So
many tourists, Romanian and American alike, make the sad mistake of
just driving through Piteşti on their ways to
Sibiu, Braşov or Bucureşti.
Despite it's past since 1966 as the home of
the national car, you'll find gorgeous pedestrianised malls in downtown
Piteşti with delightful squares and great shopping,
and home to the famous Tulip Festival.
Nestled a valley on the right bank of the Argeş
river, the clubs, restaurants, cafes and hotels
of downtown Piteşti make this proud capital of
County Argeşa great
base for exploring the surrounding area.
Piteşti fulfils it's role as a market town
each weekend, as the surrounding townsfolk and villagers flock to the
regional centre to bring their wares and foodstuffs to market, with
the annual tulip festival the highlight
of the holiday calendar.
Piteşti's sister city in America is Springfield,
Ohio!
Almost all of the sights of tourist interest are within a block
or two of the central Piaţa Muntenia, just off
the main shopping mall of Strada Victoriei (blocked
off to traffic for about 3 blocks downtown).
The County Museum, Prince's Church, 1907 Peasant Uprising Monument and
many main-line hotels, restaurants, pubs and cafes are around
Piaţa Muntenia, as well as the main train ticketing
office, banks, and internet and phone services.
Drink Up!
The city is surrounded by hills, being the center of an area rich
in wineries and plum orchards. The latter give one of the finest Romanian
ţuicas: Ţuica de Piteşti.
The Ştefăneşti winery, situated on the opposite bank of the
Argeş River, is one of the best known in Romania.
Road and Rail
If you arrive in Romania in Bucharest as most do, take advantage
of Romania's longest stretch of freeway, and hire a rental car for a
few days and drive the from Bucharest, about an hour on the all four-lane
restricted access freeway.
Your car can also allow you to travel into the mountains beyond
the rail lines to Lake Vidraru and north to the Făgăraş
mountains, or even do a circuit around the Făgăraş
mountains, from Curtea de Argeş to Bran, Braşov, Sibiu, and back!
Train buffs will enjoy the rail yards in nearby Goleşti,
with extensive rail yards and the junction of several important
rail lines.
The city is surrounded by hills, being the center of an area rich
in wineries and plum orchards. The latter give one of the finest Romanian
ţuicas: ţuica de Piteşti. The Ştefăneşti winery, situated on the opposite
bank of the Argeş River, is one of the best known in Romania.
If you have some information for us about Piteşti
or County Argeş,
please
Let us know about it now! We appreciate all of your efforts!
Any visitor expecting a grim industrial
city will be surprised to find a large regional centre supporting
the surrounding agricultural towns, complete with a delightful
central pedestrian mall!
Originally constructed in 1827, Saint Friday's
church was rebuilt in 1912 as a special project of local architect
Ioan N. Socolescu. Today, the church makes an ethereal
visage in any light, worth the walk to get some photos with
this great edifice!
Built by Constantin Şerban and his wife
Bălasa in the mid 17th century, this stoic looking
little church towards the southern end of the pedestrianised
StradaVictoriei looms
solidly over passers-by.
As a tourist, you should probably observe a few basic niceties whilst
entering and exiting a church. România is not exactly a multi-cultural
country as found in most English-speaking lands, and whilst you're not
really pretending to be Orthodox or particularly devout, there are a
few customary church habits which are almost more social than religious,
despite the reasons behind the movements.
So, perhaps crossing yourself at the threshold is a personal choice
(the Orthodox go from right to left on the final movement).
And testing your balancing skills on the way out can be a bit of fun
too, as you walk backwards out of the church, again crossing yourself
as you go down the threshold, and often, tripping backwards down the
inevitable steps.
Whether you choose to observe these basic points of common social
etiquette or not, most churches are open to the public with or without
your compliance to local customs.
The Trivale quarter to the south-west of the main downtown area
of Piteşti boasts verdant parkland, a small zoo,
and the grand Trivale Hermitage complex with grand portal, church, monastery
dormitory, and grounds.
Even during the autumn months, a stroll down the fairly grand parade
lined with tall oak trees is a spectacular sight, and in spring, of
course the inevitable tulips appear everywhere.
At str. Trivale, nr. 71, Pitesti
Church of Saint Friday (1827)
With a great little garden courtyard, brimming with flowers and
well-maintained plantings, the Church of Saint Friday is a delight in
the spring and summer months.
This shimmering silver and white example of early 20th century architecture
(it was largely re-made in 1912), looks like it would be more at home
on a wedding cake than in the middle of a city park!
