 1448 the walls were rebuilt higher and stronger, except the west side which remained as Scolari had built it because it

10404-442: The delay, making notes of what he saw. However, they were not allowed access everywhere, for example, not in the fortified area of the south – the old Angevin fortress and the castle. The 1663 notes were systematized in a 1667 document of 97 pages with 24 drawings, of which two (a veduta and a plan) are of Timișoara. The plan is considered approximate, but the veduta is considered much more accurate than anything else from

10557-519: The division of the Hungarian Kingdom in three parts, and Banat became the object of contention between the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and Ottomans . After a failed siege in 1551, the Turks regrouped and returned with a new strategy. On 22 April 1552, a 160,000-strong army led by Kara Ahmed Pasha conquered the city and transformed it into a capital city in the region ( Eyalet of Temeşvar ). The local military commander, István Losonczy, and other Christians were massacred on 27 July 1552 while escaping

10710-423: The ears of the bastion. The bastion is provided with a retreat, being the only bastion of the fortress equipped with such a thing. The flanks had embrasures to the outside, and the retreat had embrasures both outward and inward. The purpose of the retreat was to defend in case the bastion was penetrated. To the west, the bastion is closed by a one-story building, which was used as a storehouse for food (proviant) and

10863-455: The end of the 19th century rendered the walls ineffective . As the walls and the area around them (the non-aedificandi area) hindered the development of the town, the walls were demolished and the ditches were filled in. At the beginning of the 21st century the only remains of the Habsburg fortress are the Huniade Castle , one bastion  – the Theresia Bastion , an important tourist attraction – a casemate of

11016-513: The entire Pannonian Basin . The landscape is diversified by meadow vegetation, along the main rivers, in which softwood trees predominate: willows , poplars , alders . Within the city limits is the Green Forest ( Romanian : Pădurea Verde ), a forest massif with an area of about 724 ha (1,790 acres), systematically arranged in squares of 15 ha (37 acres). The forest is man-made; first organization plans were carried out in 1860 by

11169-478: The existence of which had also been consecrated by the imperial decree of 18 November 1849, was ruled both militarily and civilly, and the official languages were German and "Illyrian" (what would come to be known as Serbo-Croatian ). Timișoara was designated as the residence of the governor, and the city maintained its privileges as a free royal city. In 1860, the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar

11322-578: The extension of this area even after the construction of the first wall was complete, as can be seen in plan no. 3 from 1734. Plan no. 3 is the first official plan that included the entire outline of the fortifications. In it the elements depicted in red were buildings that had already been raised (the Casemated Barracks and the fodder supply warehouse of the Theresia Bastions). The ones sketched in black had their foundations laid, and

11475-598: The first in vitro fertilization , the first laser heart surgery and the first stem cell transplant . As a technology hub, the city has one of the most powerful IT sectors in Romania alongside Bucharest , Cluj-Napoca , Iași , and Brașov . In 2013, Timișoara had the fastest internet download speed in the world. Nicknamed the "Little Vienna" or the "City of Roses", Timișoara is noted for its large number of historical monuments and its 36 parks and green spaces. The spa resorts Buziaș and Băile Călacea are located at

11628-459: The first half of 1688 the fortifications were repaired. Between the fall of 1689 and the spring of 1690, Timișoara Fortress was subjected to a long siege by the Imperials. During 1692 and 1693 the fortifications were repaired and the fortress was supplied with weapons. In the fall of 1695 Sultan Mustafa II visited Timișoara and organized an expedition to capture Lipova Fortress. The weapons from

11781-525: The first time in documents in the 13th century. After his first visit to Timișoara, in the fall of 1307, Charles I of Hungary built the first stone fortress ( Hungarian : Temesvári vár ) between 1308 and 1315, on the site of an existing clay fortress, using Italian craftsmen. The reason for choosing this site was that the Mureș and Tisza rivers, the Danube and the mountain passes of western Romanian Carpathians prevented surprise attacks. Paul Niedermaier and Mihai Opriș have speculated that

