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Timisoara walking tour - from Victory Square let's move to the next magic place in the old city - Union Square

At the center of Victory Square Gardens there is an obelisk crowned with the "She-Wolf" feeding Romulus and Remus.

It is a bronze copy of the famous 5th century BC Roman "She-Wolf" and was donated by the city of Rome.

Symbolically, the statue represents the common Latin origins of Italians and Romanians.

In fact, the territory of today's Romania was an important part of the Roman Imperium known as the Province of Dacia.

The early Roman presence left the traces till our days; as an example the modern-day Romanian language have some Dacian roots with a noticeable Latin influence and borrowings from Italian.

The Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral is a relatively new "addition" to the city of Timisoara.

The construction started in 1936; interrupted by WWII it was finished in 1946.

Architecturally, the cathedral combines the Byzantine style with local elements from old Romanian-Moldavian styles.

It is still one of the biggest churches in today's Romania.

For more please follow: Timisoara Metropolitan Cathedral

Union Square (Piata Unirii)
Union Square is the oldest square in Timisoara, and its dominant architecture clearly differentiates from that of much younger Victory Square. It is flanked by imposing 18th and 19th Centuries buildings of St. George Roman-Catholic Cathedral and Serbian Orthodox Cathedral with Bishop Residence.

It seems that these two "not-so-in-union" Christian churches (here facing each-other in peace) gave the symbolic name to the square - Union. Till 1919 the square was known as "Lasonczy Market", honoring the 16th century commandant Stefan (Istvan) Lasonchy bravely defending the city from the Turks.

The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral (built between 1745 and 1748) represents the baroque style.

The structure of the church beautifully contrasts with the façade of standing next to it Bishop's Residence (Vicariate).

Both structures give testimony to strong Serbian presence in Banat (indeed, in the past Timisoara was shortly under the control of the Serbian Kingdom, but even today, it is still located very close to the Serbian border).

The imposing Roman Catholic Cathedral was designed by Viennese architect Emanuel Fisher von Erlach in similarly - it represents the baroque style. The construction works started in 1736 and lasted for 18 years. After the death of Fisher von Erlach in 1742, local architects from Timisoara - Theodor Kostka and Alexander Steinlein took the leading role in the project. The painting of St. George in the main altar is a work of Michelangelo Unterberger, while organ was made by Austrian master - Carl Leopold Wegenstein.

Other interesting buildings facing the square are: equally beautiful Baroque Palace, Brück House and Nikolaus Lenau Building.
The 18th century Baroque Palace for long served the city as a prestigious municipal building (Governor's residence, County House, Prefecture...).

Its large reception hall hosted visits of emperors and kings as well as prominent men of art (Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms....). Since 1984 it houses the Museum of Fine Arts including works of 15th through 17th century Italian, German and Flemish masters.

Due to its unusual design Brück House is one of the local tourists' attractions. Although most of the building is located along the Mercy Street, its main frontal façade is facing the Union Square. The building was designed by Laszlo Szekely and built in 1910 for Salamon Brück. It represents the colorful mixture of Art-Nouveau and Secession-styles contrasting with predominantly baroque architecture facing the square. It is worth to note that inside, an original elevator dating from 1911 is still in operation!

The Bruck House was raised on the place of an old pharmacy "Crucea de Aur". Interestingly, Salomon Bruck continued this old tradition, for years operating the pharmacy on the ground floor.

The Nikolaus Lenau Palace was built in 1761. In its early years it was home to the first municipal theatre; today it houses the High School.

Scont Bank is another magnificent building facing the Union Square. Like few other structures it is an architectural "newcomer" (junior) among the buildings surrounding the square. Designed by architects Marcel Komor and Dezso Jakab it was built at the beginning of the 20th century. It represents Hungarian art-nouveau with distinctive curved walls and lines of decorative turquoise tiles. For many observers, the sophistication of curved shapes and façade's asymmetry points to the influence of Gaudi.

In the middle of the square stands the statue of Holy Trinity.

The base of the monument includes allegoric reliefs representing human misery inflicted by plague, famine and war.

On the top of the pedestal are statues of saints and the column crowned with the statue representing Holy Trinity.

The monument was commissioned by Timisoara's counselor Anton Deschan von Hansen and installed in 1740 in front of his house.

