## Cenad Palace
Located on Bd. 73, the Palace is one of the most imposing buildings of the municipality. It was built at the end of the 19th century, by the Arad-Cenad Railway Company, according to the plans of architect Jivaszek.
The building is part of the urban ensemble of the Town Hall Square and is representative of eclectic architecture, richly ornamented in classical and Renaissance style. It stands out from the other buildings because of its roof with interesting towers whose ornamentation reflects the specificity of the architecture of Arad.
The palace has decorative elements that betray its functional purpose, in particular Mercury, the god of trade, whose figure is depicted on the front of the building. After the Revolution, a large part of the space on the ground floor of Cenad Palace was given to parties, parliamentarians and associations as headquarters.
## The Water Tower
The tower is 35 metres high and was commissioned in 1896. As an architectural style it completes the unified aspect of the architecture of Arad in eclectic or secession style. The tower, a solid construction of stone and brick, impresses with its massiveness and height. It is notable for the decoration of its balconies and windows.
The tower was built to supply water to the growing town and to signal fires and for the rapid intervention of the municipal fire brigade.
In the second half of the last century, the town administration decided to erect a building of great importance for the life of the town, a building that is known in the memory of the people of Arad as the “Water Tower”.
## Administrative Palace
The administrative palace currently houses the Town Hall. It was built between 1872 and 1874 to the design of architect Pékár Ferenc. The style of the building combines Flemish Neo-Renaissance with the style of late medieval town halls.
The plan of the building is in the shape of a letter U and has a 54-metre tower and the clock in the tower, brought from Switzerland in 1878, has a mechanism that plays a patriotic song at fixed times. The lobby windows have stained glass windows representing the seasons, allegorically depicted.
The square in front of the building was named Revolution Square in memory of the events of December 1989. In the centre of the square a monument and a trophy have been erected in memory of the fallen heroes of the Revolution.
## Cultural Palace
The palace was built between 1911 and 1913 according to the plans of the architect Lajos Szantay from Arad. It is a combination of styles: neoclassical (façade), Corinthian (columns supporting the façade pediment), Italian Renaissance (side wings), Gothic (elements of the Huns’ castle on the park side of the building).
Over the years, the magnificent concert hall has been the venue of great personalities such as Richard Strauss, Bela Bartok, George Enescu, Traian Grozăvescu, etc.
The building displays a variety of styles, according to the era in which it was built. The main façade is inspired by Greek temple models. The monumental staircases, the columns with capitals and the triangular pediment decorated with a bas-relief dedicated to music (by the sculptor Geza Rubleczky).
Above the building rises a massive tower with a square base. To the right and left of the main façade are two wings with decorative staircases leading to the side entrances; each wing has a small tower with a polygonal base. The two side wings are dominated by Renaissance elements, particularly visible in the shape and decoration of the ground floor windows. On the fourth side of the building, facing the park, the most striking elements are inspired by the castle of the Hunyads.
In the interior, the floral stained glass windows in the auditorium and in the entrance hall, the decoration of the metopes, the vegetal and geometric ironwork, the chandeliers and the sconces are worthy of note.
Currently, the Cultural Palace building houses the offices of the County Museum and the State Philharmonic. The museum includes archaeology: Bronze Age, Dacian, migration and pre-medieval; history: testimonies related to the 1848 Revolution in Transylvania, the struggle for the Union (1918); ethnography; natural sciences, exhibits relating to the Arad area: mineralogy, flora and fauna; classical and contemporary Romanian art; European painting from the 17th to the 20th centuries; decorative art; history of theatre: programmes, posters, photographs, scores.
The last reorganisation took place in 1979, and in 1992 it included a Natural Sciences section.
## Andrenyi Palace
Andrényi Palace is located in the city centre, on Revolution Boulevard, near the Administrative Palace. It houses the classrooms of the Children’s Palace of Arad.
The palace was built between 1880 and 1890 by a wealthy merchant family from Ghioroc, whose name it took. Baron Andrényi founded in 1936 a ferrous products shop in Arad, called “Golden Horse Weave”.
The façade of the palace was built in neo-Romanesque style, with elements taken from the Baroque style. The U-shaped building is heavily ornamented with stuccowork and the elongated sides frame a garden. The windows and doors, made of fine wood with many ornaments, have been preserved intact to this day.
## Franciscan Church
During the years 1763–1783, one of the most modern fortifications in the eastern part of the Habsburg Empire was built in Arad. It functioned until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1918) as an important strategic point of the southern defence line of the kingdom.
According to the imperial plan, the new fortress of Arad was to replace the old Arad fortress and correspond to contemporary military technology.
The church inside the fortress of Arad was built by the Franciscan monks of the “Order of Saint Francis of Assisi” around 1750–1800. Later, the Citadel was built around this church.
## Kohn Palace
Kohn Jószef was a famous businessman in Arad, with a specialized training as an engineer-installer. Kohn was awarded 6 international prizes and received a state scholarship in Paris.
In Arad he was the founder and president of the “Society for Sickness and Funeral Aid”, to which the Arad City Hall asked for a life-size painting to be made as a token of honour.
Kohn Jószef Palace, located at 9 Episcopiei Street, an imposing Jugendstil building, was built in 1905 according to the plans of the architect Szántay Lajos. Kohn Jószef was an engineer-installer renowned for the innovations of his craft and was awarded 6 international prizes.
## Traian Bridge
The construction of the Trajan Bridge was proposed by the city’s leadership at the beginning of the 20th century. But in 1908 a project of the Austrian Railway Company was accepted.
The bridge was built according to a plan by the Resita engineer Robert Toth (1857–1913), the iron structure was made by the Resita factories and the ornamentation has many “Secession” elements.
