Codrii Vlăsiei was the forest that once covered parts of southern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, including the territory of today's

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and the surrounding

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

. The thick forests were used by Romanians as a retreat during the age of migrations because they were not easy to cross on horseback. In fact, the name of the forest means "the Forests of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

". ''Codrii'' means "forests" in the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

, while ''Vlăsiei'' is the genitive form of ''Vlăsia'', the Slavic denomination for Wallachia. The thick forest was also useful in the Middle Ages, being used by several voivods to defeat other armies. In 1456, Vlad Ţepeş defeated his rival Vladislav Dan at

Târgșor Târgșor is a former medieval market town in what is now Prahova County, Romania. The town peaked around 1600, after which it declined to become the village of Târgșoru Vechi, located about southwest of Ploiești. History Built in a heavily ...

at the edge of Codrii Vlăsiei. This was also the place where Vlad defeated the Ottoman army that came to depose him. It is also thought that Vlad was assassinated there following a plot of the

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

s. The forests were later a hideout for

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

haiduc A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

s and other outlaws. Between 1692 and 1700, a paved road which linked the centre of Bucharest to the Mogoşoaia Palace of

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension A descendant of the Craiovești boyar family and heir through his grandfather Preda of a considerable part of Matei Ba ...

was built through the forest. Named Podul Mogoșoaiei, it was made of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

wood. Most roads in the Balkans at that time became muddy in the spring and autumn, and the wood prevented this. Consequently, the road was one of the most important construction works of the area and a source of pride to Bucharesters. In 1842 the road was paved with

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

. It was later upgraded to

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

. The road was renamed "

Calea Victoriei CALEA may refer to: *Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, an act by the US Congress to facilitate wiretapping of U.S. domestic telephone and Internet traffic *Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a private accredit ...

" after the Romanian victory in the Independence War of 1877-78. Most of the forest was intact until the 19th century, when commerce involving cereals and wood began to develop in

and the forest was razed for the land to be used in agriculture. Of the old forests only a few small areas remain, mostly north of Bucharest, in localities such as

Snagov Snagov (population: 7,272) is a commune, located north of Bucharest, in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. According to the 2011 census, 92% of the population is ethnic Romanian. The commune is composed of five villages: Ciofliceni, Ghermănești ...

, Pustnicul,

Cernica Cernica is a commune in the southeast part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 9,425 as of 2002. It is composed of five villages: Bălăceanca, Căldăraru, Cernica, Poșta and Tânganu. The commune lent its name to the Cern ...

, Romaneşti and Comana. The surface of forests is currently just about. 3500 ha.

Băneasa Forest Băneasa Forest (''Pădurea Băneasa'' in Romanian) is a wood in the north of Bucharest, Romania. Covering , the ground is located in proximity to Băneasa neighborhood and Băneasa Airport. On its southern edge, there is the Zoo Băneasa zoological ...

, situated in the north of

, is in danger to be transformed in a park. The slicing of forest estates as a result of restitution of forestland to the pre-World War II owners creates major difficulties in the management of forests from the area, which imposes new rules in the unitary management of forests as well.(webpage has a translation button)

References

*Bădicioiu, Alexandra. "Codrii Vlăsiei se întorc". Cotidianul. 8 June 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Codrii Vlasiei Geography of Ilfov County Parks in Bucharest Geographic history of Romania Forests of Romania