Peștișani () is a commune in

Gorj County Gorj County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu. ''Gorj'' comes from the Slavic ''Gor(no)-'' Jiu (“upper Jiu”), in contrast with Dolj (“lower Jiu”). Demographics In 2011, the county had a ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is composed of seven villages: Boroșteni, Brădiceni, Frâncești, Gureni, Hobița, Peștișani and Seuca. Hobița village is the birthplace of sculptor

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...

. Peștișani is attested by the

Romanian Government , image = , caption=Logo of the Government of Romania , date = 1862 , state = Romania , address = Victoria PalaceBucharest , appointed = President , leader_title = Prime Minister , mai ...

as a tourist resort of local interest.

Geography

Peștișani is located 20 km west of

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 ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

, on the national road DN67D. Positioned in the southern part of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, specifically in the Getic Subcarpathians, on the

Bistrița (; german: link=no, Bistritz, archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , hu, Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of approxima ...

river, Peștișani has a

mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

. Its altitude ranges from 200 m in the southern part to close to 2000 m in the northern part where we can find the Oslea peak (1946 m), and has a population density of about 20 people per square kilometre.

History

Peștișani is mentioned through its name for the first time in a document of

Vladislav II of Wallachia Vladislav II (died 20 August 1456) was a voivode of the principality of Wallachia, from 1447 to 1448, and again from 1448 to 1456. The way Vladislav II came to the throne is debatable. The most accepted view is that Vladislav assassinated Vl ...

, dated 5 August 1451, but its lands and territories are also mentioned in a 1385 document of

Dan I of Wallachia Dan I (1354 – 23 September 1386) was the ruler of Wallachia from 1383 to 1386. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and the step-brother of Mircea I of Wallachia. The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. Laonikos Chalkokondyles c ...

(Dan Vodă). Vasile Arimia, Moise Bojincă, Constantin Codiță
Monografia comunei Peștișani
Târgu-Jiu, Academica Brâncuși, 2015. Nicolae N. Tomoniu.
Istoricul comunei Peștișani
Primăria Peștișani. The village Boroșteni (originally called Borăsul, then Borăști, and eventually Boroșteni) is mentioned for the first time in a document in 1509, Brădiceni in 1518, Frâncești in 1584, Gureni in 1525, Hobița (originally called Chobița) in 1518, and Seuca in 1586. Roman vestiges, ceramic/bronze figurines, and coins dating secol I-II have been found in Boroșteni (in a place known as "Scaunul Turcului", next to "Conacul Brăiloaiei"), in Brădiceni (in a place known as "Beciuri"), in Frâncești (in a place known as "Seninul"), and in Gureni (in a place known as "Ciocanul Ursului"). Crow's Cave ( Peștera Cioarei), located in Boroșteni, was inhabited by

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

more than 50,000 years ago, making it the oldest

paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

habitat from Romania and one of the oldest in Europe.

References

* Communes in Gorj County Localities in Oltenia {{Gorj-geo-stub