The statue reflects his personal grief due to the loss of wife to the plague that stroke Timisoara few years earlier and suffering of his compatriots during the wars with Turks. In 1752, the monument was moved to the Union Square.

Union Square: Statue of Holy Trinity

Not far from the monument there is an artesian fountain bursting with water from an aquifer hidden some 400 meters below the square. Originally this deep well reaching more than 400 meters below the surface was dug-out to provide the city with drinking water during frequent sieges. Unfortunately the aquifer water turned out to be highly contaminated with minerals and methane and so not very useful for drinking.

While these days the still existing fountain offers pleasure in hot sunny days, it also gives an evidence of so technically challenging engineering achievement as for 19th century. It's one more prove that Timisoara was (and still is) a special place.

And more "uniqueness" - the major part of the Union Square is covered by grass. At the first glance it is so unusual to see such landscape in the heart of the old city, but hey, do not forget - Timisoara is called the City of Parks and Gardens and there is the reason for that!

Freedom Square (Piata Libertati)
This is the oldest square in Timisoara and the center from where the city started to spread at the beginning of the 18th century. The square is flanked by some oldest municipal buildings like Old Town-hall, Garrison, Council of War, Military Casino and St. Mary and St. Nepomuk's Monument.

The latter was built in 1756 by Viennese sculptors Blim and Wasserburger. The monument was made in richly ornamented Rococo style. The main statue represents St. Nepomuk - the spiritual patron of Catholics from the region of Banat. The statue of St. Mary with a flower of lily in one hand symbolizes the purity.

Other places worth to see:
Since long, the Balkan Peninsula was home to Sephardic Jews and Timisoara was not an exception. At the peak, the Jewish population of Timisoara reached almost seven thousand souls. Out of several synagogues only three survived numerous wars and effect of time. The most beautiful one - Fabric Synagogue was designed in Moorish style by the Hungarian architect Lipot Baumhorn (He was a real champion in this field designing some 20 synagogues on the territory of former Austro-Hungarian Empire).

The Great Synagogue, built in 1865 in an Oriental style almost 150 years later is still one of the largest synagogues in Europe. Both are currently closed waiting for structural repairs to make them safe. The last one - Orthodox Synagogue is the only one opened for religious services and visitors.

If you want to learn short history of the Timisoara and then start the walking tour at the Square Victoria, go to" Timisoara Walking Tour"

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Timisoara walking tour - from Victory Square let's move to the next magic place in the old city - Union Square At the center of Victory Square Gardens there is an obelisk crowned with the "She-Wolf" feeding Romulus and Remus.

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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Coloana Ciumei din Timișoara - Wikipedia

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Coloana Ciumei (în germană Pestsäule, Dreifaltigkeitssäule), cunoscută și ca Statuia Ciumei sau Monumentul Sfintei Treimi, este înălțată în mijlocul Pieței Unirii din Timișoara, în concordanță cu stilul arhitectonic al clădirilor dimprejur ( baroc). Monumentul se înscrie în tipologia coloanelor ciumei, răspândite în epoca barocului în întregul spațiu sud-german, boem și maghiar.

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Scan the code in the upper left corner of the base image with the Zappar app, then while holding the phone over the base image interact with on screen AR elements

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Use cases for AR and VR - Alex Urdareanu

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Use cases for AR and VR - Alex Urdareanu

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This story was originally published by Data-Smart City Solutions.
Augmented and virtual reality - digital tools that either superimpose images on the real world (AR) or bring users into an artificial digital experience (VR) - have captured the imagination of the consumer world in the form of Pokémon games, Snapchat lenses, gaming headsets, and more. However, AR and VR also have practical uses for city government. With the ability to provide data in real time, engage users, and simulate real-life experiences in extreme detail, AR and VR have massive potential to transform government services and citizen interactions. Here are a few of the most compelling potential uses.

1) Policing: Equipped with AR systems that provide relevant details on the environment, officers would be better prepared to enter dangerous situations. For example, when approaching a house after reports of gunshots, officers could access data like a 3D model of the building, past arrests at the address, and prior 311 reports about hazardous conditions.

2) Emergency Management: Much as the rise of data visualization has enhanced situational awareness during emergency situations, AR can improve responders' knowledge of their surroundings in order to rescue residents in need. Residents could plot their locations on an interactive map distributed to responders, which would then show EMS workers the safest rescue routes and identify particularly hazardous areas.

