If you’ve just arrived in the city, The Classic Tour is the best to start you can get.

First of all, this tour is a chronological one. We start with a brief introduction to Romania today, just to set a base for the story of Timisoara. The path we take follows the historical events starting with the Mongol invasion (1241) and ending in contemporary times with the revolution against the communist regime (1989).

The Turkish times

We’ll talk about the 164 years of Turkish occupation. We’ll see where the hammam (Turkish public bath), bazaar (marketplace), Central Mosque, or the cemetery used to be 4 centuries ago.

The Austrian times

At the beginning of the 18th century, Timisoara is conquered by the Austrian imperial troops led by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Everything changes in Timisoara and Banat region after that. The middle-age wooden city disappears and a new city is built. The German settlers become the leading community. New streets, new....

If you’ve just arrived in the city, The Classic Tour is the best to start you can get.

First of all, this tour is a chronological one. We start with a brief introduction to Romania today, just to set a base for the story of Timisoara. The path we take follows the historical events starting with the Mongol invasion (1241) and ending in contemporary times with the revolution against the communist regime (1989).

The Turkish times

We’ll talk about the 164 years of Turkish occupation. We’ll see where the hammam (Turkish public bath), bazaar (marketplace), Central Mosque, or the cemetery used to be 4 centuries ago.

The Austrian times

At the beginning of the 18th century, Timisoara is conquered by the Austrian imperial troops led by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Everything changes in Timisoara and Banat region after that. The middle-age wooden city disappears and a new city is built. The German settlers become the leading community. New streets, new houses, new churches, and a new fortification system are built. The baroque style still fashionable here during the 18th century. 150 years later Timisoara is a well-developed urban center. Secession style is used for the new buildings. One of the first trams in the world (pulled by horses, of course) connects the city center with Fabric and Iosefin neighborhoods. The streets are enlightened by electric light, for the first time in continental Europe, at Timisoara (1884). The city is refortified, a new downtown is built (Piata Victoriei). The economy is booming and Timisoara is a very developed modern city.

Timisoara in the 20th century

At the end of the 1st world war, Timisoara and 2 thirds of Banat became part of the Romanian Kingdom. The development of the city continues, but the 2nd World War starts and at the end of that Romania was forced to be a communist country. The next 4 decades were difficult times for the Romanian society. At the end of 1989, the world was changing. Romania didn’t seem to follow this course until the 16th of December when the first person had the guts to cry “Down with communism”. The 1989 Anticommunist Revolution started in Timisoara.
On the 20th of December Timisoara was proclaimed the first city in Romania free of communism. A great victory, but a sad one, since more than 100 persons died in Timisoara in those days.