Motru () 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 ...

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 ...

, Gorj County. It is situated on the river Motru in western

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 ...

. The county capital

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...

is located about 35 km northeast. The city administers eight villages: Dealu Pomilor, Horăști, Însurăței, Leurda, Lupoița, Ploștina, Roșiuța and Râpa.

History

Motru was created by an administrative decision on the day of 24 May 1966 on the territory of the former Ploștina commune, which, together with seven other villages, became part of the new city. The reason behind the decision to create a city was the development of several coal deposits. The region is at least since the time of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

inhabited, in Leurda in 1964, some silver coins from the era of Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) were found. The oldest documented settlement in the territory of present-day town Ploștina (1385 is mentioned). The

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

n town Amutria is mentioned in ancient sources like

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

(c. 150 AD) and

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

(2nd century AD), and potentially placed here. The name is homonymous with the ancient name of Motru river. After the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

conquest of

, Amutria was part of an important road network, between Drubetis and

Pelendava Pelendava (''Pelendoua'', ''Potulatensioi'', ''Polonda'' ) was a Dacian town. Ancient sources Ptolemy's Geographia Tabula Peutingeriana Etymology History Dacian town Roman times Archaeology See also * Daci ...

. In 1981, Motru was the site of riots from miners who were working in the mines of the city. The riots, which took place between 17 and 19 October of that year, were triggered by poor work conditions, tight control of legislative organizations and the general exhaustion of the miners, further exacerbated by a decree that limited consumption of bread only to the dwellers of the city. During the riots,

Emil Bobu Emil Bobu (22 February 1927 – 12 July 2014) was a Romanian Communist activist and politician, who served as Interior Minister from 1973 to 1975 and as Labor Minister from 1979 to 1981. He was an influential figure in the later years of the ...

visited the city, where he was attacked by angry crowds with potatoes; when he returned to Bucharest, he ordered the army to intervene in the city after 2 days of protests from the local populace. At the time, the inexpensive Motru bread attracted many workers and farmers into the city, who carried the bread loafs in sacks and arrived in the town by local trains known as "trains of hunger". Nowadays the bread factory is in ruins.

Present

In today's incorporated villages were partially free farmers, others were in the monastery

Tismana Tismana is a town in Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. It administers ten villages: Celei, Costeni, Gornovița, Isvarna, Pocruia, Racoți, Sohodol, Topești, Vâlcele and Vânăta. History During the Byzantine period, Tismana was a major center of ...

submissive. Motru 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 2000. Mining is the city's main industry; agriculture and livestock are also important, especially in its attached villages. At the 2011 census, the population was 18,142, including 17,988

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

, 38 Hungarians, 83 Roma and 3 Germans.

Transportation

Motru is the terminus of a railway line that branches off the main line Bucharest–Craiova–Lugoj at Strehaia, which was put into operation in 1962. Several times a day commuter trains travel to Craiova. In addition, there are bus connections with the district capital of Târgu Jiu. Motru is on the National Road 67 from Drobeta-Turnu Severin to

Râmnicu Vâlcea Râmnicu Vâlcea (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Vîlcea'' or, in the past, ''Rîmnic-Vâlcea'', ) (population: 92,573 as per the 2011 Romanian census) is the county capital ( ro, Reședință de județ) and also the largest town of Vâlcea County, centr ...

Natives

* Gabriel Cruceru * Dorel Mutică

Notes

References

* {{Gorj County Populated places in Gorj County Localities in Oltenia Cities in Romania Mining communities in Romania Monotowns in Romania Planned cities in Romania Socialist planned cities Populated places established in 1966 1966 establishments in Romania