Oradea City Museum
The Oradea City Museum is located at Piața Emanuil Gojdu 39-41, right in the Oradea Citadel, where you can enter both through the West Gate from Podul de Lemn and through the East Gate, from Redutei Street. The museum is closed on Mondays. In the months of April – October, the museum is open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and the rest of the year between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The museum is spread over buildings A and B of the Princely Palace and occupies 2 floors, the ground floor and the basement. In September 2023, the price of a full entry ticket was 15 lei, and a reduced ticket 5 lei.
The Oradea City Museum is a section of the Crișurilor Museum Museum Complex. It is a museum that presents the history of the citadel and the city of Oradea. The museum is particularly rich in themes and diverse. Personally, I thought it lacked a clear organization, even though when I left the museum I expressed admiration for the things I visited. I was positively impressed by how big the museum is and how many themes it covers.
The history of the place, proven by archaeological discoveries, reveals that this territory has been inhabited since prehistoric times, from the Bronze Age, from the Iron Age and from the Dacian period. The first documentary attestation of the city of Oradea comes from the year 1113. In the Middle Ages, Oradea was an important economic, cultural and religious center proven by the presence of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea. The museum highlights the 3 phases of development of the Oradea Citadel, the Romanesque, the Gothic and the Renaissance. Currently, Oradea Citadel is a fortified citadel with 5 bastions, built in Italian style.
Exhibitions are organized in the museum which also present the history of the monastery church, the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and the Renaissance princely palace. Oradea Citadel had its heyday during the Renaissance and Humanism. We will also learn about the peoples who fought for the conquest and liberation of the fortress, be they Turks, Austrians, Kuruts, Habsburgs. The information in the museum covers the period of the revolution of 1848 or that of the 20th century. The latest archaeological discoveries are highlighted in the lapidarium where we see pillars, vaults, tombs, the ruins of the Gothic cathedral where the Hungarian kings Ladislaus the Saint and Sigismund of Luxemburg were buried, the imprint of the Romanesque basilica. In addition to the main, historical theme, the museum is host to permanent exhibitions such as one of photography, another of confessions, one depicting the First World War and the role of General Traian Moșoiu, another presenting the communist period, but also a spectacular hall with a discotheque theme.
We go up to the 1st floor and follow the direction indicated for visiting. A room is called: “From the design table to realization”. We pass between the columns and stop at the statue of a horse. in a neighboring larger space, Bleriot’s airplane from 1909 is exhibited, and further on, a combat vehicle. About all of this we learn details about the process they go through from the design phase to the realization phase.
Large horse model
columns
Bleriot's plane
combat vehicle
“Matia Corvin – Life at the Royal Court” is an exhibition created by the Hungarian curator Palotas Erikași. The exhibition is a very successful one and presents several scenes from medieval life, including a royal table with its select diners as well as servants fulfilling their roles. The maquette is a three-dimensional one, Beatrice of Aragon brought to the royal court Italian rules and etiquette that were based on appearance. Thus, a clean tablecloth or the order of serving at the table began to matter.
royal family at the table
The royal family
servants of the royal family
During the Renaissance, the scientific revolution gained momentum. Humanists contributed to the development of cognitive techniques. Branches of science developed. Importance was given to the authenticity of the information. Astronomy and architecture are two of the sciences that evolved. Buildings begin to have new architecture, especially palaces. The sciences developed in parallel with religion because the world could not be understood outside of a religious context.
science
Architecture
Religion
King Matthew Corvin stood out through the organization of the army and the wars fought. In the room dedicated to the medieval war, a scene is reproduced where Matei’s officers are resting after a victory. The guarantee of the military success of the army leaders is given by the loyalty of the subjects. Pál Kinski, or Pavel Chinezu as he is also called, the son of a noble Serbian family had a remarkable military career, distinguishing himself in the defense of the southern border of the Transylvanian Voivodeship in the 15th century in the fight against the Ottoman army. After the death of King Matthew Corvinus, Pál Kinski and Sigismund Báthori prevented Ion Corvinus, Matthew’s son, from succeeding his father to the throne.
