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Craiova

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Craiova (/kra'jo.va/, formerly spelled Krajova) is a Romanian city, the capital of the county of Dolj, situated near the left bank of the river Jiu. Craiova is the chief commercial city west of Bucharest.

The city of Craiova is situated in the middle of Oltenia (one of the southern regions of Romania), on the Jiu Valley. It is strategically positioned between the Carpathian Mountains and the rivers Danube and Olt.

There are many Orthodox churches in the city, as well as a Catholic church.

Contents

History

Craiova, which occupied the site of the Dacian and Roman city Pelendava, was formerly the capital of Little Wallachia (Oltenia). Its ancient bans or military governors were, next to the princes, the chief dignitaries of Walachia, and the district is still styled the "Banat of Craiova".

Among the holders of this office were Michael the Brave (1593-1601), and several members of the celebrated Bassarab family or the Craiovesti family. The bans had the right of minting money stamped with their own effigies, and thence arose the name of bani (centimes). In 1395 Craiova was probablly the scene of a victory won by Prince Mircea I of Wallachia over Bayezid I, sultan of the Turks.

Frequently named "town" after the first half of the XVI century, Craiova was always regarded as an important economic region of Romania.

The Austrian domination in Oltenia during 1718 to 1739 caused a considerable worsening of the economic and financial situation, thus leading to a strong movement of the outlaws and even to opposing actions of the nobility towards the Habsburg administration.

Between the years 1770 and 1771, Craiova, the seat of the Banship, carried on the duty of being the capital of Wallachia. Wallachia's last two rulers, Grigorie Dimitrie Bibescu and Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei, came from another great aristocratic family in Craiova – the Bibescu family.

The inhabitants of this part of country took part in all the important moments of Romanian history. In 1821 the inhabitants of the present-day Dolj county joined the revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu in great numbers. In 1848, Nicolae Bălcescu, Gheorghe Magheru, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and a citizen of Craiova, Costache Romanescu, took the leadership of the provisional government.

The 1877-1878 Independence War brought together in the line of fire many soldiers coming from this geographical area, directly territorially involved through the cities near the Danube: Calafat and Corabia, where the Headquarters of the Romanian troops carried on their activity.

The period following the Independence War was a time of economic and cultural progress. As a result, at the end of the ninetenth century, in the city of Craiova, with its 40,000 inhabitants, there were small factories and workshops of textiles, chemical products, farming machines and construction materials.

During World War I the people of Dolj county fought hard against the foreign occupation, many of them giving their lives for the 1918 reunification of Romania.

The period between the two World Wars was characterized by an economy preponderantly based on farming, a situation that slowed the process of industrialization and led to the development of a social class of important landowners, people who invested their fortunes in magnificent palaces, banks and commercial companies. After the Second World War, the machine industry, the food industry, the chemical industry, light industry, the construction materials industry, the electrotechnic industry, the drilling and mining industry and also the aeronautical industry developed quickly.

Politics

The Craiova Municipal Council, elected in the 2004 local government elections, is made up of 27 councillors, with the following party composition:

    Party Seats Current Council
  Social Democratic Party 12                        
  Justice and Truth Alliance 8                        
  Greater Romania Party 4                        
  Conservative Party 2                        
  Independents 1                        

Economy

One proof of the continuous demographic development of Craiova is the increase in the urban population. In 1735 there were over 4000 inhabitants (836 families), and figure rose to 25,000 inhabitants in 1859. By the end of the 19th century it rose above 40,000 inhabitants. In the year 1910 Craiova's population numbered 51,400 inhabitants, which made it the second-largest city after the capital. Statistics for subsequent years are listed below: During the first two decades of the 19th century, Craiova was characterized by economic prosperity, an increasing interest of its inhabitants in the handicraft commercial (trade) field, and public services. During the Czarist rule (1828-1834), Craiova underwent important economic development. In 1832 there were 595 shops, from which 197 made of wood and 398 made of brick (wall). The city was still the commercial center of Oltenia; Craiova exported cereals (grains), furs (skins), animals etc. to Austria and Turkey.

Around 1860, there were 4633 buildings in Craiova, which were comprised of 3220 houses, 26 churches, 11 schools, and 60 factories and work shops. There were about 90 industrial establishments, of which 12 were mills, 3 beer factories, 2 gas and oil factories, 4 tanning yards and two printing presses. 57% of the total number of craftsmen of Dolj county lived in Craiova (1088 craftsmen, 687 journeymen and 485 apprentices).

On October 26, 1896, the Craiova power station began to function (with AEG -Allemeine Elektricitats- Gesellschaft Equipments) having an installed power of 310 CP and which supplied 365 lamps on 39 streets in a network that was 30 km in length. Craiova was the first Romanian city supplied with electric power on the basis of internal combustion motors.

In 1900 Craiova had 43.1% of the industrial units of Oltenia; these numbered 924 industrial concerns (including 20 large industrial establishments, employing 1078 workers).

In 1925 there were 40 large industrial establishments and in 1930 there were 5530 workers.

The banking trade also developed at the beginning of the 20th century (there were 6 banks and 2 exchange houses already).

In the interbellum period, Craiova, being situated in an eminently agrarian region, experienced little further industrialization. The number of people who chose the industrialized way was very small.

In 1939 Craiova had 7 industrial units with over 100 workers: the cloth industry concerns "Oltenia" and "Scrisul Românesc" were well-known all over the country and abroad.

Since 1960 the city has become a powerful industrial center featuring construction of machines and equipment, the aeronautical industry, the chemical industry, the food industry, the building materials industry, the electrotechnical industry, the extractive industry and the power industry.

The 1989 Revolution brought many important changes in the economic field by setting up a free market and by decentralizing the management of the entire nationalized economic sector. The spirit of property ownership was enforced by the liberalization of private initiative and by the privatization of some industries that had belonged exclusively to the state.

In the industrial field, there was a diminution of production of all capacities due to the fact that the direction of the change impact and sock importance that followed the change of economic and social systems couldn't be anticipated . However, the industry is still a very important branch of activity, having a great influence over the economy of this town (70%).

During the post-Revolution period, the telecommunication services, banking and insurance services, the services of consultance in business (CDIMM, Romanian-American Center) registered a real program. The number of join companies and the value of invested capital is very huge at county level, situating the Dolj county on the first place from this point of view. Referring to the importance of invested capital, after the South-Korea - Daewoo Automobile Romania, the biggest vested interest value comes from: Italy, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Israel,...

The working population - about 110,000 persons - is distributed in the following way: 38% in industry, 15% in trade and repair, 10% in transport and depositing, 8% in education, 5.7% in the medical field.

Tourism

For the tourist visiting Dolj county, 1,100 places of accommodation are available: hotels, inns, motels and villas.

Besides historic sights, there are architectural and art monuments that lure tourists to visit Dolj; additionally, a stroll through the "Romanescu" Park becomes compulsory, as the park is an architectural landscape monument and is considered to be the most beautiful in the country and the largest in Europe.

Sport

FC Universitatea Craiova, a major Romanian football club is from the city.

Sources

External links

 

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