The County museum in Argeş is just a block south of the main square
at Piaţa Muntenia. Certainly worth including
on your downtown Piteşti tour, this culture and
history museum does it's best to highlight all things
Argeşean as well as local history.
Like many of the buildings in downtown Piteşti,
you may notice there are perhaps fewer "old-old" building than in other
Romanian towns. The County Argeş is fine
example of the style of building common in the early 1900s after a series
of earthquakes (the Wallachian plains are prone to these) levelled much
of the town.
The series of collections at this museum include a reasonable natural
history section, but it's main interest will be to those interested
in the regional crafts and methods of production at the local vineyards
and orchards. If you're heading north later, the museum at Curtea
de Argeş offers a similar array of local treasures
and finds.
Like most of Romania's modern museums, the museologists here rather
roundly ignore the Communist era. You'll find that here, as with
most, history ends around WWII for Romanians.
Across the street is a monument to the 1907 Peasant uprising, and
if you come around April or May, it's surrounded by blood-red tulips,
a rather poignant and fitting tribute to the blood spilt in those terrible
years for the local villagers, who's successors still tend the same
plots today in the surrounding countryside.
Str. Călinescu 4,
Open Daily Except Mondays, 10am - 6pm. Admission 1RON
The Art of Piteşti
Sometimes the collections of great masters can be hard
to come by for cities like Piteşti. The
solution? Taking art back to the people with the Naive Art Gallery,
one of the finest collections of the exhilaratingly refreshing style
of local artisans.
Of course, on the more serious side of the art game,
Piteşti does enjoy a certain stature as home to some great works
of sculpture by George Călineşti and other notable
locals.
Each year during springtime, Piteşti is host to Simfonia lalelelor
(the Tulip Festival).
The Tulip Symphony is not only a symbol of Pitesti for 27 years
now, it is also a true mass phenomenon. Organized by the Pitesti City
Hall, “The Symphony”, as it is called, attracts thousands from all over
Romania, and increasingly, the rest of Europe.
Located in the Exhibition Hall of Casa Cărţii,
the three levels of the Exhibition Hall are decorated with different
indigenous seasonal and exotic flowers, garden dioramas, paintings
and different handicrafts, all inspired from the world flowers, tulips
or otherwise.
In 2002 Renault bought out Romania's iconic Dacia car company, both
modernising and strengthen the brand exported to over a dozen countries
from Europe, Middle East and Asia.
This added a hopeful and western-facing attitude to
Piteşti, with factory modernisation and the security
of a "big brother" backing the manufacturer's operations.
The introduction of the new model Dacia Logan in 2004 and subsequent
good sales levels have further cemented the future of
Piteşti as a home to world-class standards of
quality in the automotive field.
In mid 2006, the 250,000th Logan rolled out of the Dacia plant in
Pitesti, the main production site for Logan.
Also produced in Russia, Colombia and Morocco, production of Logan
will be launched in Iran this year and in India and Brazil in 2007.
The Logan plant in Piteşti supplies 35 of the 42 countries in which
Logan is sold, i.e. all European markets, together with Turkey, Algeria,
the Ukraine, Middle East and Central Africa.
The modern, reliable and roomy car has attracted customers the world
over and some 267,000 Logans were sold between September 2004 and May
2006.
It is proving highly popular in countries in which it is marketed,
in particular Western Europe, where it was launched in eight countries,
including France, in the spring of 2005.
Logan sales worldwide break down into 56% in Western Europe, including
Romania, 20% elsewhere in Europe (26 countries), 10% in Russia/CIS,
5% in Turkey, 5% in the Maghreb countries and 4% in the rest of the
world (mostly Americas, Asia, and Africa).
Museum of County Argeş
The vaguely impressive neo-classical
façade of the county museum, which
highlights cultural and historical exhibits of all things
Argeşean.
The Heroes' Gate
A fine example of classic Romanian triumphant
architecture, the Heroes' Gate commemorates Romania's contribution
to the Great War 1916-1918.
Western Argeş borders County Olt and the landscape
immediately south of Piteşti turns into fertile
alluvial plains from the multiple rivers and tributaries which flow
out of the mountains to the north.
This makes the sloping plains ripe for plums and all manner of stone-fruit
trees, which benefit from the solid winters and sunny early summers.
Mioveni just to the north-east of Piteşti (population
34,000) has the Dacia plant and a Nuclear Research Institute, that builds
components and materials for the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant on the
Danube, and also a high security prison.