At the end of the Second World War, the bridge was dynamited, but the structure was not seriously damaged and the bridge was rebuilt within a few months of the end of the war. As an industrial monument, it currently operates with weight restrictions.
## The Red Church
The church was built in 1906 in neo-Gothic style, according to the plans of the architect Szántay László.
In Arad it is known as the Red Church because of the decorative red bricks with which the walls were covered. The rich portal, the pointed tower, the rectangular altar and the electro-pneumatic organ, made in Timișoara, are remarkable.
The main tower of the church is 46 m high.
## The Art Museum
The museum building is an architectural monument (20th century) and contains Romanian art (19th–20th century Romanian plastic arts, paintings by Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, Corneliu Baba, Nicolae Tonitza, sculptures by Dimitrie Paciurea, Romulus Ladea), but also universal art from the Italian, French, Flemish-Dutch and Hungarian schools (paintings, tapestries, porcelain, furniture).
## The Fortress of Arad
It is one of the most important historical monuments in the western part of the country. Built in the second half of the 17th century, the fortress was considered one of the most impressive military fortifications of its time.
With the end of the Austro-Turkish wars in the first half of the 18th century and after the occupation of Transylvania, Banat and other territories by the Habsburg Empire, it was planned to build military fortifications in the then newly occupied regions to ensure domination in these areas.
The Vienna Chancellery also drew up a strategic plan for the construction of a belt of fortresses between the inland area close to the Empire’s southern and eastern borders. These fortresses included the fortifications of Oradea, Timișoara and Arad. The plan for the fortress of Arad was personally approved by Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II.
The new fortress of Arad, according to the imperial plan, was to replace the old fortress of Arad and correspond in terms of contemporary military technology. A peninsula of the Mures river (on the left bank) was chosen as the building site, which the city ceded to the military authorities.
The construction of the fortress, the work of the architect Harsch, began in the summer of 1763, according to the Vauban system and is a double star-shaped construction with 6 corners, with strong defensive walls, pillboxes and other military constructions.
Work took 20 years, with minor interruptions mainly due to a lack of manpower, so the fortress was completed in 1783.
TOURIST LOCATIONS IN ARAD COUNTY
## Moneasa
Moneasa resort lies in a small depression at the foot of the Codru Moma Mountains. It is an ideal destination for relaxation, fresh air and hiking. The thermomineral waters (25–32°C) of the region have been used since before 1835.
In 1886, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior in Vienna awarded it the title of spa resort. Some of the mountain trails in the area lead to the Bat Cave, the Marble Quarry, the Iron Smelting Furnace Ruins, Izoi Peak, the Tinoasa Plateau or the Deznei Fortress.
## Hodoș-Bodrog Monastery
Historical documents attest that this is the oldest Orthodox monastery in Romania with continuous monastic life. Historians have found evidence that it existed as early as 1177.
The monastery is located in the commune of Zădăreni, about 20 minutes from Arad, on the Mureș River. The monastery church houses a miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary and the head of the bull that, according to legend, discovered her on the site where the settlement was later built.
Today, 25 monks live here.
## Purgly Castle
Just 15 km from Arad, Purgly Castle is an architectural gem. The history of the building is uncertain, but it is thought to have been built at the end of the 18th century.
Built in the Secession style, the castle features a series of turrets, stained-glass windows and a richly laced exterior. The source of inspiration is thought to have been the Corvin Castle in Hunedoara.
The interior cannot be visited, as it is privately owned. Or so the gentleman who lives there told us.
## Ghioroc Lake
The people of Arad and Timisoara have improvised their own “coastline” on the shores of Lake Ghioroc. So they no longer have to travel hundreds of kilometres to the Black Sea coast or the beaches of Greece and can enjoy the warm days close to home.
Fine sand has been brought in and palm trees have been planted to make up the beach.
Visitors can enjoy a swim or a ride on a hydrobike. For those who want a bit of adrenaline, toboggans have been installed along the lake. There are also a few cottages for those who want accommodation, terraces and a fairly large car park.
## The Fortress of Șoimoș
The fortress of Șoimoș was founded on the top of a hill, on the right bank of the Mures river, at the end of the 13th century. Its main role was defensive against Tatar invasions.
One of those who used it as a refuge was Iancu de Hunedoara. The name of the fortress is supposed to come from the activity that made it famous in the Middle Ages, the breeding of hunting falcons.
Today, it is in an advanced state of decay, but its ruins have a special charm. In fact, of the three fortress ruins, Șoimoș, Șiria and Dezna seem to me the most picturesque.
## Radna Monastery
The Roman Catholic monastery of Radna was built in the mid-16th century by Franciscan monks who arrived from Bosnia.
A century and a half later, Lipova was besieged by the Ottomans and the church burned down. Only one thing did not burn in the whole church, the icon of Our Lady.
On the site of the first church, another was built in the Baroque style between 1727 and 1826. Later, the two 30 m towers were added.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II gave the monastery the title of basilica minor.
## Dezna Fortress
Another hilltop fortress is near Moneasa. However, its ruins are less well preserved than those of the fortresses of Șoimoș and Șiria.
There is also a legend referring to the construction of the three fortresses. They are said to have been built by three power-hungry sisters who wanted to outdo each other. But as soon as they were finished, the fortifications collapsed instantly and the girls turned into three white snakes with a golden crown on their heads and a silver key in their mouths as punishment for their wicked souls.
## Royal Castle from Săvârșin Commune
The castle of Săvârșin was built between 1650–1680 by the Forray family. Horea’s serfs and rebels burned it down in 1781, at which time the entire archive was lost.
The castle was rebuilt in the 19th century in neoclassical style. Săvârșin was the favourite rural settlement of Romania’s royal family. Queen mother Elena left her mark on the development of the Royal Domain.
Members of the family still spend the winter holidays here and are actively involved in the life of the local community.