, image = Statuia "Sf. Maria" şi "Sf. Ioan Nepomuk".jpg , caption = St. Mary and St. John of Nepomuk Monument in Liberty Square , former_names = Parade Square, Prince Eugene Square , namesake = Hungarian revolution and liberation war of 1848–1849 , type =

Urban square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, length_m = 295.80 , length_ref = , location = Cetate,

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

, postal_code = 300077 , coordinates = Liberty Square ( ro, Piața Libertății), formerly known as Parade Square ( ro, Piața de Paradă) or Prince Eugene Square ( ro, Piața Prințul Eugen), is an

urban square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

. It is the second-oldest square of the former fortress of Timișoara. It got its current name during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849 when Timișoara withstood a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

by Hungarian revolutionaries. Liberty Square houses some of the oldest buildings in Timișoara: the Garrison Command, the former Chancellery of War, the Old City Hall and the Military Casino.

Names

In the early 1700s it was called ''Paradeplatz'' and served as a training ground for imperial recruits, as well as a venue for military music concerts. An alternatively common but unofficial name in the Austrian period was ''Stadthausplatz''. In the early 1800s it was known as Prince Eugene Square, after

Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th and 18th centuries. He ...

, the field marshal who liberated Timișoara from Ottoman occupation in 1716. It was renamed Liberty Square in 1848, with the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution, but after the Austrian army recaptured the city, the square returned to the name of Prince Eugene Square. The current name has been in use since 1921.

History

On its current location, in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

there was a free space of triangular shape, a crossroads for three trade routes from the north, northeast and south, around which the first settlement of Timișoara was identified. Until 1716, on the eastern side of the square, there was the Big Bath, the largest public bath in the city. Mentioned by Turkish traveler

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

, the bath was built immediately after the conquest of the city by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. The current square appeared as a result of the complete reconstruction of the city on a new, rectangular street plot, designed in the second decade of the 18th century. In 1727, the space on which the Garrison building was erected in 1731 was cleared of the ruins of the former Turkish

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

. The Old City Hall and the Church of the Bosnian Franciscans were built on the northern side of the square in 1731–1734 and 1733–1736, respectively. The church was demolished in 1913, during some modernization works, and a bank office was erected in its place. In 1740 the square was designed to occupy only the surface of a rectangular quarter. Then it was decided to widen the square to the west, so as to reach the current dimensions of 103 × 99 m. On the western side, in 1746–1747, the former Silahdar Mosque was still standing; it was later demolished. Until after 1850, on the western front of the square, in continuation of the current Military Casino, nothing was built yet. The current building, originally called the Army Corps Command, appeared only on the city plan from 1859. Only then did Liberty Square become a closed urban space on all four sides with buildings. Until 1903, the food market, the animal market, as well as the weekly market of the city functioned here. In 1903, the commercial market was moved to the current

Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. Also at that time, it was decided to remove the natural stone pavers and arrange some lawn surfaces and plant some trees. In 2015, Liberty Square was completely transformed within a rehabilitation project of the Cetate district, being paved with red brick in concentric circles.

Architecture

The Military Casino still retains features of the original facade; it was built in

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

with

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

influences. The other buildings surrounding the square belong to the classicist style, specific to the 1900s.

References

{{Commons category, Libertății Square, Liberty Square, Timișoara Squares in Timișoara