The Military Casino

The Old Town Hall building is located at 1 Liberty Square. It was built between 1731 and 1734, after the conquest of Timișoara by the Austrians, when the German settlers in town demanded they have a town hall of their own. Thus appeared the Town Hall of the German community or the New Town Hall. On the site of the current building there had been a Turkish public bath. Proof of this is the plaque mounted on the wall on the right side of the main entrance, with an Arabic inscription on it, dating back to the time of the Ottoman rule: "This public bath was erected in the times of terror of Ibrahim Ehan Hedja 1053". Throughout the centuries, the building has gone through several phases and undergone various changes: - in 1781 it was called the Town Hall of the Free Royal City of Timişoara; - in 1782 it was rebuilt by Josef Aigner, who also changed the coat of arms on the façade; - in 1849, the building was damaged after the artillery shelling during the revolution; - between 1848 and 1849, the Austrian commander of the fortress, Rukavina von Vidovgrad installed two loaded canons in front of the Town Hall, to intimidate the revolutionaries; - the project for the new façade is dated 1853; - the building was repaired in 1935; - in 1949, the Town Hall moved into its current headquarters. In terms of architecture, the building was designed in Eclectic style, but in also includes Classicist elements specific for the second half of the nineteenth century. It is structured on three levels: ground floor and two floors. Above the gate there is a balcony and four arched windows. The surface of the building is interrupted by panels bordered by pilasters, each one containing two windows arranged vertically. The frontispiece of the building illustrates a piece of the wall of Turkish Timişoara, a palisade wall interrupted by the Prince Eugene gate. Text source: https://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Statue of the Holy Trinity is located in the centre of Union Square in Timişoara and it was built in the memory of the victims of the plague of 1738-1739, during which 1,300 people died. This is the reason for which it is also known as the Plague Column. The statue was built in Baroque style in Vienna and then shipped to Timişoara on the Danube, Tisza ad Bega Rivers. The cornerstone of this monument was laid on November 23, 1740, by the councilor of the governor, Johann Anton Deschan von Hannsen, the commissioner of the monument, whose wife has died during the plague. The statue was exhibited for 12 months in front of the Deschan Palace, on the site of the present day Bega Shopping Centre, and then moved to Union Square, when the land underneath it was bought. The monument is shaped as a tall, triangular column, at the top of which the Holy Trinity, the Holy Saint, the Son and the Father, all hold the heavenly crown above the head of the Virgin Mary, suggesting thus the connection between heaven and earth. At the bottom of the column stands the statues of St.John of Nepomuk, patron of Banat, King David and St. Barbara, the patron saint of the miners. The pedestal of the monument included the statues of other saints: Saint Roc, with his wounded leg, protector against the plague and other diseases, Saint Sebastian pierced by arrows, another protector against the plague, and Saint Charles Borromeo, patron saint of love. More bas-reliefs can be seen on the three sides, representing the three calamities that hit the area of Banat in the eighteenth century: war, famine and the plague. Text source: https://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Statue of the Virgin Mary and St. John of Nepomuk is located in Liberty Square of Timișoara. It was made in Vienna between 1753 and 1756 by sculptors Blim and Wasserburger. The statue was placed in front of the Old Town Hall in 1756. The monument depicts St.John of Nepomuk, the patron of Banat, and the Virgin Mary, with a crown of stars above her head and holding lilies in her hand. In the foreground stand the statues of saints Roc, Borromeo and Sebastian. The three-side base portrays scenes from the events leading to the death of St. John of Nepomuk, including the confession of Queen Johanna, King Charles' questioning, curious to find out the secret of the confession and the Saint's death, after being thrown from the bridge into the river Vltava in Prague. The monument was damaged during the revolution of 1989, and consequently restored between 1992-1993. Text and photo sources: http://www.radiotimisoara.ro/; https://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Monument of the Lupa Capitolina is located in central Victory Square, on top of a Roman column, about 5 meters high. It is a replica of the Lupa Capitolina, also called Lupa Romana, the Etruscan bronze statue probably cast in the 5th century B.C., somewhere on the valley of the River Tiber, that depicts the two siblings, founders of Rome – Romulus and Remus, fed by a she-wolf. The original statue is kpt in the "Museo Nuovo" inside the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Roma. A copy is exhibited outdoors in Piazza Del Campidoglio. The statue found nowadays in Victory Square was presented to Timișoara in 1926 by the City of Rome, as a symbol of the Latin origin of the Romanian people. The inauguration of the monument took place on April 23, 1926, in the presence of 10,000 people; Dr. Samuil Șagovici, mayor of Timișoara, Vasile Goldiș, the Minister of Religious Affairs, Grigore Trancu-Iași, The Labour Minister, as well as delegates of Mussolini, the Italian head of state at that time, participated in the event. The reception was done by Codecca, the Italian Consul in Timișoara. Two such copies were also given to the towns of Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest. Text source: https://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Palace of the Reformed Community is located in the vicinity of the Virgin Mary Square in Timişoara, at 1 Timotei Cipariu St.. The building houses the parsonage and the reformed church, and it was built in 1902 in Neo-Gothic style, based on the projects of Budapest architects Nagy Károly and Jánosházi László. The architecture of the building is a special one. It highlights the sharp-shaped roofs, similar to the medieval towers from the Gothic period. The organ of the Reformed Community Palace was manufactured in Lipót Wegenstein's workshop, and the pulpit is the work of Jakab Fischer. In front of the Reformed Community Palace, on December 15, 1989, the Romanian anti-communist revolution began, with the manifestation against the deportation of the Reformed pastor, László