Romania

Architectural Feast | A small Romanian town that subverts my imagination|||Timișoara, this little-known city turned out to be the place in Romania that subverted my imagination the most. This was added at the last minute of the trip. I didn't know much about this city before coming here, so when I saw those novel buildings in the old city center, I felt like my knowledge was refreshed. I have traveled to nearly 30 countries in Europe, and I am almost numb to the mainstream architectural styles. But the Art Nouveau architecture in Timisoara was refreshing to me. I have seen this style mainly in Riga, Latvia, and later in Subotica, Serbia, but overall, Timisoara has the most and best-looking ones. It is understood that there are many such buildings in the small town of Oradea on the Romanian border, but unfortunately I didn't have time to go there. Timisoara is a historical and cultural city in western Romania and was named the "European Capital of Culture" in 2023. Its architecture was deeply influenced by the Habsburg dynasty and is known as "Little Vienna". The city's architecture showcases a fusion of various European styles, among which Art Nouveau is the jewel of its architectural heritage, reflecting the trend of European architectural art from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The buildings combine elements of naturalism, decorativeness and modernism, showing a perfect combination of elegance and vitality. 📸Practical tips: ⭕️Many Art Nouveau buildings are concentrated in Union Square (Figure 1-3-5-7-10) and around Victory Square (Figure 2-4-9), which are very visually impactful. Of course, there are many other streets and alleys if you look carefully (Figure 6-12) ⭕️The more famous Art Nouveau buildings include Brück House (Figure 1&7), Banca de Scont (Figure 3&11 below), National Theatre (Figure 2), etc. ⭕️The interior of the Orthodox Church at the south end of Victory Square (Figure 8) is very beautiful, especially you can go up to the second floor to take pictures (refer to the single shot in the previous series). ⭕️The Roman Catholic Church Holy Cross has a very unique shape (Figure 11, top). It should have been very beautiful to take an aerial photo of it, but unfortunately I didn’t have time to take a look. 🚘Self-driving route Day 1 Sofia, Bulgaria-Bucharest, Romania Day 2 Bucharest-Brasov Day 3 Brasov city and Peles Castle Day 4 Brasov-Rasnov-Vampire Castle-Sibiu Day 5 Sibiu-Biertan-Sighisoara Day 6 Sighisoara Day 7 Sighisoara-Hunedoara-Timisoara Day 8 Timisoara-Subotica, Serbia