Iosefin is the historic district west of the centre, on the southern bank of the Bega Canal. Originally a separate Habsburg-era satellite settlement, it was incorporated into the city in 1781 and named for Emperor Joseph II. Today it is mostly a quiet residential area of 19th-century townhouses and a few good restaurants.
The district's centrepiece is Iosefin Market (Piata Iosefin) — a long-running daily farmers' market on King Carol I Boulevard that is the city's main fresh-produce hub. The early-19th-century Iosefin Synagogue is nearby. The Iron Bridge across the Bega connects Iosefin to the rest of the historic centre and is itself a heritage-listed pedestrian crossing dating from 1898.