Reșița
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Reşiţa, Romania | |
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,_in_departare_Resita_Nord,_1_nov_2008.jpg) Reşiţa downtown and distant view of Govândari neighborhood. | |
 Location of Reşiţa | |
| Country |  Romania |
| County | Caraş-Severin County |
| Status | County capital |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mihai Stepanescu (Ind.) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 86,383 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Website | http://www.primaria-resita.ro/ |
Reşiţa (German: Reschitz, Hungarian: Resicabánya, Serbian: Rešica, Czech: Rešice) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region. Its 2004 population was 83,985.
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. It was mentioned in 1673 under the name of Reszinitza, whose citizens paid taxes to Timişoara, and by the years 1690–1700, it was mentioned as being part of the District of Bocşa together with other towns in the Bârzava Valley. The town was referenced to in the conscription acts of 1717 under the name of Retziza. On 3 July 1771, it became an important metal-manufacturing center in the region. The foundation of the industrial Reşiţa were laid with the establishment of factories near the villages of Reşiţa Română (Reschiza Kamerală or Olah Resitza) and Reşiţa Montană (Eisenwerk Reschitza, Nemet Reschitza or Resiczbanya). Reşiţa Montană was at first inhabited by Romanians, and later, in 1776, 70 German families settled there. Between the years 1910–1925, Reşiţa had the status of a rural area, and in 1925, it was declared a town thanks to its development to a powerful industrial location in modern Romania. In 1968, it became a municipality.
After 1989 Reşiţa lost most of its importance and its economy faced a drawback, along with the Romanian economy. The population also suffered a decrease, dropping from 110,000 in 1989 to 86,000 in 2006. After the fall of communism, the Reşiţa Steelworks (Combinatul Siderurgic Reşiţa, CSR) were bought by an American investor who brought the factory just one step away from bankruptcy. Today the steelworks are run by a Russian company, who has projects of modernization for the CSR. Still, it is believed that CSR would never reach again the status it had in the communist era.
Features
An important iron and steel center, Reşiţa is the site of blast furnaces, iron foundries, and plants producing electrical appliances, chemicals and machinery.
A locomotive museum featuring Romania's first locomotives is located in Reşiţa, in the Triaj neighborhood.
There are also important cultural points in Reşiţa that have been renewed in 2006, including the Scoala de Beton, Centrul Civic (Downtown) and Sala Polivalenta.
The Centrul Civic has been mostly renovated in 2006, but it is not yet finished, even though most of it is free of restrions. Another important point to view in Reşiţa is its famous fountain located in the Centrul Civic witch has been built in the communist era and it is one of Europe's most beautiful fountains, which can even change the water's shape in the air. Unfortunately it is not always on because it consumes a large amount of electricity. The city is considered by inhabitants as being divided into two big areas, Reşiţa de sus or oraşul vechi (old city), respectively Govândari area built after 1965. The old town is made up of 10 neighbourhoods : "Muncitoresc", "Valea Domanului", "Lunca Pomostului", "Moroasa I and II", "Driglovăţul Nou" , "Driglovăţul Vechi", "Stavila", Minda", "Başovăţ" şi "Lend"; while the newest part of the city, Govândari is divided into 4 "Microraioane". Complementary to this there are the surrounding small towns, considered neighbourhoods: Câlnic, Ţerova, Secu and Cuptoare and Moniom .
Also, the city is a hub for leisure locations all around. Locations near Reşiţa include the ski resort at Semenic, Lake Gozna, Lake Secu, the Trei Ape Lake, Gărâna, Brebu, and Văliug.
Transport
Public transport
Reşiţa's public transport relays on 2 Tram lines and 5 bus lines, and is run by the Prescom company.
Trams
The 2 Tram Lines are Renk-Muncitoresc line (0), and Renk-Stavila line (DP) witch is basically an expansion of the Renk-Muncitoresc line, but there are only 3 trams on this line. The full tram fleet is consisting of about 28 trams. The current trams are GT8 models imported from Germany, and fully replaced the former pre-89 trams in 2002. Today there are only 2 of these former trams remaining, but they are out-of-use and scheduled for destruction. As of 2008 the new mayor announced his intention to decommission all trams and replace them with modern busses complying with EU standards.
Buses
Reşiţa's bus fleet consists of about 25 buses running on 5 lines (2,3,4,9,10). Reşiţa's buss fleet was to be upgraded sometime during 2009.
Trains
Road transport
Reşiţa features a main 4 lane road that connects the neightebourhood Stavila to the neighbourhood of Calnic. This main road passes through almost all important neighbourhoods in Reşiţa. The rest of the neightbour hoods in Reşiţa are accessible via 2 lane secondary roads or single-lane roads. Roads of Reşiţa 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 Reşiţa is connected by national roads to Caransebeș (Continued to Bucharest) and respectively Timişoara. There are also 3 county roads connecting Reşiţa to Oravita, Vama Năidaş and respectively Anina.
Shopping
Reşiţa currently has 5 supermarkets of which two Carrefour supermarkets, one Plus supermarket, one Billa supermarket, and one Kaufland near the road entrance from Bocşa. The Shopping Center of Reşiţa is called Nera Shopping Center located in the downtown (in Romanian: Centrul Civic). There are a variety of companies operating in Reşiţa, offering almost everything a normal consumer would need.
Economy of Reşiţa
Reşiţa has long been considered as the second largest industrial center of Romania. It has a population of about 86,000 inhabitants (2006). It is an important center in manufacturing steel and vehicle manufacturing. C.S.R. (Combinatul Siderurgic Reşiţa) and U.C.M.R. (Uzina Constructoare de Maşini Reşiţa) 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 steel works 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 şi Domeniile Reşiţa or UDR (Reşiţa Works and Domains). Only later, under the Communist regime, did the UDR split to CSR and UCMR.
The economy of Reşiţa has faced a drawback since 1989, but began recovering as investment is on the rise.
- 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 (Tourist Semenic SA and BIRTA SA);
External links
County seats of Romania (alphabetical order by county) | ||
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