Reșița


Reșița is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic, Cuptoare, Doman, Moniom, Secu, and Țerova.
WWW Official Site

Etymology

The name of Reșița might come from the Latin recitia, meaning "cold spring", as the historian Nicolae Iorga once suggested, presuming that the Romans gave this name to Reșița, from a water spring on the Doman valley. A much more plausible version, according to Iorgu Iordan, would be that the name is actually coming from a Slavic word: people living in the neighbouring village of Carașova away, referring to this place, that in those days was a similar village to theirs, as being "u rečice". It can also be noted that almost all Slavic countries have places with the name of Rečice.

History

Historically, the town has its origins in the 15th century under the name of Rechyoka and Rechycha. Archaeological research found traces of habitation going back to the Neolithic, Dacian, and Roman eras. In the Middle Ages, the area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Following the death of the Jagiellon King of Hungary Louis II at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Hungarian crown would be inherited by the Habsburg monarchy, but this was contested by much of the Hungarian nobility, resulting in the formation of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, encompassing much of Transylvania and the Banat. In 1553, the area was incorporated into Temeşvar Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The town is mentioned in 1673 under the name of Reszinitza, whose citizens paid taxes to the Ottoman bey in Timișoara.
Following the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Ottoman influence north of the Danube would contract. and the Habsburg and by the years 1690–1700, it was mentioned as being part of the District of Bocșa together with other towns in the Bârzava Valley. In the Habsburg-Ottoman War of 1716-1718, Prince Eugene of Savoy would conquer the region for the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs established the Banat of Temeswar and began fortifying the region as a military frontier. The town was referenced in the conscription acts of 1717 under the name of Retziza. Under Empress Maria Theresa, in 1751 Reșița and much of the northern Banat was detached from the Banat Military Frontier and transferred from military to civil administration. On 3 July 1771, it became an important metal-manufacturing center in the region. The foundation of the industrial Reșița was laid with the establishment of factories near the villages of Reșița Română and Reșița Montană. Reșița Montană was at first inhabited by Romanians..
Even before Hungary fell under Habsburg Rule, the old kings of Hungary had encouraged Germans to settle in Transylvania and the Banat. In 1224, King Andrew II of Hungary issued the Diploma Andreanum, granting provisional autonomy to the Transylvania Saxons and their fortified towns in Northeastern and Southeastern Transylvania. For much of the Early Modern Period the Banat had become a dangerous border region caught between two waring Empires and would experience periods of devastation and depopulation. However, in the 18th century, the expansion of Habsburg authority, its efforts to fortify the region, and the movement of the frontier southward greatly increased regional security, making the Banat once again suitable for civilian settlement. Besides the installation of a civil administration, the Theresian period would see large-scale efforts to recruit settlers and repopulate the region, resulting in a large influx of German settlers, especially from Swabia. In 1776, 70 German families settled Reșița. In 1880, Germans represented the majority of the city's population.
Following the First World War, the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon in 1920 would result in Reșița much of the Banat being annexed by the Kingdom of Romania. However, in the Interwar Period, Germans would continue to constitute the majority of the population. In 1941, Reșița had 12,096 Germans residents, 9,453 Romanian residents, and 1,861 Hungarian residents. Between 1910 and 1925, Reșița had the status of a rural area, and in 1925, it was declared a town thanks to its development into a powerful industrial location in modern Romania. In 1968, it became a municipality.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Reșița lost most of its importance and its economy faced a recession, along with the Romanian economy. The population also declined, dropping from 110,000 in 1989 to 86,000 in 2006. After the fall of communism, the Reșița Steelworks was bought by an American investor who brought the factory just one step away from bankruptcy. Today the steelworks are run by TMK Europe GmbH, a German subsidiary of OAO TMK, Moscow, which has projects of modernization for the CSR.
In 2022 it was inducted into UNESCO's Global Network of Learning Cities.

The city

The city is situated along the Bârzava River, which meets the Doman River in the centre of town. Most of the urban area is concentrated along the Bârzava, with some development—mostly residential—in the surrounding hills.
It is made of three main areas, two former villages that were very close: Romanian Reșița and Highland Reșița ; a new area, recently built, made of tower blocks on a wide opened meadow, called Bârzava's Meadow.
The Civic centre of the city has been partially renovated in 2006. An important point of attraction located in the City Centre is the impressive kinetic fountain designed by Constantin Lucaci, built in the communist era.
There are also important cultural points in Reșița that have been renewed in 2006, including the Concrete School, Downtown, and the Polyvalent Hall.
The Reșița Steam Locomotive Museum features Romania's first locomotive built in Romania at Reșița in 1872, and is located in the open-air museum in the neighborhood.
An important iron and steel center, Reșița is the site of blast furnaces, iron foundries, and plants producing electrical appliances, chemicals and machinery.
The city is a hub for leisure locations all around. Locations near Reșița include the ski resort at Semenic, Lake Gozna, Lake Secu, the Trei Ape Lake, Gărâna, Brebu, and Văliug.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 58,393. At the 2011 census, there were 65,509 people living within the city of Reșița, making it the 29th largest city in Romania. The ethnic makeup is as follows:

Religion

According to the 1880 Austro-Hungarian census, the residents were:
Today there are many of the old churches in service and new ones:

Climate

Reșița has a humid continental climate.

