Timioara

Introduction. The city is also called "Little Vienna", because it belonged for a very long time to the Habsburg Empire and the entire city center consists of buildings built in the Kaiser era, which is reminiscent of the old Vienna. Timioara is an important university center with the emphasis on subjects like medicine, mechanics and electro-technology. An industrial city with extensive services, it was the first European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It was also the second European and the first city in what is now Romania with horse drawn trams in 1867. There are numerous claims that Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built one of Timioara's footbridges over the Bega. The old city consists of historic city quarters with several historic squares and proms like: Cetate, Iosefin and Fabric. In 1019 the locality of Dibiscos/ Bisiskos/ Tibiskos/ Tibiskon/ Timbisko/etc., presumed to be the future Timisoara , was mentioned for the first time in written documents of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, although not all historians do agree with this identification. In 1154, the Arabian geographer Sarif al Idrisi mentioned the city telling that "it is a nice city offering a lot of riches". The first mention of the fort of Timioara (Castrum Temesiensis) is found in the decree of King Endre II of Hungary dating from 1212. Timioara itself was first mentioned in official documents as a city in 1474. Geography. Timioara, also known as "The City of Athletes", is a city in the Banat region of western Romania. It is the capital of Timi County. Population. With 307,347 inhabitants, Timioara is a large economic and cultural center in Banat in the west of the country. It is a multicultural city with influential minorities, primarily Hungarians, Germans, and Serbs, as well as Italians, Arabs, Indians, Bulgarians, Jews and Greeks. Climate. Timioara has a continental climate, characterised by hot dry summers and cold winters.

Economy. Timioara has been a strong economic center since the 18th century when the Habsburg administration was installed. Due to the Austrian colonization, the ethnic and religious diversity and the innovation of laws, the economy began to develop. The technicians and craftsmen that settled in the city established guilds and helped develop the citys economy. During the Industrial Revolution most of the modern innovations were introduced. It was the first city with streets illuminated in the monarchy, and the first city of Europe illuminated by electric light. In this period the Bega river was channelled - Bega canal. It was the first navigable canal in the recent Romanian territory. In this way the city had contact with Europe, and even with the world through the Black Sea. This led to the evolution of commercialism. In the 19th century the railway system of the Hungarian Kingdom reached Timioara. It is the first city in todays Romania with international routes. In this way the city had all the needs for commercialism. In recent years, Timioara has enjoyed a significant economic boom as the number of foreign investments, especially in high-tech sectors, has risen constantly. It is frequently considered the second most prosperous city in Romania (following Bucharest) and there have been frequent debates on whether the so-called "Timioara Model" could be applied to other cities. Apart from the several local investments, many substantial investments from the European Union take place in Timioara, particularly from Germany and Italy, as well as from the USA. Continental AG has produced tires here for several years. The company Linde produces technical gases, and a part of the wiring moulds for BMW and Audi vehicles are produced by the company Drxlmaier Group. The US company Flextronics maintains a large workplace in the west of the city for the production of mobile telephony and government inspection department devices. The American company Procter & Gamble manufactures washing and cleaning agents in Timioara. The Swiss company Nestl produces waffles here. Transport. Timioara's public transport network consists of 11 tram lines, 9 trolleybus lines and 15 bus lines, and is operated by Regia Autonom de Transport Timioara (RATT), an autonomous corporation of the City Hall. The city is served by Romania's second busiest airport, Traian Vuia International Airport, which is the hub of the Romania's second-largest airline, Carpatair. The city is connected to a series of major European and domestic destinations. Timioara is a major railway centre and is connected to all other major Romanian cities, as well as local destinations, through the national Cile Ferate Romne network.

Culture. Timioara is a multicultural city, influenced by the german and the hungarian culture. With his 12 cultural institutions, Timioara is after Bucharest and Iasi, the third cultural pole of Romania. The Timioara theatre is unique in Europe, because its divided in three: the National Theatre, the German Theatre and the Hungarian Theatre. The Banat Museum contains the biggest collection of artefacts in Banat. Architecture. The city center of Timioara is the biggest patrimony of historical monuments in Romania. Education. From 1920, Timioara has become the most important centre of education in the western Romania, and the third in the country, after Bucharest and Iasi. The mos important Universities are: the West University, the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Banat.