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Rahova is a neighbourhood of southwest
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 o ...
,
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 ...
, situated in Sector 5, west of Dâmboviţa River. It is named after 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 Macedo ...
n town ''Rahovo'' (today
Oryahovo Oryahovo ( bg, Оряхово ) is a port city in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located in a hilly area on the right bank of the Danube, just east of the mouth of the river Ogosta, a few more kilometres downstream fr ...
), site of a battle in the
Romanian War of Independence The Romanian War of Independence is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), following which Romania, fighting on the Russian side, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. On , Romania and the R ...
. The neighborhood stretches from between Antiaeriană and Drumul Sării Avenues to Panduri Square (in the west), Panduri and 13 Septembrie Streets in the north, George Cosbuc Avenue, Viilor and Sălaj Streets in the east and Bucharest City Limits in the South. Roughly, the neighbourhood is organized alongside two important arterial streets (13 Septembrie and Rahovei Streets, and the streets linking them). It neighbors
Drumul Taberei Drumul Taberei (, ''The Camp Road'') is a neighbourhood located in the south-west of Bucharest, Romania, roughly between Timișoara Avenue (south of Plaza România and the Cotroceni Railway Station) and Ghencea Avenue, neighboring Militari to th ...
,
Centrul Civic Centrul Civic (, ''the Civic Centre'') is a district in central Bucharest, Romania, which was completely rebuilt in the 1980s as part of the scheme of systematization under the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, which included the construction of new ...
(at Izvor), and
Ferentari Ferentari is a neighbourhood located in the 5th Sector of Bucharest, Romania. Etymology The word "Ferentari" comes from the Latin word "Ferentarius" meaning "soldier in the old pedestrian army". Area It is located in the South-South-West of B ...
. Roughly, Rahova is situated on the Uranus and Viilor hills. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood split it further in "zones", partially based on the naming and numbering of the block of flats (a specificity of Rahova is that
house numbering House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the num ...
and postal addressing is not done based on actual street numbers but rather on block numbers - a letter of the zone and an index number). As such, there are seven zones (east to west and north to south): Drumul Sǎrii (DS), Petre Ispirescu (P), Mārgeanului (M), Panduri, 13 Septembrie/Sebastian (S), Rahova (R) and Alexandriei (A). According to the ''Local Tax Direction of The 5th District'', the population of this area is around 180,000.


History

One of the main roads crossing the neighborhood, and bearing today its name (''Calea Rahovei'', Rahova Road) was previously known as ''Podul Calicilor'' (Bridge of the Poor), with the first document mentioning it dating from 1639. The term "bridge" came from the material used to pave it: long wooden bridge beams, which were cheaper than stone pavement. Living near this road were beggars and poor people, gathered together like those from ''La Cour des Miracles'' in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. Later, the authorities scattered them away, and the road was renamed ''Calea Craiovei'' to remove the association with poverty. The modern name dates from the end of the Independence War. Since the 1950s, Rahova entered a period of long
urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...
, because it was, until the 1960s, the furthest district from the city centre, had a lack of infrastructure and contained the Rahova Penitentiary, the largest jail in Bucharest. In the early 1970s the area was also the headquarters of the infamous Barbugiu clan, the first
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
gang to be recognized by the authorities. Calea Rahovei was also known as The Florists' Way (''Drumul Florăreselor''), because it was (and to some amount still is) the location of Bucharest's flower markets and flower gardens. Beginning with 1979, much of the old neighborhood was demolished to allow for construction of apartment blocks (the oldest in the area are 3-4 storey apartment buildings, from the early 1960s, and more recent ones from the mid 1970s). Starting in 1997, various efforts were made to renew the area. Rahova is currently undergoing modernization. Rahova is now linked to city center by a light metro line, upgraded from the existing tram line, with trains running as frequently as every minute. New
façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...
s have been built for the apartment buildings along Calea Rahovei (renovation using thermical insulation techniques), as well as significant improvements in the neighborhood high school (including a new swimming pool) and a complete overhaul of the parks, the Flower Market (''Piața de Flori'') and Rahova Market. This was done with the support of both the Bucharest City Hall and Sector 5 Mayor (where Rahova is located) and has resulted in the
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...
of the district.


Transportation

Rahova is serviced by a number of
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
( RATB) lines, especially tramways (or light rail) and to a lesser extent buses. Line 32 is the main line, with tramways running every minute from Rahovei Market to Unirii Square. Currently a number of tramway lines are upgraded and/or converted to Light Rail. There is no subway ('' Metrou'') in the area, nor are there plans to build or extend the network to the area. Because of a chaotic layout of roads and streets, and the presence of a belt of factories to the north of the neighbourhood (The Old Industrial Area of Trafic Greu, officially Progresului Road), there are basically only three roads heading downtown (Calea Rahovei, 13 Septembrie and Drumul Sării - with no secondary streets whatsoever), all with only two lanes per way of traffic and heavy public transport. This causes severe traffic jams that can last for up to five hours daily. The only solution found was to demolish two factories and make way for a new road, but the proposal was deemed too expensive and scrapped.


Administration

As part of the 5th Sector, it is directly administered by the Mayor and Council of the Sector, which has responsibility over local affairs such as schools and cleaning services, and by the General Mayor and General Council of Bucharest, which is responsible for main roads and other citywide affairs. Offices of the Sector 5 mayoralty exist in The Flower Market and in Rahova Market. The area is taxed at all taxation levels - A level (the highest) for the 13 Septembrie Avenue and Drumul Sării, B level for the Rahova Avenue, Mărgeanului and Alexandriei Road, C level for the low density residential district and D level for a small, completely undeveloped area belonging to the Rahova Penitentiary, at the outskirts of the city. Map of the taxation zones, Bucharest City Hall


References

{{Coord, 44, 23, 55, N, 26, 03, 18, E, display=title Districts of Bucharest