The Baroque Palace

The Baroque Palace is one of the representative buildings of eighteenth century Timișoara. It is located centrally, at 1 Union Square.

Also known as the Palace of the Old Prefecture, the building of the Baroque Palace had over time several functions:

- in 1733 it housed the Judicial Mining Office;

- in 1735 the treasury of the military garrison was here;

- in 1752 it was the old administrative office of the region;

- in 1754 the building became the residence of the president of the civil administration, Count Vilana Perlas, and, thus, known as the Palace of the President;

- until 1849 it used to be the seat of the County Administration;

- between 1849-1860, the administration of the Banat of Temeschwar and Serbian Vojvodina was established here;

- in 1861 the seat of the Timiș County was restored here;

- in 1919 it became the seat of the Prefecture of Timiș - Torontal County;

- mid-twentieth century, the Baroque Palace housed the Agronomy Institute;

- in 1979 it was arranged for it to accommodate a museum;

- in 1984 it starting housing the Art Section of the Banat Museum, which on January 1, 2006 became the Art Museum.

From the architectural point of view, the palace was built in Baroque style, with some rococo elements. Between 1885 and1886, the attic and the ironware were restored, based on architect Jacques Klein's project. This is when the baroque decoration elements were removed, especially from the façade.

The palace is especially elegant inside, and in the basement there is an eighteenth century fountain.

Text source: http://timisoara.eventya.eu/