Economy

Image:BCR 1.jpg|thumb|The Banca Comercială Română's building in Reșița
Reșița has long been considered as the second-largest industrial center of Romania. It is an important center in manufacturing steel and vehicle manufacturing. C.S.R. and U.C.M.R., the first Romanian factory. The two are called as Reșița works and are the factories which sustained the city's life for more than 300 years. The first factories were built in 1771, during the reign of Maria Theresa. During the 19th century, the steelworks were known as StEG. After the end of World War I, when Banat became part of Romania, they changed their name again, this time to Uzinele și Domeniile Reșița or UDR. Only later, under the Communist regime, did the UDR split into CSR and UCMR.
The economy of Reșița has faced a drawback since 1989, but began recovering as a result of increasing foreign and domestic investment, largely in industry.
  • Industry: Automobile industry, Iron industry, texture industry, civilian constructions.
  • Agriculture: 1% of the labour force of the city works in agriculture.
  • Services: public alimentation, internal and international transport.
  • Tourism: 2 tourism societies.

Shopping

Reșița currently has 10 supermarkets of which three Carrefour supermarkets, two in the Govândari district and one in the Nera Shopping Center, three Lidl supermarkets, two Kaufland supermarkets, one near the road entrance from Bocșa and one in Lunca Bârzăvii and two Penny supermarkets, one situated in Lunca Bârzăvii and the other one in Triaj. The Shopping Center of Reșița is called Nera Shopping Center located in the Civic Centre. There are a variety of companies operating in Reșița, offering almost everything a normal consumer would need. There are some other shopping centres currently under development such as Reșița Shopping City located on the site of the old thermal plant, or the mall of the Mociur area.

Transport

Public transport

[Image:19-0-DCn 1.jpg|thumb|The GT8 Tram used in Reșița]
Reșița's public transport relies on 6 bus lines and was operated by the now defunct Prescom company. It is now operated by Transport Urban Reșița.

Buses

Reșița's bus fleet consists of about 25 buses running on 6 lines:
  • 1M/2: Marginea – Minda – Mol/Mopar/Molizilor
  • 4: Moroasa II – Lend/Baraj – CET – Molizilor – Moroasa II
  • 8: Intim – Moniom – Intim
  • 9: Intim – Țerova – Intim
  • 10: Nera – Doman – Nera
  • 11: Piața Republicii – Minda – Cuptoare – Piața Republicii
Reșița's bus fleet was to be upgraded sometime during 2009, and after in 2017 when the Resita municipality took over the management of public transport.

Trams

A tram system, consisting of two lines, operated between 1988 and 2011 and then needed to be restored. The 2 tram lines were the Renk–Muncitoresc line, and the Renk–Stavila line which was basically an expansion of the Renk-Muncitoresc line, but there were only 3 trams on this line. The tram fleet consisted of about 28 trams. The last trams were GT8 and N models imported from Germany, and completely replaced the former pre-89 trams in 2002. In 2008, the new mayor announced his intention to decommission all trams and replace them with modern buses complying with EU standards.
Reintroduction of trams was announced in 2016 and the modernization and expansion of the tram system began in 2019. In 2017 it was announced that a new company, called, was created to manage the public transport in Reșița. In spring 2021, reopening was planned for December 2022, but was subsequently delayed. On December 20, 2024, tram services resumed in Reșița after a 13-year pause. The project, funded by the European Union, aimed to modernize public transport and improve urban mobility through a new tram line and updated infrastructure.
The revamped tram service operates along a 9 km route from Kaufland in the north to Reșița-Montana in the southeast. Although some sections of the original line remain closed, the new route offers a 30-minute end-to-end journey with trams running every 8 minutes during rush hours.
The infrastructure upgrade features modern tracks and energy-efficient power systems, improving the reliability of tram operations. Pedestrian and cycling paths built alongside the line support multimodal transport and reflect current urban mobility priorities.

Road transport

Reșița features a main 4 lane road that connects the neighbourhood Stavila to the neighbourhood of Câlnic. This main road passes through almost all important neighbourhoods in Reșița. The rest of the neighbourhoods in Reșița are accessible via 2 lane secondary roads or single-lane roads. Roads of Reșița are usually well maintained, especially the main road, but there are occasional pot-holes on secondary roads. The road signs are usually well placed and well maintained, and traffic is usually friendly and traffic jams are a myth. Accidents are very rare and almost never lethal. Externally Reșița is connected by national roads to Caransebeș and to Timișoara. There are also 3 county roads connecting Reșița to Oravița, Naidăș, and Anina.

Notable people

Sport

Association football
Handball

Twin towns – sister cities

Reșița is twinned with: