Timiș

The Timiș or Tamiš is a river that stretches for 359 kilometres (223 miles) through the Banat area in both Romania and Serbia. It finally meets the big Danube river near the town of Pančevo in northern Serbia. Because of how it runs through the land, people often call it the "spine of the Banat."

This river has been very important for the places along its path, helping with water, travel, and life for many people living nearby. Different languages have their own names for the river: it is called Timiș in Romanian, Тамиш / Tamiš in Serbian, Temes in Hungarian, and Temesch in German.

Name

Long ago, the river was called Tibiscus in Latin and Tibisis in ancient Greek. Some old writings also refer to it as Timisis. Even famous writers like Edward Gibbon called it the Teyss.

The Romans who traveled through Hungary thought they crossed several rivers in small boats, and they believed the winding Teyss or Tibiscus might have appeared in different places with different names.

Geography

The Timiș River flows through parts of Romania and Serbia, covering a total area of 10,280 square kilometers. In Romania, it travels 241 kilometers before continuing for 118 kilometers in Serbia, where it joins the Danube River near Pančevo. The river starts near the Semenic Mountains in Romania and moves through various landscapes, eventually reaching the Banat plain.

One special area along the river is the Pančevo Forest, which has many types of trees and is home to many birds and animals. In 2023, Serbia started plans to protect parts of the river valley to keep its natural beauty safe.

Characteristics

The area around the Timiș River has been improved between 2017 and 2019 as part of a program by Romania and Serbia. From where the river starts in Romania to where it ends in Serbia, they added birdwatching towers, benches, small bridges, and places for fishing. In Pančevo, near where the river meets the Danube, you can rent boats, canoes, and bicycles.

In the 1980s, the area along the river in Pančevo was made into a walking path. Plans were made in 2020 to rebuild this area with new sports fields, a skate park, bike paths, and more. This project, called “Pančevo Promenade,” will also include a new footbridge to connect the city to a nearby forest. There were beaches along the river long ago, and today there are several beaches outside of Pančevo, each with its own special features like restaurants and sports areas.

Navigation

In its lower course, the river is controlled, and for the last 53 kilometres (33 miles) it can be used for boats.

Pančevo had a busy port in the 17th century when it was ruled by the Ottoman Turks. Later, during the Habsburg period, it became an important place for river travel in the Banat region. Grain was sent to Vienna, and later, as Pančevo grew with industry, goods like beer, silk, salt, bricks, and timber were shipped. Over time, buildings like halls, warehouses, and storage areas were built along the riverbank. With the arrival of steam power, passenger transport also started, linking Pančevo to Belgrade. As Pančevo became a big industrial center by the early 20th century, traffic on the Timiș river grew so much that the river had to be rerouted and straightened with many canals cut around it.

Lighthouses

At where the Timiș river meets the Danube, there are two lighthouses, one on each side of the Timiș. They are rare because most rivers don’t need lighthouses since their banks are usually visible. These are also among the few inland lighthouses in the world and the only pair in Europe. They are located at kilometre 1,154 of the Danube, on its left bank, about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from Pančevo town centre.

The lighthouses were built during the time when steam-powered river travel was popular. They are designed in a military style. Their cone-shaped bases are 153 metres (502 feet) wide and made of stone. The towers are strong and built from yellow bricks. Doors and paned windows have brick decorations. The top has an open terrace with a powerful light, covered by a cone-shaped roof supported by metal rods.

After work to improve navigation in the early 20th century, the area where the river meets the Danube had no landmarks. Trees and plants were removed during canal digging, making the area and river path new and unknown to boat crews. This made travel dangerous, especially at night, with many accidents happening. To help prevent this, the lighthouses were built in 1909. The one on the right side of the Timiș is in Ferland, and the one on the left is in Mali Rit, part of Pančevo. They became well-known. Boats passing by often made sounds, and young people visited and climbed them as a challenge. They also wrote and carved names and notes on the bricks, so by the 2000s, almost no bricks were without carvings.