Read More Here
The Cotmeana Monastery
Just 32km northwest of Piteşti on the road
to Râmnicu Vâlcea, the Cotmeana commune is comprised
of the villages of Zâmfireşti, Negeşti, Buneşti
and a handful of others, and features a
great old monastery
So much of the region in this largely agrarian zone is spread with
small monasteries and gorgeous old churches here and there, making it
in some ways like the hill country of Tuscany!
Founded in 1939 by decree of King Carol the Second, it was initially
named the Dinicu Golescu Museum. In 1966, it became the
Goleşti Museum Complex with the inclusion of
the Goleşti Feudal Assembly, and the wine and
fruit-growing museums.
The Golescu family were local
rulers who strongly supported the various revolutions for independance
throughout the 19th century. The house at Stefaneşti
was their summer country residence to escape the heat of the city.
Similar to the open-air ASTRA museum in Sibiu, there is also an
area behind the old house and the adjacent museum where buildings from
around the region have been gathered. You can stroll around
traditional fruit-grower residences as well as the odd church or two.
The exhibits in the museum, and the general standard of decor throughout
the old house are very good, and well worth an hour or two if you're
near Piteşti at any point in your journey.
The Golesti Museum Complex in Stefanesti, open May
to September, Daily except Mondays 9am - 5pm. +40 (248) 266 364,
cmgolesti@xnet.ro
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Piteşti is an important rail town, not only servicing the convergence
of many passenger routes, but also handling alot of freight from the
car, oil and petrochemical industry around the region.
A first class ticket on the excellent Blue Arrow service from Bucharest
is about 25RON, and well worth the extra 10RON or so over second class.
The 90 minute ride from Bucharest's North train station runs three times
daily; you can get slower trains during other times of the day if needed,
or if you want to stop along the way.
Locally, the Personal types of trains leave four or five times a
day to Curtea de Argeş and Câmpulung
Muscel, also departing from the
Piteşti north station.
Piteşti South Train Station,
+40 (248) 627 908
Maxi Taxis and Busses
Maxi-taxis arrive and depart from several locations throughout Piteşti,
and most busses stop in at the main bus station, about two blocks from
the main Piteşti Sud (South) train station.
Both have services locally and to all major near destinations such
as Bucureşti, Braşov, Curtea de Argeş and all
stops along the way. Maxi-taxis also depart from near
Piaţa Muntenia.
HINT: Be nice to your local taxi or maxi taxi driver! This
is the best way for you to get to nearby villages and sites, and a little
tip might help to get some good information on where to find a taxi
for your return trip! Tipping is an art form in Romania, so learn
it fast, and you will have great transportation everywhere.
You can use the bus service to go up to Curtea de Argeş
village, and of course, busses depart for Braşov,
Craiova, Râmnicu-Vâlcea and Bucureşti
daily.
With the airport in Bucharest about 90 minutes away, it's the most common
choice for getting to Piteşti (plenty of busses,
trains and maxi-taxis depart for Piteşti around the clock)
If you are flying in from Vienna
or Munich, Sibiu is slightly closer to Piteştithan Bucharest, and probably makes a more interesting stopover
in Romania too! You can maxi-taxi, bus or train to
Piteşti from either airport in Bucharest or in Sibiu.
Both airports have
domestic non-stop flights from Timişoara as well,
and non-stop international flights to Vienna and Munich from Sibiu,
and all major capitals from Bucharest.
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Hotel Muntenia
Towering over
Piaţa Muntenia, the Hotel Muntenia
overlooks more traditional architecture on the sunny square
This website is a
general tourist guide, designed to help English-speaking tourists
understand Romania, and as such, provides historical
information for the interest of our traveller readers. History
can be a contentious issue, and we welcome input where readers think
clarification or correction is advisable. Please
e-mail us here
if you have questions or comments about anything in this history
section.
The Children's Palace
Refurbished in 1984, this early Communist
era building marks an important stage in Romanian architecture,
blending the traditional mountain style with modernist simplicity
The earliest traces of human settlements in this area relate to
the Paleolithic. Piteşti itself was first mentioned on May 20th in 1386.
Piteşti was one of the temporary residences of Wallachian Princes.
Due to its positioning on the junction of major European routes (and
its proximity to the Saxon markets in Sibiu, Transylvania), the city
had originally developed as an important commercial centre.
In the 1950s, the city gained an ill notoriety, when the communist
authorities used the local detention facility to subject political detainees
to the infamous "Re-education", in which violence between inmates was
encouraged to the point of being mandatory.
The purpose of the experiment was to psychologically destroy the
capacity for outside attachment and outside loyalty, thus creating the
brainwashed New Man meant to suit a Leninist society.
