Turnu Măgurele
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Turnu Măgurele is a municipality in Teleorman County, Romania (in the informal region of Wallachia). Developed nearby the site once occupied by the medieval port of Turnu, it is situated north-east of the confluence between the Olt River and the Danube; it is a chemical industry center.
A ferry plies across the Danube to the Bulgarian city of Nikopol. There are some vestiges of a Roman bridge across the Danube, built in 330 by Constantine the Great.
History
The name of the city means "Hill Tower" in Romanian, referring to the defense-wall tower of the fort built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 6th century; the ruins of this fort can still be seen.The town was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1417, towards the end of Prince Micea I's rule, and, like Giurgiu and Brăila, constituted a kaza on the left bank of the Danube. With short interruptions during the anti-Ottoman rebellions of Vlad III Dracula and Michael the Brave, destroyed by Iancu Jianu's hajduks in their campaign against Pazvan Oğlu (1809) and never rebuilt under Turkish rule, Turnu, like the other two kazas, was due to be returned to Wallachia through the 1826 Akkerman Convention - and was ultimately ceded in 1829, through the Treaty of Adrianopole. It became the capital of Teleorman County in 1839.
The village of Islaz, part of Turnu Măgurele, was the initial center of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (see Islaz gathering). During the Romanian War of Independence, the town served as a base for the campaign in Bulgaria. After the administrative reform of 1968, it became a municipality.
Population
- 1900: 8,668
- 2000: 30,187
External links
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