Romania: Oradea
The city of Oradea sits right next to the Romania/Hungary border and is famous for abundance of its Art Nouveau and Baroque architecture. Pretty much through its entire history until WWI, Oradea was an important city in the Kingdom of Hungary and Austro-Hungarian empire, with the overwhelming majority of the population being Hungarian. Floods and fires pretty much destroyed the city in the late 19th century, and most of the present-day Oradea was rebuilt to the plans of Viennese engineer Franz Anton Hillebrandt following the then-trendy Austrian architectural style called Secession with richly decorated building facades of pink, blue, green, yellow, and white. It’s a very pleasant city to stroll around and explore. Oh, and economically, Oradea is perhaps the most developed city in a Romania with the highest standard of living.
