Timişoara

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.