11934-456: The first two in October 1716 and February 1717, which were considered very accurate, and the third, published in 1729, contained plans for the proposed fortifications. The first fortification, built in 1716, was the "New Ravelin", meant to defend Palanca Mică from the south. A first proposal was to build bastions along the old wall from the north. The Palanca Mică was to be preserved and barracks were to be built at its eastern end. The problem

12087-422: The flanks and retreat, which formed breastworks and where firing barbettes were set up, were also removed. The inner courtyard of the fortification was completely redesigned, by arranging the body E, a stepped pedestrian area. The attic, which was not used in the last decades, was transformed into a cultural space with exhibition or conference halls. The 300-year-old beams have been preserved and enhanced, as have

12240-496: The fortifications began in 1899. The main functions of the city thus became the economic ones, especially the commercial and banking ones. On 31 October 1918, local military and political elites established the Banat National Council, together with representatives of the region's main ethnic groups: Germans , Hungarians , Serbs and Romanians . On 1 November they proclaimed the short-lived Banat Republic . In

12393-463: The fortifications were demolished. The Theresia Bastion was the only bastion that was not demolished, the reason being that it had usable rooms along its entire length. Currently, the bastion belongs to the Timiș County (bodies A, B, C and E), administered by Timiș County Council, and to the municipality of Timișoara (body D), administered by Timișoara City Hall. The first restoration of the bastion

12546-406: The fortress began on 18   October. The Ottomans began digging trenches in the area that would become Palanca Mare and placed two siege guns to bombard the fortifications from the north, but the intervention of the defender's cavalry prevented the attack. The defenders repulsed multiple attacks before the weather turned on 25   October and rain flooded the trenches. After 26   October

12699-517: The fortress for a very long time and favored a wet and insalubrious climate, which spread plague and cholera and kept the number of inhabitants relatively low, preventing civic development. With time, these rivers were drained, dammed and diverted. Due to the hydrographical projects undertaken in the 18th century, the city no longer lies on the Timiș River, but on the Bega Canal . This improvement of

12852-430: The fortress garrison attacked from the south three times on 26   September. They failed to break through as they had not synchronized their attack with the defenders of the fortress. The counterguard was captured on 30   September. The guns were moved to new positions during early October. On 11   October a massive bombardment of the walls began. A white flag of surrender appeared on 12   October on one of

13005-422: The fortress was composed of two rectangular parts of about 170 x 110 m, having a total area of about 2 hectares. The fort was situated within the perimeter of the current Alba Iulia – Dimitrie Cantemir – Carol Telbisz Streets and Huniade Square. Paul Niedermaier believes that the street network of the fortress was rectangular and that there were two main streets, one from north to south and

13158-577: The fortress. From Lipova, the Ottoman army – reduced because it had to leave garrisons in the occupied towns – headed for Timișoara, where the vanguard of 600 cavalry arrived on 13   October and the rest of the army, 18,000 strong, the following day. The garrison of the fortress, led by István Losonci  [ hu ] , consisted of 200 hussars from Ardeal, 600 Spanish, German and Italian mercenaries and Hungarians , Romanians and Serbs ; altogether more than 2,000 cavalry and 1,500 infantry. The siege of

13311-473: The fortress. Over the years the garrison grew and in 1624 it numbered about 1.000. In September 1595, Timișoara was besieged by Sigismund Báthory ’s troops, but they withdrew after the arrival of an Ottoman relief force. The following year, in June, the siege reoccurred, but it was again unsuccessful. In 1597 the Habsburgs offered an annual tribute of 12,000  ducats (about 40 kg of fine gold) for

13464-407: The hydrotechnical works to regularize Bega were completed, works that took place between 1728 and 1732 and which were intended to ensure the necessary water in the moat of the fortress so that the ravelin /bastion could function properly. It appears for the first time on the plans of 1732–1733. It was originally designed as a ravelin, surrounded by water, located in front of the curtain wall that

13617-491: The inner works of the fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). This gave a clear picture of how the town would look and how long it would be a non-aedificandi area. In 1744, the sites of the German and Rascian suburbs were approved (the current Iosefin and Mehala quarters). The plan of the fortress in 1808 (see the infobox) shows its final shape, as the three wall belts had already been finished in 1764. The adjacent picture

