The Reșița funicular is perhaps the most emblematic industrial heritage structure of Reșița. It was built in 1963-1964 and passes right over the city center, in the form of a metal bridge 60m high and 700m long. The funicular transported limestone from the stone quarries in the south of the city to the lime factory in the Mociur industrial site, on a route of over 3km that crosses hills and inhabited areas of the city.

The Reșița City Hall bought the funicular in 2018 from an “entrepreneur” who realized it was too complicated to dismantle and sell as scrap metal. And then it brought together visionary and experienced architects and engineers to devise a new function for it. The technical project is ready, and the application for European funding on the New European Bauhaus axis for its restoration and conversion will follow.

The funicular will be a new “skeleton” for pedestrian and cycling mobility in the city, connecting the city's neighborhoods to the surrounding hills, a flagship project that brings together Reșița's industrial and natural heritage, its most precious assets.

We are excited to announce that on the last weekend of July - specifically July 26-28 - we will celebrate the funicular in its last year in its old guise, with the first edition of Street Delivery Reșița – which we will organize right there, under the funicular's pillars. Until then, we are gathering in Reșița to discover its route and plan its celebration.

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The Fantastic Funicular Project – The last year in its old guise is financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration, with co-financing from the Reșița City Hall.
The project actually consists of three components:

(1) The creation of an exhibition about the history, operation, and functional conversion vision of the funicular. The exhibition will be installed both physically, in the city center, at the end of July 2024, and online, on the page www.muzeulvirtualresita.ro;

(2) Co-creation and development of an interpretation plan for the industrial and natural heritage represented and traversed by the funicular's route. This interpretation plan is intended to inspire and underpin the development of the funicular's visitor center, which will be located in the decommissioned thermal point situated below the funicular, as well as the subsequent development of attractions and other facilities along the route;

(3) The organization of a street event to celebrate the funicular, in its last year before the planned commencement of restoration, consolidation, and functional conversion works. The event will take the form of a Street Delivery, joining the network of events with the same name organized throughout 2024 in 11 cities across the country. Within the event, we will organize workshops and debates, film screenings, digital and performing arts interventions, as well as guided tours along the funicular's route.

We will work closely in implementing this project with the Amateur Filmmaker Museum, D Proiect, the Banatul Montan Community Foundation, Bike Attack, and We Wilder.

The Fantastic Funicular Project is an initiative of MKBT conceived as part of the Reșița 250 Urban Innovation Laboratory. We act systematically, networked, and in the long term, for the preservation, valorization, and promotion of Reșița's industrial heritage.