Calafat () is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in
Dolj County
Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to '' Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova.
Demographics
In 2011, the c ...
, southern
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, in the region of
Oltenia
Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...
. It lies on the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
, opposite the Bulgarian city of
Vidin
Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...
, to which it is linked by the
Calafat-Vidin Bridge
The New Europe Bridge ( bg, Мостът Нова Европа, Mostŭt Nova Evropa; ro, Podul Noua Europă) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section o ...
, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the bridges of late antiquity, for centuries Calafat was connected with the southern bank of the Danube by boat, and later on by ferryboat.
The city administers three villages: Basarabi,Golenți and Ciupercenii Vechi.
History
It was founded in the 14th century by
Genoese colonists. These colonists generally employed large numbers of workmen (''Calafatis'') in repairing ships. This industry gave the town its name.
In January 1854, during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
, when
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
forces were headed up the Danube,
Ahmed Pasha, commanding the
Turkish forces at Calafat, made
a surprise attack on the temporary Russian garrison nearby
Cetate, which was under the command of Colonel . This diverted the initial Russian attack and allowed Ahmed Pasha to consolidate his forces in Calafat. On 28 January, the Russians under the command of General
Joseph Carl von Anrep
Joseph Carl von Anrep (russian: Иосиф Романович Анреп; ''Iosif Romanovich Anrep-Elmpt''; 1796 – 28 June 1860) was a Baltic German general during the Crimean War. He was a member of the Russian branch of the Anrep family, the ...
, reached Calafat and began the
siege which lasted until May. Riddled by disease and unable to take the town, Anrep withdrew.
Calafat was declared a
municipiu
A municipiu (from Latin ''municipium''; English: municipality) is a level of administrative subdivision in Romania and Moldova, roughly equivalent to city in some English-speaking countries.
In Romania, this status is given to towns that are lar ...
in 1997.
Climate
Transport
![Primaria calafat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Primaria_calafat.jpg)
Calafat lies on the river corridor VII-Danube and the
pan-European corridor IV which starts in Germany and ends in Istanbul and Thessalonik
The city is at crossroads of National Roads DN56, DN56A, and DN55A and
European route E79
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...
. The city of Calafat and its neighbour, Vidin (Bulgaria), are linked by bridge over the Danube in the area called Bașcov (
Danube Bridge 2
The New Europe Bridge ( bg, Мостът Нова Европа, Mostŭt Nova Evropa; ro, Podul Noua Europă) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section o ...
) built by the Spanish company
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
. The project of constructing a Danubian bridge in the area of Calafat–Vidin dates back to 1925. Road traffic between Vidin and Calafat were doubling every year, so it became necessary to construct a bridge with four lanes of road traffic, a railway line, a lane two meters wide for bikes and a pavement for pedestrians. The bridge has a total length of 1,971 m and its costs are estimated about US$200 million. It was officially opened on 14 June 2013.
Announcement of the Bulgarian president as published by Focus News Agency on 22 May 2013 (in Bulgarian), retrieved 31 May 2013
Newspapers
![Poșta Calafat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Po%C8%99ta_Calafat.jpg)
Calafat has several city newspapers. One of them is called ''Ziarul De Calafat'',
which is also maintained online; another one is ''Calafat Live''.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Calafat is
town twinning, twinned with:
*
Vidin
Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
*
Zaječar
Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; ro, Zaicear or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city administrative area has a population of 59,461 inhabitants.
Zaječa ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
*
Biñan
Biñan (), officially the City of Biñan ( fil, Lungsod ng Biñan), is a 1st class component city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 407,437 people.
Biñan, also known as Biniang, has ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Populated places on the Danube
Populated places in Dolj County
Localities in Oltenia
Cities in Romania
Port cities and towns in Romania
Bulgaria–Romania border crossings
Planned cities in Romania