16-22 December 1989. In the great book of the Romanian people’s history, Timisoara wrote a golden page of everlasting glory. After decades of suffering and privations, of dogmatism and terror, in this blessed piece of land, the People finally overcome their fear. United in an impressive community of feeling and thought, they all come to light the heroic torch of national self sacrifice, and the young ones bringing in the light of freedom on the Romanian land.

The fire of the revolution burst into flames in this peaceful city of Banat, a place in which honest work, dignity and the thirst for truth have always adumbrated a distinctive way of life and state of spirit. In the days of the Revolution due to the valour and sacrifice of its martyrs, Timisoara became a symbol that shattered the whole world; the city bore a name that was to be identified with the most sacred word for the people all over the world: FREEDOM!

Being the farthest among the urban centers in the west of Romania, Timisoara has always been a place for favorable contacts as interference with the European civilizations, a city distinctively cut out for a modern architecture, culture and conceptions. Its eventful history and the dramatic events of December 1989, unmistakably shown its European spirituality, convergent with the perennial values of democracy.

At the crossroads of the 45ø47′ North latitude parallel at the 21ø17′ East longitude meridian, there are to be found the precincts of the town, with the slow Bega flowing through, and the green girdle of parks all over them. Having a favorable geographic position, in an area open to the European penetration Timisoara allows for rich contacts among people and cultures absorbing influences by way of international intercourse. Bucharest is 533 km from Timisoara (on the railroad) and, by train or by car, it takes a few hours to reach the beautiful capitals Belgrade, Budapest or Vienna. The population of Timisoara is of 354345 inhabitants registered in 1990, making up a community in which harmony and cooperation are characteristic of their way of life.

Timisoara is the capital of the Timis County, covering the fertile Banat Plane. It projects its monumental buildings and residential districts upon the plain, as smooth as a watertable. The relief is very little put out level, except for a few gently undulating landscapes. The line of the horizon seems to lean on the church spires or on the blocks of flats bordering the town.

The climate is mild and so is the people’s nature. The average annual temperature is 10.9øC. Generally, the winters are not severe, with short intervals of frost, summers are long and warm, but the heat does not last long. Rain is brought by the layers of air coming from the Mediterranean Sea and from the north-west, adorning the town with a rich vegetation that gives a special charm to the impression of a huge garden, with century-old trees, wonderful ornamental plants and millions of flowers.

This modern town, with its broad streets and boulevards, was built by its skillful, persevering and industrious inhabitants. It was erected, in the middle of a plain, mostly flooded by the Timis and the Bega rivers, with marshes that lasted as late as 18th century. The many stately buildings, one can see in the vast area of the town, arise in the onlooker a feeling of admiration for the efforts made by its earlier and present builders. Every new residential district was built on land snatched away from the marshy sites; the erection of every monumental building ask for the proper designs.It is this that lends the town on the Bega a beauty of its own; and this has probably created a permanent feeling of dignity in its inhabitants. All historical epochs have left their own mark upon Timisoara; it is their joint influences that have lent it a remarkable unity and equilibrium. The peacefulness of the Banat plain seems to stretch out over the town too, creating a rewarding image of harmony, evocative of an intensive peaceful human activity.

Today it is hard to imagine that Timisoara, this beautiful and orderly town rose from the marshes. The way it looks nowadays is, all in all, the result of its people’s courage, ingenuity and diligence. Like very many other mediaeval towns of Europe, Timisoara was born under the protection of a fortress and around it. That is why, the center and the oldest part of the town bears the suggestive name of “Cetate” (Citadel). This was the nucleus from which it developed into an urban settlement in the course of centuries, the evolution of its town planning being a real book of history.

source: Grigore Moisil HighSchool