Tower of Vršac

THE TOWER stands on the very top of the hill above the town and is all that has remained of the medieval fortress, which was the former town of Vršac. Apart from the fact that it was probably built at the end of the 14th century or the beginning of the 15th century, little is known about its origin. There is a real possibility that the fortress was built by the Serbs, after the fall of Smederevo, because there are certain similarities with its towers. According to some tradition, the Tower was built by »King-Despot«, which means Đurađ Branković, who had lands in this area in that time.

The Residence of the Banat Episcopacy

Vladika's Residence of Banat episcopes was built by Vladika Jovan Georgijević, who moved the seat of the Orthodox Eparchy from Karansebeš back to Vršac, in 1750. The building was done according to the project of a Prussian architect, whose name was not recorded, and it lasted until 1760, and as soon as in 1787 its first renovation was done. The Residence was renovated during the 19th century, but its former appearance was changed only in the restoration of 1902. The building is freely located on the big plot, with the flat front, facing the street. In the same 1902, the residence gained completely new eclectically shaped main fasade and lost a great deal of its complex roof construction. Besides the iconstasis painted by Nešković, there is a remarkable gallery of portraits of the Vršac vladikas and a rich treasure of church objects, icons, and rare manuscript books.

St.Nicholas Church

The Serbian Saborna Church dedicated to St.Nicholas, is situated on the site of the former church, dedicated to the same saint. The new church was finished in 1785, and it was consecrated by Vladika Vicentije Popović, and the works on its decoration were finished during Josif Jovanović Šakabenta, in 1805. The building is single nave, arched, with the two-story bell-tower in the west, where there are two porches and baptistery, while in the east there are three shallow altar apses. During the unsuccessful eclectical restoration, the church lost its strictly classicistic characteristics of its outer appearance. A great number of famous painters worked for the Big Church in Vršac, whose works are still in it, such as Nikola Nešković with ten icons, Pavel Đurković, who painted the iconostasis (altar screen), Simeon Jakšić and Mihajlo Popović with wall paintings and two large canvases by Paja Jovanović.

The Roman Catholic Church ST. Gerhard

It is located on the site of the former church which had been dedicated to the same saint and it existed until 1860. The new church, which today represents one of the most representative buildings in the town, was built between 1860 and 1863, using the projects of a certain architect from Vienna, whose name was not recorded. His project was made in detail, according to the medieval Gothic culture. The building is composed as the basilica with three naves with strongly made transept in the east, wich gives the base a shape of a Latin cross. On the west side is a small porch with two thin, high bell-towers, covered with sharp-pointed roof. The lavish decoration of the facade is the most beautiful on the portals, windows, rosettes, counterfores and bell-towers.The interior of the church is richly equipped with the carved furniture, decorated with wall and altar painings, stained-glass windows and sculptures. The main altar was painted by Peter Johan Geiger, a professor of the Vienna Academy, in 1863.

The National Theatre »Sterija«

In Vršac, theatre life exists more than two centuries. The first performance was given in1773, on 13 and 14 April. That performance was given by the artists from Timisoara. The towns Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Venice, Trieste, Bratislava and others, had a great influence on the development of theatre life in Vršac. In 1777, Vršac was the most populated town in Banat and had all the conditions to be the host to the theatrical companies, who came from many different centres of the European culture. In 1761, the Great Serbian Magistrate was built and it served as the permanent theatre building more than 100 years.

The Town Library

The Town Library in Vršac was founded following a decision of the Magistrate at the end of 1887, as the Town Public and School Library, and it began to work for the public on 15 January, 1888. The founder of this library and its first librarian was Felix Milleker (1858-1942), the famous historian and archeologist, and the writer of a great number of books and studies. After the foundation of the Museum, between 1897 and 1947, the Town Library and the Museum worked as one institution, under the same roof, and since 1947 as separate institutions, when they started to develop their activities more intensively. Independent, after seven changed addresses, in the 50's of this century, the Town Library was located in the present-day building, in Svetosavski Trg 2, tel./fax 013/822-882