13770-454: The interval of 2–3 m). Timișoara is a fairly active seismic center, but of the many earthquakes observed, few have exceeded magnitude 6 on the Richter scale . There are two active seismic faults that cross the western part of the city. The earthquakes recorded in the region are normal earthquakes, of crustal type, with depths of foci between 5 and 30 km (3.1 and 18.6 mi). In

13923-439: The island), 3   July (from the north), 6   July (on the island) and 12   July. On 6   July the Ottomans demanded surrender for the first time. The Turkish cannon constantly bombarded the fortress and eventually the defenders were no longer able to repair the damage. On 18   July there were discussions with the Ottomans regarding a surrender, but the defenders’ views were divided. The local inhabitants demanded

14076-431: The labor force for other regions of the country, with a demographic surplus, especially for the counties in northern Moldavia , northwestern Transylvania and Oltenia . Timișoara manages to attract about 8,000 new inhabitants annually, most coming mainly from Timiș County , but also from smaller cities in neighboring counties – Caraș-Severin , Hunedoara and Arad . In fact, 46.2% of the current population of Timișoara

14229-489: The land was made irreversible by building the Bega Canal (started in 1728) and by the complete draining of the surrounding marshes. The city lies only 0.5 to 5 metres above the water table, which disallows the construction of tall buildings. The rich black soil and relatively high water table make this a fertile agricultural region. Taken as a whole, the relief of Timișoara appears as a relatively flat, monotonous surface,

14382-424: The largest community was represented by Germans , followed by Hungarians , Romanians , Jews , Serbs and many other smaller communities, such as Czechs , Slovaks , Croats , Romas , Bulgarians , Poles , etc. The figures and percentage ratios are much changed today, but the multiethnic aspect of the city persists. Nowadays, 85% of the inhabitants are Romanians, while the minorities are much more diverse due to

14535-456: The least precipitation on average is February with an average of 34.2 mm (1.35 in). Ethnic composition of Timișoara (2021) Religious composition of Timișoara (2021) From a demographic point of view, Timișoara is defined, according to the Zipf's law , as a second-tier city, along with Iași , Constanța , Cluj-Napoca and Brașov , with extensive macro-territorial functions and having

14688-522: The modern Giroc , it was not completed before John Zápolya ’s army arrived and defeated the peasants on 15   July. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Timișoara was constantly threatened by the Ottoman Empire . In 1550, following the treaty with John Zápolya's widow, the Habsburgs took over the city of Timișoara and brought in Italian architects, such as Martino de Spazio, who reinforced

14841-466: The murder of the defenders, including István Losonci. After the conquest of the fortress, most of the Banat became the Temeşvar Eyalet , ruled by Beylerbey Kasam Pasha. Timișoara has been considered to be the capital of Banat since the establishment of Temeşvar Eyalet. There is little information regarding the growth of the town. Published maps and vedute were based on information from before

14994-458: The name was a misspelling of Za n bara , which in turn is a misspelling of the name Zurobara . Zurobara is older than the Avar period – it was mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century – and it has been located near Unip , 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Timișoara. The name Castrum Tymes (Thymes, Temes, Castrum Temesiensis, Castrum Temesvariensis ) is found for

15147-577: The north side of the fortress. In the middle of the town there was the bazaar , the centre of commerce. The suburbs ( Palanca Mare ) were, in turn, divided into the Rascian Town ( Rascians was the name given by the Habsburgs to the orthodox Serbs) and the Island (other than the one that protected the castle from the south) to the east, in front of the Water Gate. In front of the castle, towards

15300-504: The northern wall of the retreat and the northern flank of the bastion to Hector Street, body D consists of the northern and southern flanks of the bastion east of Hector Street, and body E consists of the basement arrangement in the center of the bastion. Timi%C8%99oara Fortress Timișoara Fortress ( Latin : Castrum Temesiensis, Castrum Temesvariensis , Hungarian : Temesvári vár , Turkish : Temeşvar Kalesi , German: Festung Temeswar , Romanian : Cetatea Timișoara )

