CARA SEVERIN COUNTY

Which sky takes me back me home?

The one beneath I daily rise my eyes,
the one I always guide my hopes to?
Or ... do they both shape my creed?

The county of Cara-Severin is situated in the

south-west of Romania, in the ancient province
of Banat. It borders Serbia to the west and
south, and the Danube and the Serbian border
to the extreme south. The county seat is at
Reia. Cara-Severin is part of the DanubeKris-Mure-Tisa euroregion. It has a population
of 333,219, the majority (88.24%) being
Romanians. They live in good neighbourhood
and work-together with Germans, Hungarians,
Serbs, Croats and other nationalities.
With 8,514 km2, it is the third largest county in
Romania, after Timi and Suceava counties. It
is also the county through which the Danube
River enters Romania.
The reduced number of inhabitants is due to the
relief features mostly mountains and hills,
and forests covering a large part of the county
territory. However, the county is located at an
economic and cultural cross-roads.
The symbol of the county is the daffodil, seen as passion embraced by purity.

SHORT HISTORY
The mountainous zone of Caras-Severin county was characterized, during its first stage of
development, by a prevalence of primary industries (mining, metallurgy) resulting from the
geological particularities of the region consisting in very rich resources: ferrous metals, nonferrous-metals, coal, non-metal ores. The mines here worked during the Roman and the
Ottoman rules, but a systemic approach and development of industry started only at the
beginning of the 18th century, once Banat became a province of the Austrian Empire (1718).
Thus, the mines at Sasca, Ciclova, Oravita, Dognecea, Ocna de Fier are mentioned both by
travellers visiting the region and by mineralogy papers of the time. The set-up of the works at
Boca (1721), and especially of that in Resita (1771) represented an institutionalization of
industry in the mountainous Banat. By 1855, the entire mining, metallurgical and forest assets
in the area had been property of the Austrian Imperial Treasury. At that time the first
Romanian railway line was built, coal railway line, (21 August 1854) and was designated for
the transport of coal and metallurgical products originating in the zone.
After the shock of World War I, a multinational society, UDR, was established and it started
expanding, developing entirely new branches and process lines: locomotives, electric
machines, oil equipment, several types of arms and ammunition. In time, several commercial
companies have come out of UDR and are specialized at present in the production of railway
tyres, railway tracks and heavy shapes, Diesel engines for railway locomotives and ships,
hydropower equipment and plant, big and special electric motors. Hopes for the better still
exist, though, likely to help overcome the drawbacks of the moment and induce economic
upsurge.
Cara-Severin County has 2 municipalities, 6 towns and 69 communes, 281 villages.
Municipalities: Caransebe, Reia - capital city

REIA
Resita is the most important town of the county, the
administrative, economic and cultural centre of
Caras-Severin. The history of the town is inter-related
with its development as an industrial centre.

The town history starts in 1769 when the Imperial Court

of Vienna decided to build a metallurgical works at
Resita. The conclusion in 1771 of a first stage of the
construction makes the metallurgical works of Resita
one of the most famous in Europe, along with other still
operational suchlike facilities: Krupp (Essen, Germany,
founded 1811), Skoda (Plsen, Czech Republic, founded
1859-1860), the works at Donawitz, Austria, founded
1836. Resita is at present a powerful Romanian
industrial centre, with one of the largest ferrous
metallurgy and mechanical engineering works (UCMR).
The centre of the town
Resita remains a city where the industry is strongly infiltrated into the
citys heart and where the natural beauty begins outside the city gates.

LANDMARKS IN RESITA

Open-Air Museum of the Steam Engines

was founded in 1972, to celebrate a century of steam
engines production in Reia. The museum consists of
6 exhibits belonging to different periods of
construction, the most important being the steam
engine called RESICZA, one of the first three
steam locomotives fabricated in the south-east of
Europe, in 1872. John Haswell is the author of the
project, an engineer from Scotland, but living in
Vienne. It is a tender locomotive with two connected
wheels, it has a traction force of 1125kg and 45 HP at
a 11km/h speed. It was constructed under improvised
conditions in the workshops of StEG Reia and in
1962 was still working. In 1964, steam locomotives
production in Reia comes to an end.
All 16 exhibits of the museum concentrate the history of almost a century
of machine construction industry on the banks of the Brzava river.

