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The Dâmbovița () is a river in
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 ...
. It has its sources on the Curmătura Oticului, a mountain pass that separates the
Iezer Mountains The Iezer Mountains () are a mountain range in the Southern Carpathians in Romania. It is part of the Făgăraș Mountains group. Its total area is . Its highest elevation is , at Roșu Peak. Location The Iezer Mountains are located between th ...
from the
Făgăraș Mountains The Făgăraș Mountains ( ; ) are the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania. Geography The mountain range is situated in the heart of Romania, at . The range is bordered in the north by the Făgăraș Depression, through wh ...
proper. It passes through
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
and flows into the river Argeș near Budești, in
Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 94.1% ...
. Its length is and its basin size is .
Dâmbovița County Dâmbovița County (; also spelt Dîmbovița) is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administrative and cultural center of the county. It is a traditional administra ...
is named after the river.


Name

The name of the Dâmbovița is of Slavic origin, derived from Common Slavic '' dǫbŭ'' (дѫбъ), meaning "
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
", as it once flowed through the oak forests of the
Wallachian Plain The Romanian Plain () is located in southern Romania and the easternmost tip of Serbia, where it is known as the Wallachian Plain (). It is part of the larger Eurasian Steppe. It is located in the historical region of Wallachia, and bordered by ...
. Its upper course, upstream from the Valea Vladului, is also called ''Valea Boarcășului''.


Dâmbovița in Bucharest

For centuries, Dâmbovița was the main source of drinking water for the city of Bucharest. While there were a few dozen
water well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s, most of the water in Bucharest was distributed by water-carriers.Ștefan Ionescu, ''Bucureștii în vremea fanarioților'', Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1974. p. 28-30 Bucharest folklore mentions the waters of Dâmbovița as "sweet", and even at the beginning of the 18th century, Anton Maria del Chiaro considered it "light and clean". However, toward the end of the 18th century, as the population of Bucharest increased, the river ceased to be as clean, and hence the need of the aqueducts. The earliest aqueducts with public fountains (''cișmele'') were built during the rule of
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
Alexander Ypsilantis Alexandros Ypsilantis (12 December 1792 – 31 January 1828) was a Greek nationalist politician who was member of a prominent Phanariot Greeks, Phanariot Greek family, a prince of the Danubian Principalities, a senior officer of the Imperial R ...
. Many
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...
s were built on the Dâmbovița, most of them owned by the prince, the monasteries or
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
s. Dâmbovița used to have two tributaries in Bucharest: * Dâmbovicioara, on the right bank, which probably flowed in what is the area where ''Sființii Apostoli'' street is located. * Bucureștioara, which rose from a pond located in what is now Grădina Icoanei. Additionally, there was a branch, ''Gârlița'', which formed an island, ''Ostrovu''. The Dâmbovița often flooded Bucharest, especially the left bank, which was lower. After the great 1775 flood, Ypsilantis ordered a branch canal to be built, in order to prevent, or at least diminish the effects of such flooding; in 1813, Prince Ioan Caragea decided to clean up the river bed. The portion of the river flowing through the capital was channelled twice: in 1883 (to combat regular
flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
s), and in the late 1970s, to aid in the replanning of the Central area and the construction of the
Bucharest Metro The Bucharest Metro () is an underground rapid transit system that serves Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It first opened for service on 16 November 1979. The network is run by Metrorex. One of two parts of the larger Transport in Bucharest, B ...
. To prevent floods, in 1986 a dam was built between the Crângași and Militari quarters, and Morii Lake artificial lake was created. Dâmbovița has never been
navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...
, but there has been an unsuccessful attempt in 1902 to introduce boats on the river.Florian Georgescu et al. ''Istoria Orașului București'', Muzeul de Istorie al Orașului București, 1965, p.392 Early in its history, Bucharest had few bridges over the Dâmbovița, as the right bank was only sparsely populated. The estates of some
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
s used to extend on both banks of the river and they had
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
s. Currently, there are sixteen bridges over Dâmbovița River in central Bucharest.