15453-533: The official time of Romania ( Eastern European Time ). Timișoara lies at an altitude of 90 metres on the southeast edge of the Banat Plain, part of the Pannonian Plain , near the divergence of the Timiș and Bega rivers. The waters of the two rivers form a swampy and frequently flooded land. Timișoara developed on one of few places where the swamps could be crossed. These constituted a natural protection around

15606-471: The ones in yellow represented the proposals to close the curtain wall. The foundation stone of the future fortress (German: Festung Temeswar ) was laid on 25   April 1723. A zinc plaque inscribed was with "Imperante Carolo VI, Duce Eugenio Sabaudiae Principe per cladem Petro-Varadini MDCCXVI a Turcis recuperata Provincia, sub preadisio Claudii Comitis a Mercy anno a patru Virginis MDCCXXIII die XXV. mensis Aprilis Temesvarini moenia fundabantur" , but

15759-463: The other from east to west. The north–south street was a commercial road which joined the two gates and it was situated between the current Alba Iulia and Lucian Blaga Streets. The east–west street was situated near the current János Bolyai Street. A castle was built in the southern part, in a similar perimeter, on the site of the previous Hunyadi castle. The castle was Charles I's royal court and residence between 1315 and 1323. During this period Timișoara

15912-407: The past, there were extensive oak forests between the Tisza and Timiș . Over time, they were cleared to obtain the wood needed to build the fortress and houses, as well as to gain arable land. Today, except for the areas forested with Turkey oak and Hungarian oak (Green Forest, Bistra Forest, Timișeni–Șag Forest), the territory falls within the anthropogenic forest steppe that characterizes

16065-401: The plans indicate that the main work began later. The first work was on the Infantry Casemated Barracks, built between 1727 and 1729. At that time the plan for the fortress had not been finalised. In 1732 a significant part of the fortress was designed and the digging of the moat from the front of the future bastions began. It took one year to excavate the trench and erect the curtain wall and

16218-523: The population in Timișoara. Conquered in 1716 by the Austrians from the Ottoman Turks, Timișoara developed in the following centuries behind the fortifications and in the urban nuclei located around them. During the second half of the 19th century, the fortress began to lose its usefulness, due to many developments in military technology. Former bastions and military spaces were demolished and replaced with new boulevards and neighbourhoods. Timișoara

16371-577: The population of Timiș County , 15% of the population of the West development region and 1.3% of the total population of Romania. As defined by Eurostat , the Timișoara functional urban area has a population of 364,325 inhabitants (as of 2018). According to a study conducted by the World Bank , Timișoara was between 2001 and 2011 the regional city in Romania that attracted the highest number of in-migrants. Timișoara serves as an important polarizer of

16524-480: The presence of Asians, Italians, Muslims, and fewer Germans and Hungarians. Yet, in Timișoara live most Germans in Romania as share in the population of a city. The decline of German and Hungarian communities is mainly due to assimilation (for instance, 64% of Hungarians in Timișoara live in mixed marriages), migration and low birth rates. Timișoara is also home to an important Serb community , which in 2011 numbered almost 5,000 people. Many of them use Serbian as

16677-665: The ravelins were numbered with Roman numerals, clockwise, beginning with the ones from the northeast (similar to the figures on the dials of the clocks). The bastions were: Cetate, Timi%C8%99oara Timișoara ( UK : / ˌ t ɪ m ɪ ˈ ʃ w ɑːr ə / , US : / ˌ t iː m iː -/ , Romanian:  [ t i m i ˈ ʃ o̯a r a ] ; German : Temeswar [ˈtɛmɛʃvaːɐ̯] , also Temeschwar or Temeschburg ; Hungarian : Temesvár [ˈtɛmɛʃvaːr] ; Serbian : Темишвар , romanized :  Temišvar [těmiʃʋaːr] ; see other names )