The huge hall where the steam

engines were fabricated,
picture dating from 1887

The second steam

engine ever produced in
Romania, RESICZA 2
1872

THE COUNTY MUSEUM OF HISTORY

In 1959, the first museum institution in the city
of Resita is founded, organized at the first floor
of the former People's Council district.
The museums inauguration was held on
December 23, 1959. The first exhibition of the
museum contained objects from the historical past of
the city, exhibits which are related with the beginning
and the development of Resita Factories, but also
with the environment of the city.
In 1962, the museum increases its collection and moves to another building. In 1969, Resita
Museum becomes the History Museum of Caras-Severin County. The museum changes again its
location, in 1972. With this occasion it is presented an entire collection that describes the historical
development of the society on the grounds of Caras-Severin county, since the Palaeolithic era. The
museum contains a large collection of objects related to many fields including archaeology, divided
into the Palaeolithic (flint tools), Neolithic (tools, painted pottery, statues and altars), bronze,
Hallstatt, Dacian era, Roman pottery, medieval era (silver, bronze and copper ornaments),
numismatics (Greek, Roman, Byzantine coins, from modern and contemporary era), history
(documents, photos, old books), ethnography (clothing, interior fabrics from Caras, Herculane,
religious painting on glass and wood, contemporary Romanian art, collection of minerals).

EFTIMIE MURGU UNIVERSITY (UEM)

of RESITA was founded in 1971.
In the academic year there are about 3,500 students.
The main activities are: Scientific Research and
International Relations.
There are two Faculties: the Faculty of Engineering,
founded in 1971 and the Faculty of Economics and
Administrative Sciences, founded in 1995.
Scientific research, together with training, has
always been one of the major activities and interests
of the university.
The Centre of Research in Hydraulics, Automation
and Heat Processes, the Centre of Technologic
Transfer and the Centre of Research in Social
Sciences and Humanities are all based here.
The University also participates in European
programmes such as Tempus, Socrates/Erasmus,
Culture 2000 and Leonardo da Vinci programmes
and cooperates with various Universities from:
Germany, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria,
Moldavia, France, and Canada.

G.A.PETCULESCU
THEATRE is the local theatre
with a short, but active history,
and functions in the historical
monument building called the
Culture Palace, a gorgeous place
recently restored in order to
house the activity of the Theatre.
Recently the theatre has
received a new title namely the
West Resita Theatre, in the
officials effort to include the local
theatrical
activity
in
the
European circuit, thus opening
new communication possibilities
and the acknowledgement of the
cultural efforts and the western
area spirituality.

But
the oldest theatre in the country is not far from Resita. One can find it in a smaller town, Oravita,
within Caras-Severin County. This wonderful construction is included in the list of Historical
Monuments Proposed for Restoration.

It was inaugurated on
the 1st of July 1817. The
building, with a semicircular hall and boxes
on the first and upper
floor, was designed by
architect Ion Niuny;
interior facilities after
the model of the Vienna
Burgtheater; storeys and
casino halls were added
in 1838, and in 1893 was
entirely restored.

Several beautiful religious edifice located

downtown Resita tell the old story of the
city. Their walls stood up throughout time
and history and nowadays are visited by all
tourists arriving in town. One of those
places is the local Synagogue, a beautiful,
large Moresque edifice built in 1907,
having a central high dome which creates a
monumentality effect.
Another important building also because it
is representative for the dominating
religion is the Resita Montana Romanian
Orthodox Cathedral, a monumental
byzantine construction finished in 1938.
The Evangelic Church 1910 is yet
another wonderful place to visit, an edifice
realized in 1910 which still impresses with
its unique architecture and imposing
dimensions.

The Synagogue
The Evangelic Church

3rd July1771
Furnace no. 2 Resita is the last furnace with a capacity of 700mc
that has been preserved in Romania and one of the last in Europe.
Built betweeen 1769-1771, it was inaugurated in July 1771 under the
name of Franciscus und Josephus Furnace. Today is included in
the Romanian National Patrimony as a historical monument.
There are few people who know
that the famous symbol of Paris,
Eiffel Tower, was constructed in
accordance to the plans of an
original technology invented by
a Romanian engineer, Gheorghe
Panculescu.
Gustave
Eiffel
himself visited him, at that time
Panculescu being the inspector
of Romanian Railways. They
discussed the modality of
adapting the new technology to
building up the tower.
And the steel used for the
tower was, most part of it,
produced in Resita.

The first
hydroelectrical
plant in Resita
was built
between
1903-1904 and
is still working
today.

