Timișoara beyond the three squares: a skansen, a park, Art Nouveau
A skansen with some thirty houses, the park that gave the city its nickname, an Art Nouveau district and a museum in a Baroque palace — four places that do not make the six main sights.
- National Museum of Art
- In the 1752–1754 Baroque Palace
The three squares and two cathedrals fill day one; these four are left for day two, or for anyone who stays longer than a single pass through the centre. The Banat Village Museum keeps some thirty 19th-century houses, Roses Park is the reason the city calls itself the city of roses, the Fabric district carries Art Nouveau palaces from the early 20th century, and the National Museum of Art sits in a Baroque palace that once ran the whole province.
Banat Village Museum — a 17-hectare skansen
Founded on 20 August 1971, it keeps more than thirty 19th-century village houses, moved here from settlements across Banat — Romanian, Slovak, Swabian, Ukrainian and Hungarian households, alongside a school, a church and a town hall typical of a Banat village. A visit takes about 2 h, with entry at €3.80 and opening hours Tue–Sat 10–18, Sun 12–20; it is closed Monday.
Roses Park — the city that carries flowers in its name
Laid out in 1891 to a design by Wilhelm Mühle, the park was destroyed in the First World War; his son Árpád Mühle began its reconstruction in 1928, and after further damage in the Second World War it was rebuilt again between 1953 and 1965. Today it carries hundreds of rose varieties and is one reason Timișoara calls itself the 'city of roses'. Entry: free. Closed: Monday.
Fabric district — Art Nouveau by the canal
Art Nouveau palaces from around 1900 — the Anhauer, Karl Kunz and Neptun buildings — form the core of this district on the far bank of the Bega, beyond the old city core. Access: free.
National Museum of Art — inside the Baroque Palace
The building went up between 1752 and 1754 by joining two older ones — the Mining Office and the Military Cashier's Office — and served as the seat of the whole Banat province's administration under the Habsburgs. The art museum moved in only in 1984, and today holds a collection of more than eight thousand works. Tickets €6.27, open Wed–Sun 10–18. Closed: Monday, Tuesday.
An order that makes sense
Fabric and the skansen sit on the same side of town, across the bridge on the Bega — they naturally go together, as day two of the day-by-day plan. Roses Park and the Baroque Palace are closer to the centre, in Iosefin, so they fit into the same afternoon.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
When is the Banat Village Museum closed?
Monday. On other days it opens Tue–Sat 10–18, Sun 12–20.
Is entry to Roses Park free?
Yes, free, except on Mondays when it is closed.
Since when has the National Museum of Art been in the Baroque Palace?
Since 1984. The building itself is older — built in 1752–1754 as the seat of Banat's administration.
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Where to next
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Cluj-Napoca · 214 km
→The name Napoca was added back to the city only in 1974, after the 2nd-century Roman fort its centre stands on; today Babeș-Bolyai University, founded in 1581, enrols about 45,000 students.
How well does Timișoara suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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