The adorable Christmas market in Romania’s ‘Little Venice’ Timisoara

I’d been keen to visit Timisoara, Romania’s third biggest city, so when we found cheap flights for a winter getaway I seized the moment.

Timisoara is in the west of the country, close to Romania’s borders with Serbia and Hungary. The latter in particular is important; along with Arad it’s the closest Romanian city to the Hungarian road network meaning goods produced in this part of Romania can be quickly transported to Central Europe and Germany. As we approached from the airport in gently falling snow, we passed multiple newly-built big box factories.

Downtown Timisoara was a complete contrast to its modern outskirts. The elegant baroque buildings in the area around its main square Piata Victoria complement the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral on the south side of the square.

The Christmas market was in progress, with stallholders out despite the snow, selling souvenirs, hot drinks and Christmassy snacks.

Timisoara is famous for being the second city in the world to have electric street lighting after New York and the first in Europe.

However, Timisoara is also an ancient city, having been founded by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. It served as an important military outpost for many centuries before being conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1552.

Under Ottoman rule, the city flourished as a trading centre as well as a religious centre due to its proximity to Istanbul (then Constantinople).

In 1716, Timisoara became part of Austria-Hungary after the Treaty of Karlowitz, which marked the end of Ottoman control over Central Europe. During this period, the city developed rapidly into an important industrial and cultural centre.

It gained the nickname ‘little Venice’ as it became known for its art galleries, theatres and music halls. Today too, there’s a thriving cultural scene with numerous festivals throughout the year.

In 1848, Timisoara was at the centre of the Hungarian Revolution against Austrian rule and was later annexed by Romania after World War I in 1918.

Timisoara is the unofficial capital of the Banat region that spans parts of Romania and Serbia. Among the highlights for us were visiting the National Museum of Banat.

However, with the snow falling, we spent much of the visit sheltering in cafes near the Piata Victoria – where we also discovered numerous small galleries and vintage shops – in between exploring nearby areas like Union Square with its statue of Michael the Brave or sampling the hot pastries at the Christmas market.