Timisoara City (Artistic Attractions)

Old City House

In 1731 was put the foundation stone of the old town hall, in that time also called the new town hall or the German town hall. In 1735, in the new building was re-elected the mayor Peter Solderer. On the frontispiece of the building it can still be seen the seal of the town, an open port, between two towers of a strengthened fortress. During the history, the façade of the town hall was remade several times. The old façade was symmetric, with a port in the middle, above which there is a balcony and the 4 bent windows of the old assembly room. The town hall ran in this building until 1949.

Synagogue Citadel

The synagogue from Cetate district, of a Mosaic style, was built amid 1863-65 on initiative of the Rabbi Mauriciu Hirschfeld; it was planned by the Viennese architect Ignatz Schuhmann in eclectic and Moorish style. In the Inter-War period, there were almost 13 000 Jews in Timişoara, today there are around 700. The balconies and the ground-floor space can host 3 000 people.
The edifice had two official inaugurations, at the second one, from 1872, participated King Franz Josef I. as well. The façade is plated with face brick and ceramics plate. The building has two towers and a dome. In the interior there is a Wegenstein organ (1866). Here is buried rabbi David Opelheim. In 1985 the synagogue was closed because of the decline in number of the Jew population. In the following 20 years, the edifice bore the consequences of its neglecting and vandalism. In 2001 the Philharmonic Orchestra signed a lending contract for 50 years with the Jew community.
In exchange of using the synagogue as a concert-room, it will support the renovation expenses of the building. Thus, the place will change into a multifunctional space, with conference and exposition rooms.

Synagogue Iosefini

The Orthodox synagogue from Iosefin district is the only one in the whole town where services are held even today. It was built amid 1906-1910. Today in Timişoara live around 600 Jews and this is the only religious place where they can meet.

Slaughterhouse

It was built amid 1905-1905, according to the plans of architect Szekely Laszlo. Initially, the complex had 11 buildings: animal shelters, sacrifice halls, refrigerating spaces, offices, laboratories and even dwellings. After 1989 the slaughter house limited its activity until its abolition in 1992. The successive demolitions ended with the keeping of the figurative tower of its lateral halls and the entrance gate with its statuary groups. The central tower ends in battlements in the superior part and the statuary groups represent a bull and a female character in one part and the other one a bull and a male character.

Fountain with Fish

In 1957 in Victory Square this artesian well was built, known as the Fish well, and in a short time it became the favourite place of the photographers, of the youth and of the elderly. It is the oasis of relax of the square, it revives the atmosphere created by the surrounding monumental buildings.

Skanzen

The Skanzen was established in 1971, on a surface of 17.47 ha in the Green Forest, in the North-Eastern extremity of the town. It looks like a village, with streets and houses, with church and mill, town hall and pub. The genuine constructions of wood, stone, clay, demolished in the villages of Banat and rebuilt in the museum, respecting the local techniques; the day-by-day used objects, introduce us in the lives of the people from Banat of the past centuries. Mainly the rooms, the spare bedroom, known as the clean bedroom, are beautifully furnished and decorated with woven materials, carpets, towels and tablecloths. The roof in general is supported by wooden pillars, traditionally decorated, and the houses are either thatched or shingle-topped. There is also a wheelwright`s shop.