New touristic hot spot in western Romania: Oradea Fortress opens gates to visitors after EUR 19 mln restoration

The Oradea Fortress, the largest and best preserved pentagonal fortress in Central Europe, has been restored with a EUR 19.5 million investment largely financed with EU funds. Oradea is a city in western Romania, close to the border with Hungary. The fortress is the city’s oldest historic landmark. The fortress covers 15 hectares and includes eight buildings, one church, parks, a lake and ditches. Authorities have neglected it after 1989, and for 20 years they haven’t engaged in any restoration work. The Oradea deputy mayor Huszar Istvan said that the city hall had good intentions ever since 1990, but managed to win the rehabilitation project only in 2007. The current refurbishing project started in 2009 and has taken six years to complete. The authorities now plan to revive the fortress and transform it into a touristic hot spot. Tourists will be able to visit the Oradea Fortress starting January 1, 2016, within guided tours. The eight buildings within the fortress have 468 rooms, covering 25,380 sqm whereas the indoor yard and the outdoor spaces cover over 26,400 sqm. All the restored spaces have individual destinations. They include the Bread Museum, the Lapidary, the Fortress’ Museum and Oradea City or the Guilds’ Street. The fortress will also host the Wedding House, the Center for Religious Studies, and a Restoration Center. The project has been financed with EU funds from the 2007-2013 Regional Operational Programme. The total cost was some EUR 19.5 million, some EUR 14.7 million of which came from the EU. The biggest synagogue in Romania reopens for the public New EUR 20 mln wellness complex in Oradea, western Romania Romania’s Oradea borrows EUR 23 mln from EIB Diana Mesesan, diana@romania-insider.com