THE
KINETIC
FOUNTAIN

THE
OLYMPIC

SWIMMING
POOL

SNAPSHOTS OF RESITA

Pigeons invading
the central square

Panoramic view

Covered by the cold garment of a long winter

Coals road suspended in the chilly air

Semenic Hotel

The National Romanian Bank

Resita Branch

The Polyvalent Hall

UNIVERSAL
the oldest modern shop in
Resita

Rogge Hotel

Interior of the Church

Saints Peter and Paul

Religious Celebration LET US BE LIGHT

on Palm Sunday, March 2010

Grna

- the perfect
summer destination for about
10 000 people. The small
mountain village, at about 1000
m altitude, comes to life every
summer, as the Jazz Festival
brings an overabundance of
musicians and tourists from all
over the world.

Garana is a true arts camp for

jazz festivals, rock concerts, folk
festivals,
exhibitions,
book
releases, biking competitions and
new things one discovers every
season. It is the one of the most
important places for eastern
European cultural tourism.

Banat Ring Dance festival of popular traditional music and dances organised, every
year, by The Town Hall of Resita and The Local Council of the municipality. The event takes
place on the day of celebrating Saints Peter and Paul (June 29), the two protectors of the town.

SURROUNDINGS

THE SEMENIC MOUNTAINS

Everything starts with a tiny flower semenic, actually a
rare flower growing in the wilderness of the mountains.
Therefore, this western Romanian ski resort was named
after it, as a similarity to the rareness of the beauty that one
can discover within this unique location. The resort is
located on the mountain with the same name, which is a
part of the Banat Mountains in Caras-Severin County. It is
situated on top of Mount Semenic at an altitude of 1,400m
at about 36 km away from the county capital Resita. It is a
fact that on Mount Semenic, in comparison with the other
ski resorts of Romania, the snow gets the thickest
throughout the year, frequently reaching a layer thickness
above 2 m, that stretches the ski season up to the end of
April, and sometimes even May.

VALIUG LAKE
Lake on the river Barzava used as a
water reservoir for the city of Resita. It
is used to produce electricity and
water. Built in 1909, Valiug lake is
framed by lakes Gozna upstream and
Secu located downstream.

BIGAR WATERFALL

BEUSNITA WATERFALL

COMARNIC CAVE

In 1947, the Romanian

Academy declared
Comarnic Cave as a
natural reservation.
Today is included in the
"Protected Natural
Zones of National
Interest."

THE NERA KEYS - CHEILE NEREI

THE EYE OF THE TURKISH NOBLEMAN

a mysterious blue lake that

never freezes. The legend says that it was born out of the tragic love between a Turkish
nobleman and a local shepherdess. The noblemans father wanted to kill the girl, but her
lover defended her bravely. However, in his fight he lost one of his eyes. Since then, his
eye has never stopped shedding tears for the lost love. This is the spring of the lake.

THE CARAS KEYS

CHEILE CARASULUI
veil a wild
beauty with rare
natural wonders.
19 km with more
than 500 caves
and 8 natural
reservations.

CARASOVA VILLAGE
the gate to Cheile Carasului
National Park

ANINA
The Anina-Oravita railway
was the first in Romania,
built in 1856, it is still in use
today for touristic purposes,
and it is one of the most
beautiful railways in Europe
due to very picturesque
landscapes, viaducts and
long tunnels.
Anina occurs between Cheile
Nerei - Beusnita National
Park and Semenic - Cheile
Carasului National Park,
and due to its natural and
industrial heritage deserves
the status of a geopark, a
much needed status for such
an important geological and
historical area.

HERCULANE SPA
Town in South-West Romania (Caras-Severin
county), situated in the Cerna Valley, between the
Mehedinti Mountains in the east and the Cerna
Mountains in the west.
The climate suffers Mediterranean influences. The
average annual temperature is of 14C (July
average 22C; January average 1C). Winters are
mild, summers cool, spring is short and comes
early and autumn is long. The air is powerfully
ionized (2000 negative ions/cu.cm).
This is the oldest health resort in Romania, known
since the Roman times, when it was called Ad
aquas Hercules sacras (its documentary attestation
as a resort dates back to A.D. 153), for the
therapeutical effects of the sulphurous, sodic,
calcic, magnesian, thermal waters, used both in
internal and external cures. Given the high
temperature of the mineral waters (38-60C) and
the varied mineralization, their physiologic action
is complex and the therapeutical value - matchless.

THE LAKE WITH THE WATER LYLIES

What takes me always back home?

Is it the faded innocence of remembrance?
Remember Resita as a world of wonders waiting to be revealed !