a brief presentation made by Simona-Liliana Popovici member of the team project from Romania coordinated by Octavian Horia Minda

1. MARIA THERESA BASTION
TIMIŞOARA
a brief presentation made by Simona-Liliana Popovici
member of the team project from Romania
coordinated by Octavian Horia Minda

2. Around the 12th Century was Timişoara's first strengthened
fortress built. It lodged several voivodes, but its development
started in the 14th Century, under the reign of Carol Robert de
Anjou, period when, amid 1316-1323, Timisoara became the
capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.

3. In 1552 the fortress was conquered by the Ottomans. Under their
ruling the town was surrounded by a wattle wall and ditch with
water.

4. The wall had 5 gates. Only the Ottomans lived in the protected
area, in the Vienna, the town. The Catholics and the Orthodox
lived in suburbs, where they had their own churches.

5. In 1716 the stronghold is conquered by the Habsburg Empire.
Under their dominance the town knows an unheard prosperous
period, gaining the name of Small Vienna.

6. Amid 1723-1765 the stronghold was rebuilt because the
fortifications couldn't get through the new fighting techniques.
The new Vauban style fortification had a 10 times greater
surface than the Turkish Medieval Stronghold.

7. The interior space
was surrounded by
3 stellar belts that
could be filled with
water. It had 9
bastions and 3
gates: the Carol,
Francisc, Theresia,
Iosef, Hamilton,
Castelul, Mercy,
Eugeniu and
Elisabeth bastions
and the Viena,
Petrovaradin and
Transilvania gates.

8. From these only the Theresia bastion can be seen today. It was
built amid 1730-1735. A fragment from the formerly walls can be
seen in the Botanic Park and on the Al. Ioan Cuza street.