Vălenii de Munte () is a town in

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third mos ...

, southern

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 ...

(the historical 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 ...

), with a population of 11,707 as of 2011. It lies In the

Teleajen The Teleajen is a left tributary of the river Prahova in southern Romania. Its source is at elevation in the Ciucaș Mountains, north of Roșu Peak and the locality of Cheia. Upstream from its confluence with the Gropșoarele in Cheia, it is a ...

river valley, north of the county seat of

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

. The town's sister cities are

Eaubonne Eaubonne () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Twin towns It is twinned with Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Budenheim, Germany and Vălenii ...

Cimișlia Cimișlia () is a town located in the southern part of Moldova situated on the banks of the Cogâlnic River, between the capital of Chișinău and the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia ( ro, Găgăuzia). Cimişlia had a population of 11 ...

, and

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; el, Άγιοι Σαράντα, Ágioi Saránta) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Medit ...

History

The first recorded reference about the settlement dates back to 1431. In 1645 Vălenii de Munte (or Văleni for short) became the official residence of the then Săcueni County. Documents from 1832 note Valeni as having 518 households and 2,590 citizens. At the end of the 19th century, Vălenii de Munte was an urban commune, formed from the Văleni (Târgul-Văleni), Turburea, and Valea Gardului villages, having a total of 3,000 residents, who benefited from having a local hospital, pharmacy, post office, and telegraph station. In 1907 the historian

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

settled in Văleni, opening in January 1908 the People's Summer University. In 1952 Vălenii de Munte became the residence of Teleajen Raion within the . The status was lost in the 1968 Administrative Reform, when Văleni became one of the towns of the newly established Prahova County.

People

Natives

* Roberto Alecsandru (born 1996), footballer *

Sergiu Arnăutu Sergiu Arnăutu (born 27 May 1990) is a Romanian footballer who plays as a striker for CSM Focșani. Career Early career As a youngster he made a name for himself on the fields of FC Petrolul Ploiesti. In 2008, he made his first professional ...

(born 1990), footballer *

Mădălina Manole Magdalena-Anca Mircea (14 July 1967 – 14 July 2010), better known by her stage name Mădălina Manole, was a Romanian pop recording artist. Early life Magdalena-Anca Manole was born in a mountain region in the town of Vălenii de Munte of Pra ...

(1967–2010), singer, actress * Gheorghe Pănculescu (1844–1924), engineer *

Laurențiu Rebega Laurențiu Rebega (born 20 February 1976) is a Romanian politician and since 2014, a member of the European Parliament (MEP). In the European Parliament, Laurentiu Rebega is a full member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (CO ...

(born 1976), politician *

Horia Stamatu Horia Stamatu (September 9, 1912 – July 7/8, 1989) was a Romanian poet, essayist, and far-right politician. Biography Born in Vălenii de Munte, where he attended primary school, Stamatu went on to military high school and then the litera ...

(1912–1989), poet and essayist

Notable residents

(1871–1940), historian, politician, writer *

Nicolae Tonitza Nicolae Tonitza (; April 13, 1886 – February 27, 1940) was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernist g ...

(1886–1940), painter

Museums

* Nicolae Iorga memorial house * ''Teleajen Valley'' ethnographic museum * ''Plum tree growing'' natural science museum * ''Queen Mary'' religious arts museum and national missionary school

Climate

Vălenii de Munte has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Cfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

References

Towns in Romania Populated places in Prahova County Localities in Muntenia {{Prahova-geo-stub