Glina Wastewater Station

The Dâmbovița was polluted before the opening in 2011 of the Glina Wastewater Station, the biggest ecological project in Romania, which treats the sewage water that pours into the channel which is built below the river floor. Before entering Bucharest, the river's water is already treated by the company "Compania de Apă Târgoviște"."CE a aprobat proiectul major pentru sistemul de alimentare cu apă, canalizare și epurare din județul Dâmbovița"
, ''Fonduri Structurale'', retrieved on October 27, 2011
After exiting Bucharest, the Dâmbovița water were polluted, due to the hundreds of millions of cubic meters of raw sewage that were dumped every year directly into the channel below the river, but now the quality of water is much improved."Dâmbovița, râul ucis de deversările Capitalei"
, ''Evenimentul Zilei'', April 8, 2009

, '' Jurnalul Național'', October 11, 2011
In Bucharest, the river is vertically divided into 2 separated parts. In the lower part, under the Dâmbovița river floor, there is a channel which contains the sewage from the city. The two flows join into a single flow when exiting Bucharest. There are river plants and fish that live in the upper side of the river and sometimes one can even see some fishermen on the shores. The quality of the water was very much improved as of October 10, 2011 with the opening of Glina Wastewater Station, which is the first
sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...
of Bucharest, with a capacity of , while a second one, which will clean all the water (with a capacity of 12 m3/s) should be finalized by 2015.


Tributaries

The following rivers are tributaries to the river Dâmbovița (from source to mouth): Left: Valea Vladului, Berevoiu, Luțele Mari, Luțele Mici, Valea lui Aron (Comisu), Valea Comisului, Pârâul Nemțoaicelor, Răchita, Valea lui Stanciu, Valea Turcilor, Tămașul, Valea Dragoslăvenilor, Valea lui Ivan, Valea Largă, Valea Seacă, Valea Speriatei, Valea Gruiului, Berila, Dâmbovicioara, Valea Orățiilor, Valea Cheii,
Ghimbav Ghimbav (; ) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, central Romania. Geography The town is situated in the southern part of the Transylvanian Plateau, at an altitude of , on the banks of the river Ghimbășel. It is located in the Burzenland ...
, Valea Luncii, Valea Caselor, Hotarul, Olăneasca, Valea Runcului, Valea Jocii, Valea Bădenilor, Valea Grecului, Valea lui Coman, Valea Chiliilor, Valea Pleșei, Valea Măgurii, Valea Vlazilor, Valea Ulmului, Valea Largă, Râul Alb, Gârlița Satului, Ilfov, Bâldana, Colentina, Pasărea Right: Colții lui Andrei, Izvorul Foișorului, Valea Barbului, Izvorul Hotarului, Pârâul Larg, Valea lui Aron (Dracsin), Bălțatul, Dracsin, Cascue, Pârâul Căciulelor, Valea Șaului, Clăbucet, Oncioaia, Valea Arșiței, Râușor, Valea Frasinului, Stoeneasca, Mușcel, Aninoasa, Câlnău, Gruiu


Localities

The river flows through the following communes, towns and cities: Rucăr, Dragoslavele, Stoenești, Malu cu Flori, Cândești, Vulcana-Băi, Voinești, Mănești, Dragomirești, Lucieni, Nucet, Conțești, Lungulețu,
Chiajna Chiajna () is a commune in the south-west of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, immediately west of the capital, Bucharest. It is composed of three villages: Chiajna, Dudu, and Roșu. The mayor of Chiajna is currently Mircea Minea ( Social Democra ...
,
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
(city), Plătărești, Vasilați, Budești (town).


Gallery

Image:Preziosi - Dâmboviţa la Bucureşti, 1868.jpg, Dâmbovița in Bucharest, an aquarelle by Amedeo Preziosi (1868) Image:Sistematizare Dâmboviţa 1881-1886.jpg, Systematization of the Dâmbovița in Bucharest (1880s) Image:Bucuresti punte 1837.jpg, The Dâmbovița
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...
s on the outskirts of Bucharest (1837), in the background: Dealul Spirii File:Palatul Justiţiei Antoniu.jpg, Dâmbovița and the Bucharest Tribunal (1901) Image:Bucuresti Dambovita2.jpg, Look on the Dâmbovița in Bucharest


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dâmbovița (river) Rivers of Romania Rivers of Bucharest Rivers of Argeș County Rivers of Dâmbovița County Rivers of Ilfov County Rivers of Călărași County Place names of Slavic origin in Romania