
Moldova Nouă (; ; ; or ''Bošňák''; ) is a town in southwestern
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
in
CaraÈ™-Severin County
Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...
(the historical region of
Banat
Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
), in an area known as ''
Clisura Dunării''. The town administers three villages: Măcești (, ), Moldova Veche (''Ómoldova'', Стара Молдава), and Moldovița (''Kiskárolyfalva'', Молдавица).
The town lies on the shores of the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, which separates it from
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. It is located at the southern extremity of CaraÈ™-Severin County, from the county capital,
Reșița
Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (''Kölnök''), Cuptoare (''Kupt ...
. It is crossed by
national road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
DN57, which connects it to
Oravița
Oravița (; ; ; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Oravica, separator=/, Оравица) is a town in the Banat region of Romania, in Caraș-Severin County, with a population of 9,346 in 2021. Its theater is a fully functional scaled down version of the old Burgth ...
, to the north, and
Orșova, to the east.
Moldova Veche
In Moldova Veche village, evidence of human habitation dating to the transition between the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
and the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
has been found. Additionally, there exist traces of an unfortified
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 thus ro ...
n settlement, similar to several others in the area.
A Roman ''
fort
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
'' located in the village supervised mining and navigation on the Danube, located in
Roman Dacia
Roman Dacia ( ; also known as ; or Dacia Felix, ) 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 all in Romania, except the last regi ...
. The harbour and border buildings partly lie on the ruins of the former fort with the rest below the Danube. The site was seen by the historian Leonard Bohm in the summer of 1879 when the river was low and a thorough examination of the ruins could be made. Moldova Noua was an important Roman mining centre for iron, copper, silver and gold.
Vestiges from the Dark Ages and the Early Middle Ages have been found; during the 10th and 11th centuries, the area was controlled by
Glad and later
Ahtum.
[Short history]
at the Moldova Nouă Town Hall site Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
have been living there since their replacement of the Gepids in the 5th century.
In 1552, when the Banat fell under
Ottoman rule, Moldova Veche became the capital of a
sanjak
A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian.
Banners were a common organization of nomad ...
within the
TemeÅŸvar Eyalet.
In 1566, at the end of
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
's reign, coins of gold (''altâni'') and silver (''aspri'') were minted there. A document of 1588 records the place under the name ''Mudava''; this is the earliest written mention. The Slavicizied Germanic-origin toponym is still used by locals.
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (; 26 February 1838 – ) was a Romanian writer and philologist who pioneered many branches of Romanian philology and history.
Life
He was born Tadeu Hâjdeu in Cristineștii Hotinului (now Kerstentsi in Chernivtsi ...
and the majority of Romanian philologists and historians claim that the name comes from the term of Germanic origin mulde (i.e., "hollow", "quarry" or "drainage"). In 1718, the area came under the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
's control.
The village was absorbed into Moldova Nouă in 1956. It is the site of
a Danube port. There is a
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
church; the community was established in 1927, its first church built in 1967 and the present structure in 2001. Adherents are both Romanian and Serbian, with services conducted in Romanian.
[Djurić-Milovanović, p. 128]
Demographics
In 1910, out of 3,437 inhabitants, 2,934 were ethnic Romanians, 295 Germans, 91 Hungarians, 41 Serbs and 73 Czechs; 3,004 where belonging to Orthodoxy, 389 where Roman Catholic and 25 where Reformed.
At the 2011 census, 81.2% of inhabitants were
Romanians
Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...
, 12.8%
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
, 3.2%
Roma, 1.3%
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
, and 0.8%
Czechs
The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...
. At the 2002 census, 88.4% were
Romanian Orthodox, 4.5%
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, 4%
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, and 2%
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
.
Natives
*
Ștefan Blănaru (born 1989), Romanian footballer
*
Alin Dobrosavlevici (born 1994), Romanian footballer
*
Emilijan Josimović (1823–1897), Serbian urbanist
*
Iasmin Latovlevici (born 1986), Romanian footballer
*
Mihăiță Pleșan (born 1983), Romanian footballer
*
Anca Pop (1984–2018), Romanian-Canadian singer-songwriter
*
Cosmin Sârbu (born 1996), Romanian footballer
*
Deian Sorescu (born 1997), Romanian footballer
*
Clara Vădineanu (born 1986), Romanian handballer
*
Ella Zeller (born 1933), Romanian table tennis player
*
Viktor Zsuffka (born 1910), Hungarian pole vaulter
Climate
Moldova Nouă 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 cold ...
(''Cfb'' in the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
).
Notes
*Aleksandra Djurić-Milovanović
"Serbs in Romania: Relationship between Ethnic and Religious Identity" Balcanica XLIII (2012), pp. 117–142
References
Populated places in CaraÈ™-Severin County
Towns in Romania
Monotowns in Romania
Mining communities in Romania
Populated places on the Danube
Romania–Serbia border crossings
Localities in Romanian Banat
{{CaraÅŸSeverin-geo-stub