Map of Turkey in Europe, Greece and the Balkans

Orașul de Floci, also ''Cetatea de Floci'' or ''Târgul de Floci'', is a lost city 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 ...

, now in

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 ...

. ''Floci'', in this context, means "wool"; the name refers to the local sheep and wool market. It is also a Romanian slang word for "pubic hair". The city was located at the confluence of

Ialomița River Ialomița may refer to: * Ialomița County - a county of Romania * Ialomița River - a river of Southern Romania that rises from the Bucegi Mountains The Bucegi Mountains (Romanian: ''Munții Bucegi'' ) are located in central Romania, south of ...

and the

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 , pa ...

, on the old riverbed of the Ialomița. The name meant "The Fleece City" in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, as it was an important

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. The city is first mentioned in 1431 during the rule of

Dan II of Wallachia Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

, but probably existed as trading post in the previous century. It was set on fire by

Stephen III of Moldavia Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

during the wars with Wallachia under the rule of

Radu cel Frumos Radu III of Wallachia, commonly called Radu the Handsome or Radu the Fair ( ro, Radu cel Frumos; tr, Radu Bey; 1437/1439 — January 1475), was the younger brother of Vlad III and Prince of the principality of Wallachia. They were both sons of ...

(who was an ally of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

). The city recovered quickly, but it was once again destroyed by the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

troops of

Simion Movilă Simion Movilă (after 1559 14 September 1607), a boyar of the Movileşti family, was twice Prince of Wallachia (November 1600 – June 1601; October 1601 – July 1602) and Prince of Moldavia from July 1606 until his death. Family He was the gra ...

. According to contemporaneous accounts,

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...

, the famous

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

, was born in this city; his birthplace is reportedly the top touristic destination in

Ialomița County Ialomița County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia. Demographics In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2. Romanians make up 95.6% of the popula ...

. The city finally decayed during the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian arms largely victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought parts of Moldavia, the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into the ...

, when most inhabitants fled due to the fighting. In the place of the city was formed the village , which was destroyed, in turn, during the floods of the early 20th century. Currently, the ruins of the city are located on the territory of

Giurgeni Giurgeni is a commune located on the left bank of the Danube, in Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Giurgeni. Giurgeni is linked with Vadu Oii–Hârșova over the Danube via the Giurgeni–Vadu Oii Bridge. ...

commune.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orasul de Floci Destroyed cities Ialomița County Former cities in Romania Michael the Brave