Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County in western Romania. It has a population of over 300,000, making it the third most populous city in Romania. Timișoara has historically been located at the crossroads of Central Europe and was ruled by various empires over the centuries. It played a key role in the Romanian revolution of 1989 that overthrew the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Today, Timișoara is an important cultural and economic center known for its universities, theaters, museums, and as a center for industry and commerce.

1. Timişoara

2. Overview
O Timişoara (German: Temeswar, also
formerly Temeschburg or Temeschwar;
Hungarian: Temesvár; Yiddish:
‫;טעמשוואר‬ Serbian: Темишвар,
Temišvar; Banat Bulgarian: Timišvár;
Turkish: Temeşvar; Slovak: Temešvár) is
the capital city of Timiş County, and the
primary social, economic and cultural
center of Western Romania.
O The third-most populous city in Romania
(behind only the capital Bucharest and
Cluj-Napoca), with a population of
319,279 recorded at the 2011 census
(compared to 307,347 in 2007 – an
increase of 11,932, or 3.8%), Timişoara
is the unofficial capital city of the
historical region of Banat.
O In September 2016, Timişoara was
voted the European Capital of Culture
for 2021.

3. Map of Banat (Romanian
Banat only)

4. Ethnic map of Banat (2001–2002)
O The term Banat geographically
corresponds to the historical region
divided among Romania, Serbia and
Hungary.
O The eastern part lies in Western
Romania (the counties of Timiș, Caraș-
Severin, and Arad south of the
Körös/Criș River on the border with
Hungary, and the western part of
Mehedinți); the western part lies in
Northeastern Serbia (mostly in the
autonomous province of Vojvodina,
excluding a portion in Belgrade); the
smallest part is in Southeastern Hungary
(Csongrád county).
O The inhabitants of the region of Banat
are mainly ethnic Romanians, Serbs,
Hungarians, Germans, Krashovani,
Ukrainians, Slovaks, Bulgarians,
Czechs, Croats, Jews, Romani and
other ethnicities.

5. Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
O First recorded in 1212 as the Roman
castrum (or fort) Temesiensis,
Timişoara became a fortress in the
middle of marshland in the fourteenth
century.
O The Tatars demolished the town in
the thirteenth century, but its castle
(right) was rebuilt and served as the
residence of Charles I of Hungary,
the King of Hungary and Croatia from
1308–1342.

6. Charles I of Hungary (also known as Charles Robert – Károly Róbert
in Hungarian, Karlo Robert in Croatian, and Karol Róbert in Slovak)
illustrated in the Chronicon Pictum (Illuminated Chronicle)

7. Sixteenth through twentieth centuries
O The Turks conquered the town in 1552 and occupied it until the Austrians took it in
1716.
O Following the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz, the city and the region – known as the
Banat of Temesvár – were administered by Vienna and inhabited by non-Magyars,
mainly Swabian Germans.
O Over the course of 107 days in 1848, the city resisted a blockade by Hungarian
revolutionaries.
O After a brief Serbian occupation in 1918–1919, the 1920 Treaty of Trianon allocated
Timişoara to Romania.
O Anti-government demonstrations that erupted in Timișoara on December 15–17,
1989, ignited the revolution that overthrew communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu’s
régime.
O It was Ceaușescu’s use of lethal force to put down the demonstrations in Timișoara
that incited the army to switch to the side of the revolution.
O On Christmas Day, after Ceaușescu and his wife were convicted of crimes against the
state (economic harm and genocide), they were immediately killed by firing squad.

8. Timişoara during the Ottoman era, 1650

9. Battle of Temesvár, 1849

10. Serbian occupation of Timişoara

11. Romanian Revolution of 1989

12. Culture and Economy of Timişoara
O Timişoara is an important culture center in Romania.
O The city is home to numerous higher-educational institutions, notably the
University of Timişoara, which was founded in 1948.
O Timişoara also has a state theater, a state opera and ballet, a philharmonic
orchestra, and a library.
O There are parks adjacent to the navigable Bega Canal, which flows through
the center of the city.
O Important buildings in Timişoara include the massive Roman Catholic
Cathedral (built from 1736–1773), the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral (originally
finished in 1748; restored in 1791), and the regional museum, enclosed in a
fourteenth-century palace.
O Timişoara is also a business center and has undergone industrial expansion,
particularly since World War II.
O Its leading manufactures are electric motors and electrical apparatus, textiles,
farm machinery and implements, plastics, footwear, and foodstuffs.

13. University of Timişoara National
Theatre and Opera

14. Bega Canal

15. Timișoara Philharmonic Orchestra

16. Politehnica University of Timişoara

17. Did you know?
O Francesco Illy (Hungarian: Illy
Ferenc; shown right), the inventor of
coffee machinery, was born in
Timişoara.
O In 1884, Timişoara became the first
European city to have electric street
lighting.

18. Commemoration of Timişoara’s first
operation of electric street lighting

19. References
O https://www.britannica.com/place/Timisoara
O https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timi%C8%99oara
O https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in
_Romania
O https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banat
O https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu
O https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Illy
O https://socatour.ro/what-to-see/cultural-attractions-and-
cities/timishoara-the-first-european-city-with-public-
street-lighting-90

20. The End