Antiquity Mehala was supposedly inhabited in the pre-Dacian period. An
Eneolithic settlement was identified here in the 1970s. Further archeological excavations brought to surface several ceramic fragments from the
classical Dacian period (1st century BC–1st century AD) and the
Árpád dynasty (11th–12th centuries). A
Sarmatian necropolis dating from the 2nd–4th centuries BC was also discovered here in 2025.
Ottoman occupation Mehala has long been an independent commune, whose name comes from the
Turkish language,
mahale meaning "slum" or "suburb". This name was given to it during the Turkish occupation of
Banat, between 1552 and 1716. Here was the summer residence of the Ottoman
pashas, known as the "Wells of the Pashas" (), where the
ahidnâme was signed in 1716; In times of danger, they were safe supply and escape routes. The Wells of the Pashas were later renamed
Präsidentengarten and were used by local leaders as a place of relaxation until 1849 when Timișoara
was besieged by
revolutionaries and the residence was completely destroyed.
Habsburg rule of 1769–1772. Depicted here are also the Wells of the Pashas (
Baschabrun), east of Mehala. For the next 65 years Mehala was made part of the city and in 1716 it received the name
Neustadt Since the Orthodox
Rascians (collective term for
Romanians and
Serbs) were not allowed to settle in the fortress at that time, many of them moved to what is now Mehala. By 1744 Mehala was subordinated to the Rascian magistrate of Timișoara. People went hunting, collected mushrooms and used the forest as firewood. Within 80 years it was cut down and converted into arable land. No purchaser was found for the village, where the interests of Timișoara were evident. After a decade of negotiations, a judicial ruling on 1 January 1910 resolved the land ownership disputes in Mehala. From now on, Mehala has experienced a vertiginous development: roads to the city and sidewalks were paved,
street lighting was introduced and kindergartens and schools were established. Today, the market in Mehala has expanded a lot and includes a
bazaar and a
flea market. Between the old city limits of Timișoara and Mehala an undeveloped stretch of land remained – as a green belt until 1964, after which the expansion of
Circumvalațiunii began from the west. A pond that serves as a natural rainwater reservoir, Balta Verde ("Green Pond"), was used for ice skating in winter, but was then filled in and built on, as was a meadow to the north, a former military training area. Many old houses fell victim to the expanding new housing developments by the end of the 1980s. In 1968, the tram was supplemented by a second electric means of transport, the Timișoara trolleybus (
firobuz). The new trolleybus line 13 ran from 1968, initially to Cetății Boulevard, then from 1970 parallel to the tram to Avram Iancu Square and finally from 1978 to Grigore Alexandrescu Street on the western edge of the city. On 21 June 2006, however, it was converted to conventional bus operation. == Demographics ==