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Location:
The Banat lies in the Southwest of Romania and includes the Timis and Caras Severin counties and parts of the Arad and Mehedinti counties. Its northern part is a fruitful plain, the so-called west plain, an part extension of the Hungarian plain with important vineyards and orchards. The southern region of the Banat Plateau has forested hills and ranges of rocky low mountains ranges prevail, with large areas of leafy and mixed woods, caves and carstic formations, as well as narrow ravines and unique waterfalls. The second longest river of Romania –the Mures forms the northern boundary of the Banat; in the south there are the “Iron Gates”, the Danube canyon, which is at the same time the border with Yugoslavia. The name Banat comes from “Ban”, the military leader of a region.
Another historical province is Crisana, with several towns such as Oradea,, Beius, Simleul Silvaniei, Carei
Its relief from east to west is represented by the Bihor Mountains (with peaks over 1880 m), the so-called group of low mountains (Padurea Craiului, Codru-Moma and Zarand), the "piedmont" hills and the Cris Plain.
History:
This area, which was inhabited in Antiquity by the Dacians, the ancestors of the Romanians, became a Roman province under emperor Trajan in 106 A.D. Marks of the Romans and Dacians are still presents, for example the ruins of the Dacian fortress Divici or the Roman discoveries from Baile Herculane/Hercules Bath, the oldest and most famous spa in Romania.
The ruins of the old Dacian fortress Drobeta and the remainders of the Danube bridge built by the architect Apolodorus of Damascus between 102-105 A.D. at the order of the emperor Trajan, stand alongside the modern city of Drobeta Turnu Severin and the huge hydro-electric power plant.
Off all the migratory peoples, the Hungarians had the longest strongest influence over this area.
The Hungarian rule lasted until 1526, when the Turks defeated the Hungarians at Mohacs and the Banat became a Turkish pashalyk.
In 1718 the Hapsburgs defeated the Turks and for the following 200 years the Banat belonged to the Danube monarchy. The Banat is today a genuine mix of no less then eleven ethnical groups: Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Serbians, Croatians, Ukrainians, Czechs, Slovakians, Bulgarians, Jews, Gypsies, “a miniature Europe”. After the Austrian-Hungarian Treaty of 1867 a strong Hungarian conversion policy started and, as a result, the people of Banat did no want to belong to Hungary, after the First WW. Following the Treaty of Trianon, the Banat as and Transylvania joined Romania in 1919.
Touristic sights:
Diverse architecture, religious and lay edifices and the folklore are arguments to visit these regions.
In Banat and Crisana you will meet elements of culture and civilization that are a mixture of many and different traditions: Hungarian, German, Serb, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Ukrainian.
The tourist attractions are all over the place, especially in the counties of Bihor, Arad, Timis and Caras-Severin, where you can spend exquisite vacations. Trekking, mountain climbing, hunting, fishing, horse riding are only some of the tourist offers. Natural scenery, rich traditions and folklore are the ingredients of unique experiences while visiting the historical regions of Crisana and Banat.
The Narrow Path of the Danube (Portile de Fier – Iron Gates) – the longest narrow path in Romania (over 100 km), it also covers part of the Mehedinti county. The most impressive is the narrow tract, at the Cazane.
Baile Herculane is the oldest resort in Romania (and one of the oldest in the world), documentary attested in 153 A.D. The healing power of the thermal springs, discovered since the times when the Romans were building the first fortresses in Dacia, is nowadays famous all over the world. The spa (dedicated by the Romans to Hercules) is guarded, in the east, by the Mehedinti Mountains and, in the west, by the Cerna Mountains. Baile Herculane has a climate of transition from continental to Mediterranean, with influences of currents coming from the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. A feature of the local climate is the high negative air ionisation (specific to an altitude of 3,000 m) which increases the body resistance to infections and regulates the operation of the endocrine glands. In the spa one can see the ruins of the Roman thermal spa (aqueducts, baths).
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