Călărași () is a town in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, founded in 1848. Long ago, the word "călărași" meant "horsemen" (today the word is "călăreți"). The name of Călărași was inspired by a legend which tells that once, when

Stephen III of Moldavia Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 in a conspiracy organized by his brother an ...

fought the Ottomans, he ordered a regiment of horsemen to stand guard. They fought the Ottomans, sacrificed themselves and, finally, won the battle. Călărași was historically a Hassidic Jewish town: 4,593, or 89% of the population, were Jewish occupants in 1897. In 1905, 60 Jews were killed, 300 were injured and over 200 houses were burned down as part of the wave of Russian

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

. Many of the survivors fled to nearby

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

or emigrated to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1930, 3,631 residents (76% of the population) were Jewish. The Jewish community had welfare organizations, a hospital, a

Talmud Torah Talmud Torah (, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew language, H ...

and a library among other community facilities. In 2018, Dumitru Grosei released an ethnographic documentary in Romanian called "Călărași – A Land by the Gate of Heaven" focused on the town's cultural history and folklore. The city is the administrative center of

Călărași District Călărași () is a district () in the centre of Moldova, with the administrative headquarters in Călărași, Moldova, Călărași. As of January 1, 2011, its population was 78,800. History The district territory is inhabited since Paleolithic ...

; it also administers one village, Oricova.

Demographics

According to the 2014 census, the population of Călărași amounted to 10,808 inhabitants, a decrease compared to the previous census in 2004, when 14,660 inhabitants were registered. Of these, 5,105 were men and 5,703 were women.

''Footnotes'': * ''There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.'' * ''Moldovan language is one of the two local names for the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

in Moldova. In 2013, the

Constitutional Court of Moldova The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova () represents the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, autonomous and independent from the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The task of the ...

interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name ''Romanian''.''

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Călărași is twinned with: *

Călărași Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county se ...

, Romania

References

External links

* Cities and towns in Moldova 1432 establishments in Europe Orgeyevsky Uyezd Lăpușna County (Romania) Ținutul Nistru Historic Jewish communities in Moldova Călărași District Market towns in Moldavia Long stubs with short prose {{Jewish-hist-stub

Demographics

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

References

Further reading

External links