16830-765: The reign of Hunyadi the fortress had four gates: the Arad Gate, the Gate of Lipova (Praiko), the Ardeal Gate, and the Water Tower Gate. Ladislaus the Posthumous borrowed 20,000 Florins (1 Florin contained about 3.4 grams of fine gold) from John Hunyadi for his military operations. In 1453, when Ladislaus was coming of age, John retired and Ladislaus gave him the Timișoara Fortress to cover his debt. The deed of gift, dated 20   August 1455,

16983-604: The restitution of Timişoara, but the Ottomans refused. The siege resumed in October–November, but it was again unsuccessful. In February 1600, the troops of Michael the Brave , under the command of Baba Novac , attacked Timișoara and burned down the suburbs, but they did not besiege it and moved to Pančevo . In October 1603, it was Giorgio Basta 's turn to besiege Timișoara, but again it held out. Evliya Çelebi visited Timișoara many times between 1660 and 1664 and also recorded

17136-404: The routes used by the Ottomans for military intervention was along the Mureș , where almost all the riparian routes were fortified. The main fortresses were Szeged , Cenad , Arad and Lipova . Timișoara itself had to be protected. One of the routes to access it was through Timiș and Cerna. Here there were fortresses at Mehadia , Caransebeș , Jdioara and Lugoj . From Transylvania, Timișoara

17289-410: The second largest functional urban area , after Bucharest , of over 5,000 km (1,900 sq mi). In 2013, Bucharest and Timișoara were also the only metropolitan European growth areas (MEGAs) in Romania. Nationally, Timișoara has been recognized as the largest polarizing center in western Romania. According to the 2021 census , the population of Timișoara amounted to 250,849 inhabitants,

17442-501: The similarity between these systems spread the claim that Timișoara would have been fortified in the Vauban style. The Timișoara Fortress ( Romanian : Cetatea Timișoara ; German : Festung Temeswar ; Latin : Castrum Temesiensis ) consisted of nine bastions : Charles, Francis, Theresia, Joseph, Hamilton, Castle, Mercy, Eugene and Elisabeth. The Theresia Bastion was the first to be built. Construction began in 1732 immediately after

17595-590: The smoothness of the surface interrupted only by the Bega riverbed. Researched in detail, the relief of the city and its surroundings presents a series of local peculiarities, represented mainly by deserted meanders, micro-depressions and ridges (generally made of coarse materials). These are the result of the deposits in the area of the Timiș and Bega rivers, before their drainage, regularization and damming (concretized altimetrically by modest bumps, which do not exceed anywhere,

17748-414: The surrender of the fortress, but the soldiers, hoping for help from Castaldo – who did not arrive – wanted to continue the fight and used the two days truce to repair the fortifications as much as they could. Meanwhile, Ottoman artillery had increased and they deployed up to 30 cannon, organized in three batteries . On 20   July the Ottomans recommenced the bombardment, and

17901-593: The surrounding walls, which had been destroyed by an earthquake. The fortress was captured in 1552 by the Ottoman Turks , who held it till 1716 when it was taken by the Habsburgs . The Habsburgs reconstructed it, making it much bigger in the style of Blaise Francois Pagan , a precursor of the Vauban system. The Habsburg fortress was besieged only once, during the Hungarian Revolution in 1849. The increased effectiveness of artillery with explosive shells at

18054-434: The swamp. However, the proposed bastions were designed in Italian style, already obsolete, and the form of the fortification was unsuitable for the principles of an ideal city . The project indicated that it had already been decided that the fortress would have three layers of fortification. Geyer's proposal was to keep the fortress together with the castle, keeping an extension area to the southeast. There were proposals for

18207-526: The temperate ones, of oceanic origin, which bring significant precipitations. Frequently, even in winter, humid air masses arrive from the Atlantic , bringing significant rains and snows, less often cold waves . From September to February there are frequent penetrations of continental polar air masses, coming from the east. In Banat, the influence of cyclones and hot air masses from the Adriatic Sea and

18360-414: The time, and is the only view of the fortress ( Turkish : Temeşvar Kalesi ) in the second half of the 18th century made by an eyewitness. During the Turkish occupation, Timișoara was divided into three parts: the fortress, the town and the suburbs. The fortress was the area where the castle and the headquarters of the vali (governor) and the kaymakam were located. The town was the fortified area on

