Dicasterial Palace

The Dicasterial Palace is a historical monument in Timișoara, Romania, which serves today as the headquarters of the local court, tribunal and court of appeal.

History

In 1727, there was a barracks on this site, then called the Chamber Administration House, where the Catholic bishop also lived in 1752. Being built before the drawing of the new rectangular system of streets, this one-story building was "rotated" with respect to the network of streets in Cetate. Between 1754 and 1758, the Flour Warehouse was added to the building.
In today's form, the Dicasterial Palace was built between 1855 and 1860, being intended for the Parliament of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. This was proclaimed in 1849 for the areas of Syrmia, Banat, Bačka and Baranya as a response to the Hungarian uprising against the Austrian imperial family in the revolution of 1848–1849. In 1860, however, the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was dissolved and the political order before 1848 was restored. The Cigarette Factory also operated in the building until the fire of 1880. In 1898, the building housed, among other institutions, the Post and Telegraph Office.

Architecture

The palace, built in an historicist style, was for a long time the largest building in Timișoara, being built on an area of about 23,500 m². The building is inspired by the Renaissance palaces of Florence: Strozzi, Medici or Pitti. Through its huge proportions and dimensions, it mirrors the neo-absolutist state, established after the defeat of the Hungarian Revolution. The palace was built on three levels, initially having 273 offices, 34 servants' rooms, 34 kitchens, 65 cellars, 27 storerooms, these being grouped around three inner courtyards. The facades are structured in horizontal registers, punctuated only by the row of windows. The ornaments on the windows are reduced to the colonnettes flanking the windows on the first floor.