Timisoara is with 336,089 inhabitants one of the largest cities in Romania. It is a large economic as well as cultural center in Banat in the west of the country. It is a multicultural city with influential minorities, primarily Hungarians, Germans, and Serbs, as well as Italians, Bulgarians, and Greeks. It was the birthplace of Johnny Weissmuller (an Olympic swimmer, best known for his role as Tarzan).

The city is also called "Little Vienna", because it belonged for a very long time to the Habsburg Empire and the entire city center consists of buildings built in the Kaiser era, which reminds one much of the old Vienna. Timisoara is an important university center with the emphasis on subjects like medicine, mechanics and electro-technology. An industrial city with extensive services, it was the first European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It was also the second European and the first city in what is now Romania with horse drawn trams in 1867. There are numerous claims that Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built one of Timisoara's footbridges over the Bega.

The old city consists of historic city quarters with several historic squares and proms. These are: Cetate (Belváros in Hungarian, Innere-Stadt in German) Iosefin (Józsefváros, Josephstadt) Elisabetin (Erzsébetváros, Elisabethstadt) Fabric (Gyárváros, Fabrikstadt) Numerous bars, clubs and restaurants have opened in the old center in the fine old baroque square. (from Wikipedia Lexikon)