18513-531: The town a large rural area, the Palanca Mare (verbatim the "Big Palisade", meaning "alongside the long palisade"), developed. Hunyadi also restored the castle, keeping the wall on the west in its initial position, but extending the castle to the east by about 10 meters (33 ft). The castle had its own spring and reserves of water. An artillery battery was installed in the Water Tower. There

18666-404: The tradition of the time, the surrender was conditional on the Ottomans being allowed free passage. However, András Báthori's  [ hu ; ro ] troops did not respect the agreement and slaughtered the garrison. Ulama Pasha was injured, but managed to escape. This event had repercussions on the conquest of Timișoara the following year. By the end of November, all the fortresses occupied by

18819-411: The turn of the 20th century there were many enterprises here: two breweries, an iron foundry, a match factory, a brick factory, a gas factory, a chain factory, a hat factory, a chocolate factory, etc. In this period horse-drawn tram, telephone and street lighting were introduced and roads were paved. In 1892, Emperor Franz Joseph I decided to abolish the fortress status of Timișoara. The demolition of

18972-405: The type of fortifications with three fortified "rings", characteristic of the first half and middle of the 18th century. The fortifications prior to 1707, from the time of Vauban, did not have the third ring. The bastion consists of two flanks, the northern and the southern, about 142 m (75 fathom ) long, which form an acute angle of 72° to the east. The ends towards the fortress of the flanks form

19125-489: The ventilation shafts. The bastion was located in the eastern part of the fortress. It is currently located almost in the center of the city, lying between the 1989 Revolution Boulevard, Martin Luther Street, Ion I.C. Brătianu Square and Vasile Goldiș Street. It is crossed in the north–south direction by Hector Street. It is part of the protected construction area ZCP 01 – Cetate historic district. It corresponds to

19278-447: The walls that protected the castle. The fortifications were restored in 1571. The garrison was initially composed of about 250 soldiers, of whom 100 were horsemen. As well there were about 150 azaps – peasant militia. There were about 20 Martologs (Christian sailors on the Danube who were border guards) and some müteferiki (various specialists). In the case of military confrontations, other troops would be despatched to

19431-408: The walls, fortified the Water Tower for harquebusiers and built bastions to strengthen the city against the threat posed by the Ottomans, despite the previous good relations between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans. The Ottomans, by supporting John Zápolya as voivode of Transylvania , considered Banat to be under their suzerainty. Timișoara was strategically positioned to resist the expansion of

19584-848: Was Viorel Oancea , of the Civic Alliance Party (PAC), which later merged with the National Liberal Party (PNL). He was the first officer who spoke to the crowd of revolutionaries gathered in Opera Square. The 1996 elections were won by Gheorghe Ciuhandu , of the Christian Democrats (PNȚ-CD). He had four terms, also winning elections in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Meanwhile, Ciuhandu took over the Christian Democratic Party and ran for president of Romania in 2004. Nicolae Robu (PNL)

19737-558: Was abolished and most of its territory was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary , although direct Hungarian rule began only following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , after the establishment of the dual monarchy . As part of Austria-Hungary , the city experienced a fast economic and demographic growth. Credit institutions invested large sums in the development of local industry; at

19890-406: Was an inhabited, but weakly fortified, island to the south of the castle: The Island , Palanca Mică (verbatim "The Small Palisade", meaning "alongside the short palisade"). The island and the swamps to the east and the west protected the castle from cannon fire. To the north the castle was defended by the fortress. Thus, even if the castle was not inside the fortress, it acted as a keep . During

20043-438: Was between 1968 and 1969, according to a project by the architect Ștefan Iojică. On this occasion, a passage through the bastion was made for car and pedestrian traffic, and reinforcements were made by pouring concrete. But a number of specific details were removed, and the ditch in front of the bastion was reduced. A second restoration took place in 2008–2010 and was carried out in five construction phases. The restoration project

