Timisoara, a city becoming (again)
We have recently launched Eastern Chronicles, a travel journal of sorts about Eastern Europe. For my first official contribution to the Chronicles I would like to tell you a few things about my home.
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I live in Timisoara and I love it. I’ve been living here for the past 14 years, from the very beginnings of my professional career as a freelance designer. We grew up together, the city and I. I’ve been through a lot in the years spent here and it feels like the city has, too. We’ve seen people come and go, places open and close, economic booms followed by economic crises. And yet, Timisoara has somehow managed to keep its optimism and inspire me to do the same.
Timisoara is probably best known for being the city where the 1989 Revolution started in Romania. But before that, Timisoara made its way to the pages of history for being the place where the first phone network from the current Romanian territory was built in 1881. Timisoara is also the only city in Europe with three distinct national theatres (Romanian, German and Hungarian). Another premiere Timisoara is famous for is its first European electric street lights network, built in 1884.
If you’re a coffee enthusiast like me, you’d be interested to know that Francesco Illy, the founder of illy caffè, was born here in 1892. Today, Timisoara’s coffee scene is still evolving — but more about this in my next article.
“Don’t panic, it’s supposed to look like this.”
October 21, 2013 marked the beginning of a major rehabilitation project targeting most of the downtown area of Timisoara. It is supposed to be completed within 24 months. This means that for the past almost two years this area looked like a battlefield. So, the disclaimer don’t panic, it’s supposed to look like this, quickly became the standard greeting to all our foreign friends visiting.
There are many amazing places I have visited, which would surpass living in Timisoara on many levels. However, this sense of belonging, of being part of a community has yet to be matched by another place. I hope you come for a visit and stay for a while. Timisoara will grow on you, trust me.
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We have also written about Krk Island, Ljubljana, Rupea Fortress, the Festetics Castle and Park from Dég, the Cadillac Museum from Keszthely, and the graveyard from Balatonudvari where all the tombstones are heart-shaped.
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