Pietroasele is a commune in
Buzău County
Buzău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău.
Demographics
In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km2.
* Romanians – 97%
* Roma ...
,
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 ...
, known for its
vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
s. The name means "the rockies". The commune is composed of six villages: Câlțești, Clondiru de Sus, Dara, Pietroasa Mică, Pietroasele and Șarânga. It became famous with the discovery in 1837 of the Pietroasa Treasure composed of several pieces of gold and precious stones. The Romanian historian
Alexandru Odobescu
Alexandru Ioan Odobescu (; 23 June 1834 – 10 November 1895) was a Romanian author, archaeologist and politician.
Biography
He was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. After attending Saint Sava ...
wrote a book on the archaeological discovery.
The village is the centre of several archaeological sites such as the Dacian fortress at Dari Gruiu. The six locations that make up the commune were built after the sixteenth century, on the lands of freeholders and lords of the neighbouring village of
Bădeni, and were later divided into three municipalities: Pietroasa de Jos, Pietroasa de Sus and Șarânga, which were merged in 1968.
Although it was initially a centre for stone extraction, today viticulture is the main economic sector of the village, known for Romanian wine. The Viticulture Research Center found here is managed by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bucharest.
History
A
Dacian fortress
The history of Dacian warfare spans from c. 10th century BC up to the 2nd century AD in the region defined by Ancient Greek and Latin historians as Dacia, populated by a collection of Thracian, Ionian, and Dorian tribes. It concerns the armed con ...
is located at 1,5 km north of Pietroasa Mică village.
Ruins of a third-fourth century AD
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 letter ...
castra and thermae were discovered in the area in the 1980s. The Roman fort of ''Pietroasa de Jos'', well beyond the Danubian Limes and near present-day
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
, would seem to have been occupied in the fourth century A.D. It was connected to bridge-head forts (
Sucidava
Sucidava (Sykibid, Skedevà after Procopius,Olga Karagiorgou Σucidava after Vasile Pârvan, where Σ is pronounced "sh"Pârvan - știri din Dacia Malvensis http://www.cimec.ro/Arheologie/ParvanArticole/ParvanStiriNouaDinDaciaMalvensis.pdf)) i ...
,
castra of Tirighina-Bărboși
It was a fort in the Roman province of Moesia. Here were found coins dating from the rule of Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD) through to Nero (37 AD – 68 AD).
See also
*List of castra
Castra (Latin, singular castrum) were military forts of vari ...
, and the unlocated
Constantiniana Daphne) along the left bank of 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 ...
river.
Near this Roman fort, built by Constantine I when he created the ''Constantine Wall'' of the
Limes Moesiae
The Moesian Limes ( la, Limes Moesiae) is the modern term given to a collection of Ancient Rome, Roman fortifications between the Black Sea shore and Pannonia, present-day Hungary, consisting primarily of forts along the Danube (so-called Danub ...
probably around 330 AD, researchers have found even a small
thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
building in the 1980s. The Roman fortification (124 m x 158 m) was built in an area where was present the ''Culture of Pietroasa''. The wall was 2.7 meters thick. Some stamped bricks of
XI Claudia Pia Fidelis from Durostorum, specific to
Traian
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...
ages, were discovered. Bricks stamps with LEG XI CL ANT and LEG XI CPF. Nowadays there is a small museum on the former site of the ''castrum''.
The nearly 4000 people living in Pietroasele live mainly of
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and farming, but a few are employed in tourism related to the Roman discoveries and museum.
Petroassa treasure
![RO BZ Pietroasele thermae 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/RO_BZ_Pietroasele_thermae_1.jpg)
The
Pietroasele treasure, an
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
ic hoard uncovered in 1837 by local villagers, is on display at the
National Museum of Romanian History
The National History Museum of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times.
The mus ...
, in
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 ...
. The original gold hoard, discovered within a large
ring barrow known as "Istrița hill" near Pietroasele, is a late fourth-century
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
treasure that included some twenty-two objects of gold, among the most famous examples of the polychrome style of
Migration Period art
Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period (c. 300 – 900). It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of th ...
. The total weight of the find was approximately .
Of the twenty-two pieces, only twelve have survived, conserved at the
National Museum of Romanian History
The National History Museum of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times.
The mus ...
, in
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 ...
: a large eagle-headed
fibula
The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...
and three smaller ones encrusted with semi-precious stones; a
patera
In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''phiale'' ( ) or ''patera'' () is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "bellybutton") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...
, or round sacrificial dish, modelled with
Orphic
Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus ...
figures
[Campbell, Joseph. ''The Masks of God: Creative Mythology''. 1968.] surrounding a seated three-dimensional goddess in the centre; a twelve-sided cup,
a ring
The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirel ...
with a
Gothic runic inscription, a large tray, two other necklaces and a pitcher.
Two of the targets are classified as monuments of architecture, both in the village of Pietroasele: a stone fountain dating from 1892 and a viticulture research station built in 1893. Three objects are considered tombstones or memorials: ''Crucea Frumoasă'' (Beautiful Cross), dating from the 19th century, ''Stan Avram'' and ''Ion Lemnaru'' (1841) from Pietroasa Minor.
See also
*
Ring of Pietroassa
The Ring of Pietroassa or Buzău torc is a gold torc-like necklace found in a ring barrow in Pietroassa (now Pietroasele), Buzău County, southern Romania (formerly Wallachia), in 1837. It formed part of a large gold hoard (the Pietroasele trea ...
*
Limes Moesiae
The Moesian Limes ( la, Limes Moesiae) is the modern term given to a collection of Ancient Rome, Roman fortifications between the Black Sea shore and Pannonia, present-day Hungary, consisting primarily of forts along the Danube (so-called Danub ...
*
Roman Dacia
Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...
References
External links
*
Illustrations
{{Buzău County
Communes in Buzău County
Localities in Muntenia
Goths