Oltenița () is a city 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 – 95% ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...

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 ...

, on the left bank of the river Argeș, where its waters flow into 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 ...

Geography

The city is located in the southwestern part of the county; it stands across the Danube from the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n city of

Tutrakan Tutrakan ( bg, Тутракан , ro, Тurtucaia, tr, Turtukaya) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite t ...

. The

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

DN4 connects Oltenița to

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 ...

, to the northwest. Road connects it to the county seat,

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. The city is an industrial centre f ...

, to the east, and road connects it to

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; bg, Гюргево) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city ...

, to the west. The Oltenița train station, located near the intersection of those three roads, serves the CFR Line 801, which connects the city to Bucharest (

Titan Sud Titan Sud (formerly known as ''Gara 23 August'') is a small train station located in the Eastern side of Bucharest, Romania, near the Republica metro station and the Republica Factory (formerly 23 August Factory). The railway station was built in ...

and

Obor Obor is the name of a square and the surrounding district of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. There is also a Bucharest Metro station (on the M1 line) named Obor, which lies in this area. The district is near the Colentina and Moșilor ...

stations).

History

Excavations on Gumelnița hill near the city revealed a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

settlement dating from the

4th millennium BC The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 BC to 3001 BC. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the Bronze Age and the invention of writing, which played a major role in starting recorded history. ...

. The first mention of a town bearing the name Oltenița appears in 1515 during the reign of

Neagoe Basarab Neagoe Basarab (; c.1459 – 15 September 1521) was the Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between 1512 and 1521. Born into the boyar family of the Craioveşti (his reign marks the climax of the family's political influence) as the son of Pârvu Cra ...

. In November 1853, at the start of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

the Ottoman forces attempted to cross the river at this point and inflicted heavy losses on the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

forces at the

Battle of Oltenița The Battle of Oltenița (or Oltenitza) was fought on 4 November 1853 and was the first engagement of the Crimean War. In this battle an Ottoman army under the command of Omar Pasha was defending its fortified positions from the Russian forces ...

. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, Oltenița was an important crossing point into Bulgaria for Romanian troops called to aid the Russian Army during the siege of the

Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...

(''Plevna'') stronghold. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Turtucaia Tutrakan ( bg, Тутракан , ro, Тurtucaia, tr, Turtukaya) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite ...

, across the Danube from Oltenița,

Battle of Turtucaia The Battle of Turtucaia ( ro, Bătălia de la Turtucaia; bg, Битка при Тутракан, ''Bitka pri Tutrakan''), also known as Tutrakan Epopee ( bg, Тутраканска епопея, ''Tutrakanska epopeya'') in Bulgaria, was the openi ...

ended in a significant defeat for the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

and subsequently the garrisons of Oltenița and Turtucaia engaged in numerous artillery skirmishes.

Education

There are three high schools in Oltenița: Neagoe Basarab High School, Ion Ghica Technologic High School, and Nicolae Bălcescu Technologic High School.

Sports

Stadionul Municipal is the home ground of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club

CSM Oltenița Club Sportiv Municipal Oltenița, commonly known as CSM Oltenița, or simply Oltenița (), is a professional Romanian football club based in Oltenița, Călărași County. The team was founded as ''Șantierul Naval Oltenița'' in 1948 and play ...

and holds 2,500 people.

Gallery

File:Muzeul de Arheologie Oltenița str Argeș nr 101 perspectivă de ansamblu.JPG, The Archaeology Museum File:Policlinică Oltenița str Argeș nr 60-62 perspectivă 01.JPG, Health care facility File:Biserica „Sf. Nicolae” din Oltenita 02.jpg, St. Nicholas Church File:Danube, near Oltenita 01 (2477761329).jpg, The Danube river near Oltenița

Notable residents

* Peter A. Abeles (1886–1952), Jewish Romanian-American lawyer, politician, and judge *

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

(born 1930), 2nd

President of Romania The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...

(1989–96 and 2000–04) *

Alice Săvulescu Alice Săvulescu (29 October 1905 – 1 February 1970) was a Romanian botanist who studied various fungi and their relationships to their hosts. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Bucharest, she earned a Ph.D. from C ...

(1905–1970), scientist, titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

Ion Petre Stoican Ion Petre Stoican (b. 1930, Oltenița – d. 1994, Constanța) was a Romani people, Romani-Romanian violinist, a ''Lăutari, lăutar'' (performer of traditional music, especially for weddings).Sole Life He was born in Oltenița, Călărași County ...

(1930–1994),

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, a '' lăutar''

References

Populated places in Călărași County Localities in Muntenia Populated places on the Danube Port cities and towns in Romania Crimean War Cities in Romania Bulgaria–Romania border crossings {{Călăraşi-geo-stub