20196-459: Was claimed that there had been two villages named "Tibiscum", one located in Jupa, and the other in Timișoara in 1976, although this was disproved the following year. Even though it is known that the old centre of Timișoara was crossed northeast–southwest by a vallum  – an earthen or turf rampart  – and that the Austrian topographical engineer Heinrich Kematmüller made

20349-430: Was composed of about 16,000 men and 150 cannons. On 21   August fourteen Austrian squadrons commanded by General Rotenhan reached Timișoara. The rest of the Austrian army and Prince Eugene arrived on five days later. The siege started on 31   August. Engineering works were carried out between 1 and 5 September: trenches were dug and cannon were emplaced in order to cover the operations. From 16   September

20502-403: Was defended by the fortresses of Făget and Hațeg . There were also fortresses in the territory of Ilidia , Vršac , Cuiești and Ciacova . As Timișoara is situated almost in the middle of the Banat, it could support all these towns, which is why the Ottoman beys on the Danube stated that "whoever conquers Buda conquers a town, while whoever conquers Timișoara conquers a country" . As

20655-429: Was developed by Archaeus in 2004–2009 under the coordination of the architect Marius Miclăuș, and the contractor was the consortium Bennert GmbH/Prowa Contracting and Consulting GmbH. As part of this restoration, the cement-based mortars poured during the previous restoration were removed. The brick arches in the bastion's flanks and retreat were converted into porticos by inserting timber frames. The mounds of earth above

20808-713: Was elected mayor in 2012 and again in 2016. In 2020, Dominic Fritz , a native of Germany, was elected mayor on behalf of the USR with support from the FDGR . He won a new mandate in 2024 on behalf of the United Timișoara Alliance ( USR – PMP – FD – UDMR ). The Local Council and the city's mayor are elected every four years by the population. Decisions are discussed and approved by the Local Council ( Romanian : Consiliu Local ) made up of 27 elected councilors. After

20961-567: Was first officially mentioned in 1212 as the Roman castrum Temesiensis or castrum regium Themes . This year is disputed by historians of the opinion that the city's first documentary mention comes from 1266, when heir apparent Stephen V of Hungary donates part of the Tymes fortress, built by his father, Béla IV , to Count Parabuch. The city was destroyed by the Tatars in the 13th century, but

21114-531: Was hampered by the need for it to always remain functional. Many schemes were suggested between 1717 and 1727, but none were executed. Just after the conquest the military engineer Captain François Perrette, who had laid out the fortifications in Slavonski Brod in 1715, was tasked with making a topographic map of the fortress along with proposals for new fortifications. He made three plans,

21267-498: Was home to a large Islamic community and produced famous historical figures, such as Osman Ağa of Temeşvar . Except for a period in the late 16th century, the city did not suffer sieges until the end of the 17th century. In 1594, Gregory Palotić, Ban of Lugos and Karánsebes , started an anti-Ottoman uprising in Banat, with its starting point in Nagybecskerek. Following a strong Transylvanian offensive led by György Borbély,

21420-403: Was less exposed to attack due to the swamp stretching approximately 2–3 kilometers (1.2–1.9 mi). From the north to the current Eugeniu of Savoia Street, the fortifications were extended with an earthen wall reinforced with palisades and a moat . All of these defended the inhabited zone to the north of the Angevin fortress and this eventually became the core of the city. To the north of

21573-401: Was part of it. The real purpose of the visit was to observe the Ottoman military. While praising the purpose of the visit, the Ottomans diverted it to Timișoara, where at that time they were few Ottoman troops. The mission was left to wait and only in the summer of 1663 was it received in Belgrade. Although in Timișoara they were always accompanied by Ottoman officials, Ottendorf took advantage of

21726-466: Was positioned on the east side of the fortress, and Hassan Pasha, the beylerbey of Anatolia , on the west side. The Ottomans had 16 basilisks (large siege cannons). The garrison of the fortress was about 2,500 men – including 1,000 Hungarians, 400 Spanish, 200 Austrians, 300 Czechs – and 17 cannon , Losonci István was still in command. The siege lasted until 25   July. Turkish attacks took place on 29   June (on

