Continental Hotels

Arad is situated in the most western point of Romania. The town represents an important traffic, commercial and industrialhub. Being so close to the frontier makes Arad the main access to Western Europe:

By road (Turnu: 17 km, Nadlac: 46 km)

By rail road (Curtici: 17 km)

The Evangelical Church, built in 1906 in a neo-gothic style, is now known is the Red Church due to its red brick finishing.

 

“IoanSlavici” Classic Theatre – Franz Jozef, the Emperor of Austro-Hungary, was present at the opening of this theatre.

 

The Neptun public Pool, situated on a surface of almost 40 hectares of greenery, this is the second biggest public pool in Europe situated by the side of a river. The construction works started at the end of the ‘60s. The alleys are paved and the green area which includes more than 30 species is well maintained; the complex consists of 5 pools (a total of 8700 m2 : one pool is dedicated to adults, three pools with thermal water for children) and a water roller coaster, play ground sand over 300 camping houses. Around the pools there are more than 100 bars, terraces, restaurants, discos, pizzeria and internet cafes. Furthermore, there are two solars for nudists, two tennis courts, two volleyball courts, lane and trampoline for roller-skates, mini football court with nocturne installation  and 1500 cabins which can be rented for the season. The parking lot has 200 parking places. During the night the pool complex becomes the attraction of the town thanks to the restaurants, bars, terraces and clubs opened non stop. During summer, the complex can host concerts and festivals.

The public pool complex has become one of the most spectacular leisure centres in Europe. Annually, the complex has 3.000.000 visitors.

 

The Fortress of Arad was built from the order of the empress Maria Theresa. The fortress was designed by Ferdinand Philip Harsch in a Vauban-Tenaille style, in a star shape with 6 corners and it was supposed to have 3 underground blockhouses and some more ditches which could be flooded. The works took 20 years between 1763 and 1783 and were carried out by prisoners. The main gate and some of the internal buildings were designed in baroque style. Inside the fortress there is a catholic church and inside the surrounding buildings the Franciscan monks were hosted. Up until 1918 the fortress was one of the biggest military prisons of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the revolution that took place between 1848-1849, the Hungarian republican army besieged the fortress and the army bombed the town for nine months. In the summer 1849, the Hungarian revolutionary army occupied the fortress but after 46 days the Russian and Austrian armies obliged them to surrender. 500 officer of the revolutionary army were imprisoned and majority was sentence to death. In July 1919, the Romanian army took over the fortress and presently it is listed as a historical monument of the Arad County.

 

The house with a padlock was built in 1815. In1963 the commercial spaces located at the ground floor were changed into living units. In a corner of the building, in an arched hole protected with a metallic bar and locked, the sign of the artisan union from Arad was set: the Iron log. The only log belonging to a Romanian union was made by Moritz Heim, a sculptor from Timisoara, at the order of the Macedon Romanian artisan, Andrei Trandafir. This is a segment of a tree trunk covered with an iron plate. Journeymen craftsmen coming from different European centers, to enhance in Arad, beat targets of different geometric shapes in the tree trunk as a sign of their passage here. The log was stolen in 1994. It was recovered by the police and given to the restoration and conservation laboratory from the Museum Complex of Arad and restored. The original iron log is exposed at the Art Museum on the second floor.

 

The administrative Palace was built between 1872 and 1874 and now hosts the City Hall, the Prefect’s office and County Council. The building was designed by Pekar Ferenc and combines the Flemish neo-renascence style with the late medieval one. The construction is in U shape and inside the 54 m high tower there is a horologe brought from Switzerland in 1878 which plays patriotic songs every hour.