What to See in Arad - Top Sights and Attractions

The Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 15 Piața Catedralei, Arad, Romania. It is dedicated to the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

After the demolition of an old church near the Mureș River, a new one was begun upon the initiative of Prokopije Ivačković, the Bishop of Arad. Construction lasted from 1862 to 1865, receiving funds from the Mocioni family and from Viennese banker Simon Sinas. Anton Czigler, a native of Gyula, was the architect. After its dedication, the building served as the diocesan cathedral.

Certain details of the facade, such as the pediment, were only added during the 1905-1906 restoration. In 1966, three mosaics were placed on the facade. The bell, dated 1764, comes from the previous church.

The building is U-shaped, the wings opening on the yard through semicircular arches. The lower interior walls are of artificial marble; the middle feature plant decorations; the upper is painted in Orthodox iconography. The windows are of colored glass, without designs. The two towers were lengthened in 1904; each has a clock. The style is a classicizing neo-Baroque, more akin to 19th-century Western than contemporary Orthodox churches. Over time, the location became less central, so that a new cathedral superseded the old in 2009.

The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.^[2]

Orthodox church in Arad, Romania. The St. Peter and St. Paul's Serbian Orthodox Church, also known as the Serbian Church, is an edifice located in the city of Arad, Romania. It was built between 1698 and 1702 and it is located in the Serbian square.

One of the oldest buildings in Arad, it was erected by the Serbian community of the city. It was an important presence because of the arrival of Habsburg armies in the area. After the treaty of Karlowitz the entirety of Transylvania became an Austrian province. Because the border with the Ottoman Empire was set on the Mureș River, in the area of Arad were posted guards, especially Serbians. As a consequence a church was built in the biggest city of the area, Arad. Artist Stefan Tenecki painted the icons of the iconostasis in the second half of the 18th century.

The building was financed by Captain Iovan.^[5]

The water tower is a building in Arad, built by the English firm Shone and Ault, the firm that executed Arad's first water supply project.

The water tower has a storage capacity of 300 cubic meters, a height of 34 meters and was built in 1895 to supply water to the city and to signal fires, which is why it was built near the fire station. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the city. It is a massive stone and brick construction, notable for the decoration of its balconies and windows. The tower served in the city's water supply system until 1956.

Since 1990 the tower has been in private ownership, housing the "Water Tower" art gallery, which has a permanent water exhibition, and many art and themed exhibitions.

The exhibition space is spread over 5 levels: on the first floor there are temporary exhibitions of visual artists. on the second floor there are works of the 70s and 80s, made by painters from Arad. On the third floor is the exhibition Domestic Water, which shows the ways people have used water over the years. On the fourth floor are the traditions of Arad's firefighters and the way the city's water supply has been done over the years. On the fifth floor is the water storage tank, with a capacity of 300 cubic meters, which can now be climbed on a ladder.