The most beautiful religious buildings Timişoara

It's the city's landmark building. Of neo-Byzantine and neo-Romanesque inspiration, the Orthodox cathedral was built between 1936 and 1946 and can accommodate 5,000 standing worshippers. Its monumental appearance is impressive: 63 m long, 35 m wide, 80 m high. The ochre and yellow of the brick and the green and gold of the tiles form an elegant color combination. Its bells, each weighing 8 tonnes, were cast from rare metals from Sumatra and Borneo. Inside, the icons are superb. Some are on display in a basement museum.

It was built according to the plans of the Austrian architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach (1693-1742). Begun in 1736, work was interrupted by the plague epidemic and the cathedral was not completed until 1774. In the shape of a cross, it mixes classical influences and baroque decorations. The two altars bring a rococo touch to the whole. In 1849, the building was severely damaged and the last restorations took place in 1981-1982. The arrangement of the vaults gives the place an excellent acoustics, suitable for organ concerts.

Built between 1862 and 1865, to plans by Viennese architect Ignaz Schumann, it features an eclectic style, using elements of Moorish architecture, in vogue at the time. Its facade, framed by two massive towers, is covered in exposed brick and ceramic tiles. The grandeur of the building is a reminder that, at the turn of the century, Timișoara had a very large Jewish population: it numbered over 12,000, compared with a few hundred today. Most emigrated to Israel under Ceaușescu.

Built at the same time as the Catholic Cathedral, it rises on the other side of piața Unirii, to which it has its back. Its facade faces Ungurianu street. The building, which blends Baroque and classical styles, returned to the Serbian community after its separation from the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1865. The adjoining Episcopal Palace, the seat of the Serbian Orthodox bishopric, also dates from the 18th century, but its façade was rebuilt in 1905 in a neo-Serbian style.