Tökes. Text and photo sources: http://www.timisoara-info.ro/; http://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Baroque Palace is one of the representative buildings of eighteenth century Timișoara. It is located centrally, at 1 Union Square. Also known as the Palace of the Old Prefecture, the building of the Baroque Palace had over time several functions: - in 1733 it housed the Judicial Mining Office; - in 1735 the treasury of the military garrison was here; - in 1752 it was the old administrative office of the region; - in 1754 the building became the residence of the president of the civil administration, Count Vilana Perlas, and, thus, known as the Palace of the President; - until 1849 it used to be the seat of the County Administration; - between 1849-1860, the administration of the Banat of Temeschwar and Serbian Vojvodina was established here; - in 1861 the seat of the Timiș County was restored here; - in 1919 it became the seat of the Prefecture of Timiș - Torontal County; - mid-twentieth century, the Baroque Palace housed the Agronomy Institute; - in 1979 it was arranged for it to accommodate a museum; - in 1984 it starting housing the Art Section of the Banat Museum, which on January 1, 2006 became the Art Museum. From the architectural point of view, the palace was built in Baroque style, with some rococo elements. Between 1885 and1886, the attic and the ironware were restored, based on architect Jacques Klein's project. This is when the baroque decoration elements were removed, especially from the façade. The palace is especially elegant inside, and in the basement there is an eighteenth century fountain. Text source: http://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Water Palace is one of the most valuable buildings in Timișoara, located at the entrance to the Iosefin Neighbourhood, immediately after Traian Bridge. The Water Palace or the House of the House of the Timiș Bega Hydro-Improvement Company, as it was originally called, was built between 1900 and 1902 by Karl Hart, based on architect Baumhorn Lipót's plans, after Bega became navigable. The building was designed in the architectural style typical of the 1900s, and decorated with Neo-Baroque and Ionic elements. Since originally it had been a single-storey building, it was later raised by Artur Tunner, without, however, losing its architectural harmony. The heightened roof of the central part of the building and the double columns of the façade can be noted, both highlighting the pediments. The decorations are extremely rich, while one may distinguish representations of fish and other water-inspired figures, as well as anthropomorphic ones. Text and photo sources: http://www.radiotimisoara.ro/; http://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Roman-Catholic Episcopal Church, located at 12 Union Square, is an emblematic building of Timișoara, also known as the St.George Cathedral. The construction was carried out between 1731 and 1774, by architect Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach. The cornerstone was laid on August 6, 1754 by the Bishop of Cenad, Adalbert von Falkenstein. The consecration of the Cathedral intended for the bishops of Cenad took place on April 24, 1803, and it was performed by Bishop Ladislaus Köszeghy de Remete. From the architectural point of view, the Roman-Catholic Church was built in Baroque style. Because of the marshland, the building is reinforced by wooden pillars. Its size is impressive: it has a length of 55 meters, width of 22, the height of the nave is 16.90 meters, and that of the towers is 35.5 meters. The first bells were cast in 1763, and the clock was installed in 1764. Nine altars may be admired once inside, all sculpted by Viennese artist Johan Müller, in Baroque and Rococo styles, as well as a painting of Michelangelo Unterberger, "St. George on horseback fighting the dragon", dating back to 1754; the icons and old statues, the oak carved doors, the side altars painted by German painter Johann Adam Schöpf and the organ in Louis XVI style. The first Baroque organ was built in 1767 by Viennese Paul Hanke, and the current one was manufactured in Timişoara, in 1908. In 1756, the Cathedral was raised to the rank of first church of Timişoara, by decree of Empress Maria Theresa. Over time, the Roman-Catholic Cathedral has undergone difficult times. Thus, between 1788 and 1790, during the battles between the Turks and the Austrians, the Cathedral was turned into a salt warehouse. During the siege of 1849, i.e. the Hungarian revolution, the building was seriously damaged. Currently, the mass is celebrated every Sunday and on important holidays, always in 3 languages: Romanian, Hungarian and German. The Holy Pontifical Mass, performed by the Bishop, also contain parts in Latin, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech and Slovakian. The Roman-Catholic Cathedral is open to visitors Monday through Sunday. Text and photo sources: https://www.facebook.com/Episcopia-Romano-Catolică-Timișoara; https://timisoara.eventya.eu/

The Clergy Houses are an ensemble of 4 houses, located at 8, 9, 10 and 11 Union Square. The houses date back to the second half of the eighteenth century and originally formed a single building, with a unitary façade, until after 1844. All the houses were originally executed in the Austrian Baroque style, and rebuilt after the 1849 siege in Classicist style, and later restored in 1980, based on the plans of architect Șerban Sturza. The house at no.8, known as the Szervinatz House, belonged in 1828 to Johann Szervinatz. In 1847, the house sheltered the tavern "La Trei Husari", and in 1852 it was turned into a vinegar factory. The house at number 9, known as the Nica Koszta House, belonged in 1828 to Nica Koszta, and later this is where the tavern "La Balotul din Ardeal" ("The Transylvanian Bale") worked. In 2009, the house was restored as part of the Romanian-German cooperation project „The Prudent Rehabilitation and Economic Revitalization of the Historic Neighbourhoods in Timişoara”, implemented by the Municipality of Timişoara and the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The house at number 10 was known in 1828 as the "Clergy House". The one at number 11 is the Krautwaschl House, which in 1828 belonged to Franz Krautwaschl. In 1844 this is where the tavern "La Struţ" ("The Ostrich") functioned, the emblem of the tavern was represented by a red painted ostrich. In the mean time, the house became headquarters of bank subsidiaries, editorials, political parties. It was restored in 2009. Text and photo sources: http://www.timisoara-info.ro/; https://timisoara.eventya.eu/