Zimnicea () is a town in
Teleorman County
Teleorman County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.
The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''crazy forest'' ...
,
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 ...
(in the historic region of
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 ...
), a port on 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 ...
opposite 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 city of
Svishtov.
Geography
Zimnicea is situated on 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. It is the southernmost place in Romania and a harbour on the Danube river. The distance between the Zimnicea and
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 ...
is , and the distance to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
(capital of Teleorman County) is about .
Zimnicea is served around the clock by the Svishtov-Zimnicea ferry – a regularly scheduled
Roll-on/roll-off ferry across the Danube between Zimnicea and
Svishtov, Bulgaria. The ferry shortens the road path to and from Turkey to Central and Western Europe by when compared to the traditional route over the
Danube Bridge at Ruse-Giurgiu and allows a time gain of nearly 4 hours thus avoiding the traffic in and around the city of Bucharest.
History
Zimnicea developed near a
Geto-
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...
n fortress (about west of town centre). Traditional agriculture, fishing, iron processing, carpentry, pottery, tissue exchange of products were the occupations of the people throughout the town's existence. The natives of Zimnicea sold grain, cattle, sheep, fish, butter, salt, honey, wax, timber and bought cloth, oriental fabric, carpets and spices.
In 1838, the settlement Zimnicea was passed in the fairs, with the general population census of that year 551 families and 3,046 inhabitants. In the years 1837-1839 Zimnicea became the capital of Teleorman County.
Near Zimnicea there are ruins of several ancient fortresses and fortifications from the 4th to the 1st century BC. The oldest are believed by some scholars to have been built to defend the town from
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
's general,
Lysimachus
Lysimachus (; Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon.
Early life and career
Lysimachus wa ...
.
The name of the town was first mentioned in 1385 in the travel logs of Christian pilgrims on their way home from their trip to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. The
Byzantines called it ''Demnitzikos'' and later on ''Dzimnikes'' or ''Dzimnikos''. The town flourished as a
trade post on the trade routes that linked Central Europe to the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
In 1835, it had 531
household
A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...
s, being the twelfth largest market town in
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 s ...
. For a short time in 1837 to 1838, it was the capital of Teleorman County, but due to internal dissent between the
landowners and
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s, it was replaced by
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
.
During 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 ...
(1877–1878), it was the headquarters of the Russians troops fighting in Bulgaria against 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 ...
. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
,
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
troops crossed the Danube in the Zimnicea sector, effectively bringing down the Romanian front in
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 ...
.
During the
1977 Romanian earthquake there were allegedly not many buildings destroyed by the earthquake itself. Most of the destruction is said to have actually been done after the natural disaster by bulldozer, being ordered by local authorities, in order to receive financial allowances from the central government to create a new town from scratch on a new design. In the next period, a new town hall, the House of Culture, a new hospital (with Austrian funding), a new high school (with funds allocated by the Swiss government), and numerous blocks of flats were built, but many other projects remained abandoned after the fall of the
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
, amid declining local industry, and by a subsequent decline in population.
Orașul Zimnicea, reconstruit din temelii după cutremurul din 1977
digi24.ro
Natives
* Răzvan Grădinaru
Răzvan Toni Augustin Grădinaru (born 23 August 1995) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Karmiotissa.
Club career
Steaua București
He made his league debut on 16 April 2014 in Liga I match against FC Vaslui ...
* Florea Opriș
Florea Opriș (born 10 March 1956) in Zimnicea, is a former Romanian rugby union football player, referee and currently coach.
He played as prop, as well as flanker.
Career
He mostly played for Farul Constanța, except in the 1990-91 season, whe ...
* Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__
Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator.
Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...
Politics
The mayor of Zimnicea Municipality is Petre Pârvu, he is in his second mandate and is chosen from the list of the coalition ''For Zimnicea'' that includes PNL, PD-L, PC and PSD.
Economics
During the communist era, Zimnicea underwent forced industrialization, and the new industries suffered a strong decline after the fall of the communist regime.
Education and culture
In Zimnicea there are 5 kindergartens, 4 elementary schools with primary and secondary education and one high school. The high school has 15 classrooms, a gym and a school workshop. Classes are attended by 511 students, with two shifts and evening school hours. Zimnicea High School has a library with 20,578 volumes and a science laboratory equipped with 30 computers.
School No.1, ''Miron Radu Paraschivescu'' has 15 classrooms, including 3 laboratories (physics, chemistry, biology), 5 cabinets teachers (mathematics, geography, design, religion, Romanian), a gym, a workshop school and a library.
The three elementary schools are: ''Miron Radu Paraschivescu'' Primary and Secondary School, School no. 2 and School no.3
Culture
Zimnicea does not have any artistic events held occasionally or permanently. The budget allocated for cultural activities is insufficient for a cultural life. Cultural institutions operating in Zimnicea are: the cultural centre and the town library.
The city library was founded in 1952 and after December 1989 received the name of a local poet, Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__
Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator.
Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...
.
Tourism
The "Dunărica" children camp has a capacity of 200 accommodation places, with a football field and a tennis court, a kayak-canoe base and a cafeteria with 250 places.
"Zimtub SA" Zimnicea Hotel has a capacity of 48 rooms, a restaurant with 100 seats and a nightclub with 80 seats.
The amusement and recreation base "Disko - Hope" is situated on the Danube riverside and has a beach with, as well as an outdoor dancing club with a capacity of 1,200 places; There is also an amusement base at the beach from Cheson.
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Zimnicea is twinned with:
References
{{Authority control
Towns in Romania
Monotowns in Romania
Populated places on the Danube
Port cities and towns in Romania
Populated places in Teleorman County
Localities in Muntenia
Bulgaria–Romania border crossings
Extreme points of Romania