3) Asset Management and Public Works: Armed with displays highlighting the condition of city assets and the presence of any hazardous conditions, DPW workers would be able to complete repairs and construction projects more efficiently and safely. Knowledge about their surroundings - for instance, that a ceiling hasn't been replaced since 1980 and might contain asbestos - is critical to workers' safety.

4) Digital Services: Instead of forcing residents to fill out static digital forms in order to receive services, AR and VR could provide an interactive experience that walks users through the application process. Deploying this kind of technology would reduce errors by residents, ensure they get their services more quickly, and create more pleasant government-citizen interactions.

5) Culture and Tourism: By providing additional imagery and historical or cultural details, AR has the ability to transform visitor experiences with city landmarks. The French town of Cluny has installed augmented reality screens throughout its historic abbey in order to illustrate what the community looked like in the Middle Ages, and other cities could pursue similar technologies to highlight their historic pasts.

6) Mental Health Services: Recent research has indicated that AR and VR have immense potential for treating mental health problems like anxiety and PTSD, creating opportunities for users to confront their fears in exposure therapies. And, VR simulations can also help residents with PTSD practice job interviews, learning to manage their symptoms in high-stress environments. By furnishing social workers with these tools, cities can improve their mental health treatment.

7) Education: Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to bring more students into the classroom and create more engaging and exciting classroom experiences. Using VR, students in health care facilities or underdeveloped rural areas could participate in the classroom virtually in a much more full and rich way than in traditional online classes. Using AR and VR, teachers could create an immersive learning environment, allowing students to explore the ocean floor or unfamiliar parts of the globe. By funding these types of technologies in public schools, cities can make schools more inclusive and engaging.

8) Urban Planning: By creating AR and VR models of new construction projects, cities could get a better sense of how new work will fit within the existing urban landscape and potentially increase interest from investors. By making these models available to residents and local businesses, cities can also gain feedback on their plans.

9) Training: With the capacity to recreate real-world experiences in a high level of detail, augmented and virtual reality could revolutionize training for city employees in any of the previous areas. Particularly valuable would be the ability to simulate situations that are too dangerous or difficult to recreate in real life. Imagine police officers that practice virtual drug raids, emergency responders that practice rescues of elderly or immobile residents, or DPW workers that simulate responses to workplaces injuries. AR and VR training programs are able to expose employees to realistic and diverse situations, preparing them for any of the variables they might encounter.

In many cases, the technology to accomplish these goals already exists or is in development, meaning cities can start deploying these tools now. However, it's important for cities to think carefully about practical use cases before chasing expensive AR or VR technologies that ultimately don't deliver value to residents.

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How Cities Can (Realistically) Use AR and VR

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This story was originally published by Data-Smart City Solutions . Augmented and virtual reality - digital tools that either superimpose images on the real world (AR) or bring users into an artificial digital experience (VR) - have captured the imagination of the consumer world in the form of Pokémon games, Snapchat lenses, gaming headsets, and more.

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This article serves to describe the benefits of AR and VR in the medical world as surgeons are provided with a patients vitals during operations and can also see an anatomical map during procedures.

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Instructions:
1) Download the Zappar app on your phone from the App Store or Google Play Store.
2) Open the app on your phone and make sure the base image (below) is readily available.
3) Align the base image in the camera lens so the app can scan the image.
4) Enjoy the AR experience!!

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This article was published on a business-oriented website. It discusses not only the commercial aspects of virtual and augmented realities, but also the progress it ensures. Furthermore, augmented and virtual reality can be especially useful for increasing company sales as they enable consumers to visualize products in practical situation, preventing later returns. Moreover, the article continues to discuss how augmented and virtual reality are being used in medical fields and architecture to help increase overall safety.

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8 Uses of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for the Enterprise

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Enterprises are using virtual reality and augmented reality in fascinating ways, including virtual modeling and virtual training.

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This article, published on a sports-media website, reflects a side of vr and ar that strays from its typical use. The article describes how the LA clippers are planning on using ar and vr to revolutionize the way sports are watched. With this new technology, fans will be able to watch players while receiving stats and other information.
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nba-adam-silver-ar-vr-courtside