Situated at only 13 km away from the western Romanian border,
Oradea is the capital of
Bihor
County, occupying a privileged central-European position.
Oradea is an important communication knot between
Romania and countries like
Hungary,
Austria or
Czech
Republic.
The first information about the Fortress of Oradea dates back to 1241 and the first written mentioning of
Oradea was in 1113.
Around the Fortress of Oradea, in Subcetate, Olosig and Velenta neighbourhoods, the new town caught shape along the centuries.
Oradea was a commercial town in Antiquity, gathering incomes in the Catholic Diocese’streasury, and allowing the construction of an imposing gothic cathedral in the middle of the fortress in the 14th century.
Oradea has been remarked in the central-European gothic landscape.
Oradea,with its narrow medieval streets and people involved in commerce or agriculture, has met in intense cultural life: the Capitol’s library, the college or the Astronomic Observer (on of the first from central
Europe) being just a few of the accomplishments of the town at the beginning of its history.
One of the biggest renascent assemblies from the country, The Royal Palace, was finished at the middle of the 17th century.
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th have marked
Oradea’s entry in to modernity. The town got a new look: new housing and commercial buildings were constructed, of which we can mention: the Palace of the Chamber of Commerce, the Post Office, the Palace of the National Bank, the City Hall, the Court of Law, the Theatre etc – all designed in an eclectic style. Also buildings like the
Ullman
Palace, the Adorjan Houses, the
Apollo
Palace, the
Black
Eagle
Palace, and the Eparchy’s Palace etc designed in a secession style which gives charm and a unique identity to the city.
Tourist attractions:
Oradea’s City Hall situated in the north-west of the
Central Piata and combining the eclectic and the renascence style.
The Fortress of
Oradea, dating back to the 11th-13th centuries
The Court of Law palace
The
Palace of
Finance, built in eclectic style between February 1899 and April 1900
The Black Eagle Palace and the pedestrians’ passage built between 1907 - 1909
The Romano - Catholic
Bishopric
Palace, baroque style, built between 1762 and 1777
The Greek - Catholic Bishopric Palace
The Orthodox Bishopric
Palace
The
Apollo
Palace
The
Stern
Palace a work of art of the architects Komor Marcell and Jakob Dezso built in 1909
TheMoskovits
Palace designed in 1905 in secession style.
Buildings of culture:
Crisurilor
Country Museum
The “Iosif Vulcan” memorial museum
The “Ady Endre” memorial museum
TheNational
Military
Museum
Religious buildings:
The Church with a Moon
The Roman - Catholic Basilica, the biggest baroque construction in
Romania