Since then, steam boats were replaced by modern ships, and Pančevo built a new port on the Danube, so the old port on the Timiș closed. The lighthouses stopped being used in the 1960s and were left without care. Over time, local people took parts like metal staircases and oil lamps. Stone slabs were used for paving yards, and without these, the bases began to wash away, making the lighthouses tilt and risk falling down.

Rebuilding the lighthouses started in the 21st century and finished in 2019. Surveys and old photos were used in the rebuilding. The carved writings on the bricks were recorded by Pančevo’s Cultural Monuments Protection Institute. The lighthouses are now protected by law as very important cultural heritage.

Flooding

Sometimes, when there is a lot of rain, the Timiș River can flood nearby areas. This happened in 2005, when villages like Boka and Jaša Tomić were badly affected. Workers started building higher walls along the river in 2007 to help stop future floods. These walls were made taller to protect the land from water. In some low, wet places where floods happen, there are now lakes full of fish, such as at Banatski Despotovac, Uzdin, Sakule, and Slatina.

Tributaries

The river Timiș has many smaller rivers that flow into it. Here are some of the rivers that join from the left side: Brebu, Slatina, Goleț, Bucoșnița, Cerneț, Petroșnița, Valea Mare, Vălișoara, Măcicaș, Vâna Secănească, Vâna Mare, Spaia, Știuca, Cernabora, Timișana, Timișina, Șurgani, Sariș, Pogăniș, Timișul Mort, Lanca Birda, Bârzava/Brzava.

And here are some that join from the right side: Semenic, Teregova, Criva, Pârâul Rece, Feneș, Armeniș, Sadovița, Ilova, Groapa Copaciului, Bolvașnița, Zlagna, Sebeș, Potoc, Bistra, Pleșa, Calova, Maciovița, Vălișor, Tincova, Nădrag, Slatina, Măguri, Tapia, Iarcoș, Timișaț.

Settlements

Romania

Big cities along the river in Romania are Caransebeș and Lugoj. Smaller places along the river include Teregova, Armeniș, Slatina-Timiș, Bucoșnița, Buchin, Caransebeș, Constantin Daicoviciu, Sacu, Gavojdia, Lugoj, Coșteiu, Moșnița Nouă, Șag, Parța, and Peciu Nou.

The city of Timișoara gets its name from the Timiș River, meaning "the fortress of Timiș." However, the town called Timiș City is not on this river; it is on another river called the Bega.

Serbia

Places along the river in Serbia include Jaša Tomić, Šurjan, Boka, Sečanj, Neuzina, Banatski Despotovac, Botoš, Tomaševac, Orlovat, Uzdin, Idvor, Farkaždin, Sakule, Čenta, Baranda, Opovo, Sefkerin, Glogonj, Jabuka, and Pančevo.

Long ago, when the Austrians took control of lands near the Sava and Danube rivers, they found an old Ottoman stockade at where the Timiș meets the Danube. They built a new, bigger fortress there between 1716 and 1720. This fortress had a pentagon shape and was made for artillery. It looked like the Belgrade Fortress and had parts of the Petrovaradin Fortress.

A settlement grew inside this fortress and became the start of modern Pančevo. Later, in 1739, a treaty required Austria to tear down all forts built in the past twenty years. The Pančevo Fortress was torn down, but the town stayed. The old part of Pančevo still shows where the fortress once stood. In 2013, while rebuilding a park, workers found pieces of the old fortress walls.

Pančevački Rit

Main article: Pančevački Rit

The old path of the Timiș River into the Danube was about 40 kilometers northwest of its current location, between the villages of Čenta and Surduk. This area, known as Pančevački Rit or Pančevo Marsh, is a wetland of about 400 square kilometers. Once often flooded, much of it has been drained since World War II, turning into rich land great for growing grains and vegetables. The area feeds many people around Belgrade.

Today, Pančevački Rit has many slow canals and wet areas, including streams like Vizelj and bogs such as Reva. It also has a small river island called Kožara. The area has grown quickly, with many new homes built in suburbs like Borča, Padinska Skela, and Krnjača. All of Pančevački Rit is part of the Palilula area of Belgrade.