Craiova

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Craiova in County Dolj

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 in central Oltenia (the political center of which it was for long), at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians (north) and the Danube (south). Craiova is the chief commercial city west of Bucharest and also the capital of Oltenia region.

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Activities

Landmarks

Madona Dudu Church - Built between 1750 - 1756 and renovated in 1844, after being destroyed by the earthquake from 1831. The church paintings are signed by Gheorghe Tattarescu.
St. Dumitru Church
The curch of Coşuna Monastery - Is the oldest building preserved in Craiova, dating from 1483.
Băniei House - Is the oldest laic building that exists in Craiova, dating from 1699. Art Museum - The building that house the museum was built in 1896 following the plans of the French architect Paul Gotereau. The main attraction of the museum is the art gallery dedicated to Constantin Brāncuşi. Here are exhibited six of his sculptures, dating from his early artistic activity: The Kiss (1907), Vitellius (1898), Woman Torso (1909), The Vainglory (1905), Boy's head (1906), Miss Pogany (1902).
Olteniei Museum - Was founded in 1915 and is organized in 3 sections: ethnography, history and natural science. The musem collection is based on the donations made in 1908.
Nicolae Romanescu Park - It is the largest and most well-known park in Craiova. Also, it seems to be the second largest romantic park in Europe. Through the initiave of Nicolae P. Romanescu, the mayor of Craiova at that time, the park was designed by French architect Emil Rendont. In 1900 the plans for the park won the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. Construction of the park began in 1901 and was completed in 1903.
Botanical Garden - The garden was laid out by the botanist Alexandru Buia and was opened in 1952. The main purpose of the garden was to facilitate the students' activities and research for the academic staff of the Agriculture and Horticulture Faculties. The Botanical Garden is organized in six areas: plant systematics, floral provinces of the globe, cultivated plants, seed beds, phytogeography of the Oltenia region, greenhouse.

Early Craiova History

Craiova, which occupied the site of the Dacian and Roman city Pelendava, was formerly the capital of Oltenia. Its ancient bans, the highest ranking boyars of the Wallachian state, initially those of the Craioveşti family. The bans had the right of minting coins stamped with their own effigies - the origin of the Romanian word ban as used for coins.

In 1395 Craiova was probably the scene of a victory won by the Wallachian Prince Mircea I of Wallachia over Bayezid I, Sultan of the Ottomans (see Battle of Rovine).

Frequently referred to as "a city" after the first half of the 16th century, the Craiova area was always regarded as an important economic region of Wallachia and Romania at large. During the 1718-1737 Habsburg occupation of Oltenia, Craiova's status declined due to economic pressures and increased centralism, partly leading to an increase in hajduk actions, in parallel with protests of Craiovan boyars. In 1761, under Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos, the bans relocated to Bucharest, leaving behind kaymakams to represent them in Craiova.

Under Prince Emanuel Giani Ruset, Wallachia's seat was moved to Craiova (1770-1771), viewed as a place of refuge during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. A large part of the city was burned down by the rebel pasha Osman Pazvantoğlu in 1800.

During the Wallachian uprising of 1821, inhabitants of the present-day Dolj County joined Tudor Vladimirescu's Pandurs in great numbers, contributing to the expedition on Bucharest. Costache Romanescu, a citizen of Craiova, was among the leaders of the Provisoral Government during the 1848 Wallachian revolution. Wallachia's last two rulers, Gheorghe Bibescu and Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei, came from an important boyar family residing in Craiova – the Bibescu family.

The period following the Independence War was a time of economic and cultural progress. As a result, at the end of the 19th century, the city of Craiova, with its 40,000 inhabitants, had developed small factories (producing chemicals, farming utilities, and construction materials) and textile manufactures. After World War II, industry continued to develop.

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 4,633 buildings in Craiova, which were comprised of 3,220 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 (1.088 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 1,078 workers).

In 1925 there were 40 large industrial establishments and in 1930 there were 5,530 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 Romānesc" 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 etc.

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.