The experiment was mercifully stopped after five years. Twenty-two
inmate-participants were condemned with sixteen being condemned to death
for the experiments in a 1953-54 trial. A new trial in 1957 convicted
certain members of the prison staff, who received light sentences. They
were later pardoned.
Historical Churches
In the Middle Ages, Old Piteşti saw many churches built with a rather
distinct architecture, with Buna Vestire-Greci “Sfantul Mina”, from
the 14th century standing out as a fine example.
But the most popular medieval church in Piteşti
is Biserica Domneasca “Sfantul Gheorghe”, built in 1656 by Prince
Constantin Serban (1654-1658) and his wife, Lady Balasa, based on the
foundation of an old dwelling.
The Church “Sfânta Treime”, formerly the hermitage Bestelei, was
built between 1679 and 1684 on the place of an old wood church was reportedly
built in 1628 by Voivode Alexandru Coconul (1632-1627).
Vaarlam, the bishop of Romania (1672-1679), rebuilt the Hermitage
“Trivale” on the foundations of a previously existing monastery.
The Prince of the first united Romania, Mihai Viteazul, who was
passing through Piteşti in his way to the Hills
Monastery is supposed to have spent the night here.
In Gavana District, the Biserica “Meculesti” is worth a look, built
by the nobleman Parvu Serban Lerescu, in 1752.
More centrally in the downtown area, the “Sfânta Vineri” church
on the street of the same name has great architectural merit.
Designed by Ioan N. Socolescu (1856-1924), he completed his plans during
his tenure as president of Romanian Architect Society.
The Architecture of piteşti
Fin de Siecle
With most buildings erected towards the end of the 19th century
and beginning of the 20th century, they have a curiously uniform look
with distinctive porticos and verandas, following the architectural
trends of those decades.
On the streets of Crinului, Sfânta Vineri, Targul din Vale, Victoriei,
Bulevardul Republicii, etc. there are even today edifices with a remarkable
classic architecture (sometimes with notable elements from the French
School) like: The Arges Restaurant on Victoria street, House of Aron
Baiulescu in Targul din Vale (today - the place of U.A.P.-Arges), the
School of Arts at Pitesti (formerly the Fostiropol residence).
In 1886 old town hall was erected, and the Art Museum went up with
the support and input of Mihail Kogalniceanu, designed by architect
Ioan N. Socolescu, who also did the St. Friday's Church project.
Between 1898 and 1899 the rather grand new Palace of Arges Prefect
office was erected, which today serves as the Arges County Museum.
The “I. C. Bratianu” College was also built at the same time.
The Great War
The building started in 1910 for the Poplar Bank, with a French
eclecticism architecture by Eracle Lazarescu, a former teacher of Architecture
at Bucharest Academy. The Poplar Bank was considered quite modern
for it's time.
Today on this site you can find the Modern Cinema and the House
of Culture and Technology Club. In 1914 construction finished
on The Palace of Justice which between 1955 and 1996 housed the House
of Culture. It shares the neoclassic style, and on the others
three sides it has the French eclecticism architectural style.
The Golden Age
Between 1934 and 1936, after the projects of architect Statie Ciortan,
teacher at the Superior School of Architecture and president of Romanian
Architects Society from 1929 to 1933, it was build in Pitesti, the building
of Public Finance Administration, where, now is Pitesti City Hall.
Between 1925 and 1930 there were some private residences designed
and built in the Traditional Romanian, designed by architect Dimitrie
Ionescu-Berechet (the house of Nae Dumitrescu as well), and from 1930
until 1940, there were built many buildings in the Cubist style, chiefly
by architect Eugen Ivanov.
Post-Modern
The Union Cultural House was inaugurated on 18th March 1971, made
after architect Radu Mihaila's plans.
The Trivale Store was built in 1972, Arges Prefect's office was
built in 1976 and The Design Institute in 1978.
The Exhibition Hall “Casa Cartii” –the main cultural residence-
was inaugurated in 1989.
Starting with 2000 year, The State University from Pitesti has a
new location in university campus in Targul din Vale.
Vasile Milea Square was inaugurated in 2000, like a part of the
new down town.
In the same year, 2002, there were finished the works to the new
residence of Arges District Library, after the projects of architects
Maria and Alexandru Multescu.
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The
County Argeş Museum
Western
Argeş
Paralela 45, Bd. Republicii, bl.79, ap.4 in Piteşti
See a Road Map of the Piteşti Area
See
an Area Map of County Argeş
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