Photo credit: (c) Paula NEAMTU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Archeological research unearthed the existence, within this space, of signs of inhabitance dating back to the Neolithic period, as well as the Dacian and Roman period. The city developed on the place of an older settlement, dating back to the Roman age, namely the 2nd century AD. The vestiges showed the existence of a Roman castrum, fortified by two defensive moats, and dating back to the 2nd-3rd century.

The city was first mentioned in the 15th century, under the name of Rechyoka an Rechycha. In 1673 it is mentioned with the name of Reszinitza. At that time, its inhabitants paid dues to the Timisoara Eyalet. In the 1690-1700 period, it belonged to the Bocsa District. In 1717 it appears by the name of Retziza, then Reschitza (1738), and Olah Resicza (Romanian Resita) (1779).

The city started its industrial development after 1769, becoming on July 3, 1771, the home of the oldest and most important metallurgic center on the European continent. Initially, two villages in close proximity existed, the Romanian Resita and the Mountain Resita. The factories were placed in Mountain Resita, that was initially, the home of Romanian coal miners. In 1776, however, 70 German families originating from Styria, Carinthia and Upper Austria were colonized here, while in 1782-1787, German families from the Rhine region settled here.

Becoming an important center of the steel and automotive industry in the country, Resita was declared a town in 1925, becoming a city and a county seat in 1968. It is one of the oldest and most important metallurgic in the country and southeastern Europe. According to the official website of the city, in 1872, the St. E. G. plants were producing materials for European railways (cranes, reservoirs for water towers, railway turntables, buffers, etc.). In 1872, the first locomotive for internal factory transport was produced here, under the name of Resita 2, using the design of John Haswell, the director of the St. E. G. locomotive plant in Vienna. In 1926, the city’s plants turned out the first steam engine built in Romania in the interwar period, bearing the name King Ferdinand.

Photo credit: (c) Paula NEAMTU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Resita also developed from a cultural point of view, the city’s attractions including the History Museum of the Mountainous Banat region; the Steam Engine Museum; the Cultural Palace (1928); the German Casino (1862); the Romanian Casino (20th century); the Roman-Catholic Church (1848); the Evangelic Church (19th century), the Neff I House and the public baths (19th century); the Synagogue (19th century); the Grebla Hydroelectric Plant (1903-1909); the ‘Dormition of the Holy Theotokos’ Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, situated in Mountain Resita (1936); the Resita Sud train station; and the Border Bridge, the first bridge to be riveted and welded (1931).

The city of Resita had, at the 2011 Census, 73,282 inhabitants.AGERPRES