Things to see and do Oradea

The city, one of the greenest in the country, has many of them. The oldest (19th century) is the park Petőfi Sándor, in which the Catholic Episcopal Palace is nestled. Very wooded, it is home to three giant sequoias. The former Rhedey Park was also divided in two in the 19th century: on the one hand the park Bălcescu, on the other hand the zoological garden. The Central Park, or Park 1 Decembrie, dates from the 1950s. By the river, the park Brătianu is the largest in the city. Another park surrounds the fortress, laid out in the old moat.

This wide square on the left bank is surrounded by remarkable buildings, including the Black Eagle Palace(Vulturul Negru), a vast 1908 Secession complex with an asymmetrical façade. It is crossed by a covered passage decorated with floral friezes and a stained-glass eagle window. Also note the Moskovits Adolf Palace (1905), with its geometric motifs, on the corner of Rue Alecsandri. The town hall is neoclassical (1903). The superb Greek-Catholic Episcopal Palace, in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo style (1905), suffered a serious fire in 2018.

The Museum of the Crişana(muzeul Țării Crișurilor), the region of which Oradea is the main city, comprises several sections. The Natural Sciences section is renowned for its collection of eggs (over 14,000), from birds all over the world. The Museum of Archaeology and History features an interesting collection of ^19th-century photographs, as well as old maps and atlases. The ethnographic section displays ceramics, folk costumes, textiles, icons, painted eggs and wooden and metal objects.

Built between 1752 and 1780, this cathedral is the largest Baroque religious building in Romania (78 by 40 meters). The facades are covered in Carrara marble, the influence of the Italian architect who carried out the construction project. Some of the interior paintings date back to the time of its construction, such as those on the superb dome; others were added in the ^19th and ^20th centuries. Also noteworthy are the great organs. A simple cathedral until 1991, Pope John Paul II promoted it to basilica status that year.

Close to the basilica, this Baroque-style palace is set in a large wooded park. Built in the ^mid-18th century by Austrian architect Franz Anton Hillebrandt, it is a replica of Vienna's Belvedere Palace. It is said to have as many windows as there are days in the year. Its 100 rooms contain superb paintings depicting scenes from the life of Saint Ladislas, King of Hungary from 1077 to 1095. They date from the late ^19th century.

Built between 1784 and 1790, this Orthodox church known as "à la Lune"(biserica cu Lună) combines Baroque elements with neoclassical touches. At 55 m high, its bell tower dominates the square. Its interiors are well worth a visit, not least for their grandiose ^19th-century illuminated paintings. Installed on the façade in 1793, the astronomical clock features an ingenious mechanism: a large sphere, painted half black and half gold, follows the rotation of the moon around the Earth, representing the different phases of the star.

Situated on the banks of the river, this imposing cubic synagogue in an eclectic style, topped by a large silver dome, was erected from 1877 onwards by reformist Jews. It's the biggest in the city. Its interior walls are covered with coloured geometric patterns of Moorish inspiration. The synagogue, recently restored, has become a space dedicated to culture.

The Orthodox synagogue (strada Mihai Viteazul 4), built in 1890 in an eclectic style with many Moorish elements, reopened in 2018 after renovation.

Built between 1114 and 1131, this citadel was destroyed in 1241 by the Tatars. Rebuilt, it was rebuilt in the 15th century, then especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to plans inspired by Vauban and entrusted to Italian architects, who developed it with a typical star shape. From then on, it became the epicentre of the city and a real bulwark against the Ottoman invasions. The majestic princely palace dates from the reign of Gabriel Bethlen, at the beginning of the 17th century.

Recently restored, the citadel now hosts restaurants, craft workshops, medieval demonstrations and numerous cultural events. It is also home to the city museum, whose sections are divided among the various bodies of the princely palace. You can visit a lapidarium in the basement, an art gallery, a bread museum, a memorial to the communist resistance and repression, temporary exhibitions... One of the permanent exhibitions is devoted to the history of photography, another focuses on the musical tastes of young people in the harsh 1970s and 1980s... Don't miss the Griffon Hall, the most beautiful in the palace: decorated with stuccoes representing fantastic and real animals, it was probably originally used as a reception hall. The two adjoining rooms have superb painted vaults. As for the old moat, it has become a beautiful park, where one can walk along the imposing red brick walls.

He lives in an Orthodox synagogue built in 1926. This municipal museum, inaugurated in 2018, will tell you that the first Jewish community was established in the city in 1722. In 1870, it splits in two, between Orthodox and Reformers. The floor is dedicated to the Second World War and the Holocaust: the city's annexation to Hungary, the adoption of anti-Semitic laws, ghettoization and deportation to death camps.

This long pedestrian shopping street, full of cafés, is almost always bustling with activity. It's lined with colorful Baroque and Secession buildings, some of which have been beautifully restored. Art Nouveau gems include the Apollo Palace (no. 16), an immaculately white building dating from 1912, and the Stern Palace (no. 10), built in 1904, with its magnificent floral friezes inspired by traditional Hungarian motifs. And let's not forget the superb Moskovits Miksa Palace, with its petrol-blue walls, plant motifs and superb ironwork.