21879-455: Was recognised by the chapter of Cenad on 3   September 1445 and it reconfirmed him as a king on 7   April 1456. Initially the restoration work on the fortress was carried out at the expense of the royal treasury. Once it became the property of the Hunyadis they maintained it from their own funds. The castle was enlarged; a second floor was built and the old keep was built up to

22032-525: Was replaced by a civil one. After the conquest of Banat, the imperial authorities in Vienna began an extensive process of colonization , inviting especially German Catholics from Württemberg , Swabia , Nassau , etc. who would become known as Banat Swabians . In Timișoara, the Swabians settled mainly in Fabric, where they strongly developed craftsmanship. The main function of Timișoara during this period

22185-475: Was that of a military fortress. The existing fortifications could not cope with the new military techniques, so the entire fortress was rebuilt in a late, flat and inconsistent adaptation of the Vauban style . It had an area 10 times larger than the medieval Turkish fortress. Between 1728 and 1732, Bega River was regulated, creating a navigable canal. Under the political pressure of the Hungarian Diet ,

22338-536: Was the basis of a veduta painted by Ludwig Förster in 1836. In the painting the city is seen from the northeast. We can see the castle and the wall with bastions surrounding it, the Water Tower, the irregular shape, and the city walls with their bastions and the Pasha's house. In mid-December 1662 Leopold I sent a diplomatic mission to the Pasha of Belgrade. The mission was led by the Baron of Goëss, and Henrik Ottendorf

22491-505: Was the capital city of the Kingdom of Hungary . The Water Tour (Water Tower) was built to defend the bridge between these two fortified areas. Later the tower became one of the symbols on the coat of arms of Timișoara. There was an inhabited rural area with irregular plots north of the fortress. On 19 June 1404 Filippo Scolari became the Ispán (count) of Temes County . He found

22644-746: Was the first Romanian Youth Capital, and in 2023 it held the title of European Capital of Culture , along with the cities of Veszprém in Hungary and Elefsina in Greece . The Hungarian name of the city, Temesvár , was first recorded as Temeswar in 1315. It refers to a castle ( vár ) on the Timiș River ( Temes ). Timiș belongs to the family of hydronyms derived from the Indo-European radical thib "swamp". The Romanian and German oikonyms (Timișoara and Temeschburg, respectively) derived from

22797-477: Was the first city in the Habsburg monarchy with street lighting (1760) and the first European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It opened the first public lending library in the Habsburg monarchy and built a municipal hospital 24 years ahead of Vienna . Also, in 1771 it published the first German newspaper in Southeast Europe ( Temeswarer Nachrichten ). In December 1989, Timișoara

22950-566: Was the small space inside the walls. However, the project provided configuration of the Casemated Barracks , later known as the Transylvanian Barracks , which would close the fortress perimeter from the southeast. The Palanca Mică area was proposed as a residential area. Another proposal was to build a residential area to the southeast of the barracks. It was less exposed to a potential siege due to its location in

23103-553: Was the starting point of the Romanian Revolution . Timișoara is one of the most important educational centres in Romania, with about 40,000 students enrolled in the city's six universities. Like many other large cities in Romania, Timișoara is a medical tourism service provider, especially for dental care and cosmetic surgery . Several breakthroughs in Romanian medicine have been achieved in Timișoara, including

23256-726: Was to unite the future Francis and Joseph bastions and was called the Ravelin of the Food Warehouse . Its construction was completed in 1733–1734. It was later incorporated into the fortification wall, and in 1744 it was renamed the Theresia Bastion, in honor of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria . In the course of time, it was the residence of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Timișoara , then it housed several workshops and warehouses, an apprentice school,

23409-486: Was −35.3 °C (−31.5 °F), on 24 January 1963, while the highest temperature was 42 °C (108 °F), recorded in August 2017. The average number of frost days (with minimum temperatures below 0 °C [32 °F]) is 80, and the average number of winter days (with maximum temperatures below 0 °C) is 17. The average number of tropical days (with maximum temperatures above 30 °C [86 °F])

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