Timisoara

Timişoara (tēmēshwä`rä), Hung. Temesvár, city (1990 pop. 351,293), W Romania, in the Banat, on the Beja Canal. The chief city of the former Banat of Temesvar, it is a railroad hub and an industrial center, with engineering works, plants processing food and tobacco, and factories manufacturing textiles, machinery, and chemicals. Timişoara is a Roman Catholic and an Orthodox episcopal see and has a university (founded 1945) and other institutions of higher education. It was an ancient Roman settlement and came under Magyar domination in 896 and was annexed to Hungary in 1010. An important frontier fortress, Timişoara was held by the Turks from 1552 until its liberation in 1716 by Eugene of Savoy. The Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) formally restored it to Austria-Hungary. It passed to Romania by the Treaty of Trianon (1920). In Dec., 1989, demonstrations protesting the removal of an outspoken priest, Láslo Tökés, sparked the revolution that led to the downfall of Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist regime. The inner city is surrounded by boulevards, which have replaced the former ramparts. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox cathedrals, the city hall, and other important buildings date from the 18th cent. A regional museum is housed in the 14th–15th-century Hunyadi castle.

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Timisoara

City (pop., 2002: 317,651), western Romania. Located near the Timis River, it was first settled in Neolithic and Roman times. It was sacked by the Tatars in the 13th century. Its citadel was rebuilt in the 14th century and for a few years became the residence of Charles I of Hungary. The Turks held the town from 1552 until the Austrians took it in 1716. Occupied by Serbia in 1919, Timisoara was allotted to Romania by the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. Antigovernment demonstrations there in 1989 led to the execution of Pres. Nicolae Ceausescu and the end of communist rule in Romania. It is a manufacturing, commercial, and cultural centre.

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Timişoara

a city in W Romania: formerly under Turkish and then Hapsburg rule, being allotted to Romania in 1920; scene of violence during the revolution of 1989. Pop.: 296 000 (2005 est.)