Matthew's War
war camp
torture methods
We jump to a completely different historical period, that of the First World War, at the beginning of the 20th century. Although bound by a treaty to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romania remained a neutral country between 1914 and 1916. Then it sided with the Entente until 1917. Here Romania’s involvement was negotiated with the declared aim of annexing Transylvania and Bucovina to Romania . Thus, in 3 sequences of time, the union of Bessarabia, Bucovina and Transylvania with Romania was achieved, a process that culminated on December 1, 1918. The international recognition of the Great Union was made through the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 – 1920. In the battles since the First World War over 300,000 soldiers and 700,0000 civilians have died. On April 20, 1919, the liberation of the city of Oradea by the Romanian army led by General Traian Moșoiu began.
general Traian Moșoiu
shelter from war
infirmary
map of Greater Romania
A spectacular hall of the museum presents: Oradea in models. Models of the Bazaar, the National Theatre, the Palace of Justice, the town hall with its tower, the synagogue, and the Roman Catholic Episcopal Palace are on display. Superb!
The Bazaar and the Theatre
Palace of Justice
town hall and its tower
Synagogue
Roman Catholic Episcopal Palace
I wrote that there is a lack of logical organization in the museum. It’s interesting what we see, but suddenly we enter the hall dedicated to the world water day of 22.03.2023. Here we read information about the Crișurill hydrographic basin and accessories used in relat
Crișurilor basin
specific equipment
lifeguard accessories
Highly appreciated and rich is the vast section that presents the history of photography in Oradea and the “Ștefan Toth” photographic art and technique collection. It is a permanent exhibition of the museum. I am attracted to old cameras and cameras, old photographs, old-timey materials such as color photographic paper and others. No less than 500 exhibits can be found here. Ștefan Toth István collected for over 4 decades photographic equipment, materials and accessories that he donated to the museum. together with over 2,000 specialty books and photo albums.
old camera
photographic paper
photo albums
awards of the photographer Toth
We go up to the 2nd floor. Several spaces present the variety of religious confessions that were and are present on the territory of Oradea: the Unitarians, the Roman Catholics, the Reformed, the Orthodox, the Greek Catholics, the Judaists. The Bible from Oradea is also on display.
cult of St. Ladislaus
Roman Catholic cult
reformed cult
orthodox cult
Greek-Catholic cult
Jewish cult
We suddenly jump to an art exhibition where there are obviously paintings on display, but also some interesting fabrics.
art
pictures
painting
paintings
textile
Another sudden jump is the section that presents the Bihor firemen, where they attract the vehicles used by the firemen, but also the many accessories from their equipment. There is also a panel with the history of Bihor firemen.
fire engines
fire engines
firemen's accessories
fire department
Another theme presented surprises. The last room on the 2nd floor presents the atmosphere of discotheques from the 1970s – 1980s. Here we also see the old radio cassette player, speakers, soft drinks of those times, and on one wall we see John Lennon’s composition “Imagine All the People Living Life in Peace”, all displayed in disco lights and to the sound background of the hits played in them.
disco atmosphere
disco '70 - '80
refreshments
Imagine all the people
The last part of the visit is perhaps the most interesting. It takes place on the ground floor and below this level. We will see the major archaeological discoveries among which we can walk along a guided route. At the museum premises we discover the Romanesque and Gothic ecclesiastical architecture of Bihor. In the archeopark are the ruins of the sanctuary of the church of the Little Virgin Mary, built in the 12th century, destroyed by the Mongols. It was then rebuilt, becoming the second church next to the Gothic cathedral in the medieval fortress. In the 16th century it was demolished by Prince Ștefan Báthori, the recovered stones being reused to build the outer walls of the fortress, and in the 17th century, over the demolished church, the Princely Palace was built. One room presents “Churches in the Palace”.
archaeological discoveries
churches in the palace
discoveries
original fresco
Lapidarium
The Oradea City Museum should be visited leisurely, this is the impression I was left with after my first visit here. Allow 1 – 2 hours for this visit, which would gain even more value if it were a guided one. Visit the Oradea City Museum, about which you can also read information on its website https://mtariicrisurilor.ro/muzeul-orasului-oradea/.
Take a tour of the Oradea Citadel, which you can document here https://mytravel.express/obiective-mte/cetatea-oradea/, but also a tour of the superb city following the tourist guide https://mytravel.express/ghiduri -mte/tourist-guide-oradea/.
All the best!
Steps:
