Peștișani () is a commune in

Gorj County Gorj County () is a county () of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu. ''Gorj'' comes from the Slavic ''Gornji'' Jiu (“upper Jiu”), in contrast with Dolnji (“lower Jiu”). Demographics At the 2011 census, the count ...

Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...

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 ...

. It is composed of seven villages: Boroșteni, Brădiceni, Frâncești, Gureni, Hobița, Peștișani, and Seuca. Hobița village is the birthplace of sculptor

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

. Peștișani is attested by the

Romanian Government The Government of Romania () forms one half of the executive branch of the government of Romania (the other half being the office of the President of Romania). It is headed by the Prime Minister of Romania, and consists of the ministries, variou ...

as a tourist resort of local interest.

Geography

Peștișani is located west of

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu (, is the capital city, capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu (river), Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the ...

, the seat of

, on the national road DN67D. Positioned in the southern part of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

, specifically in the Getic Subcarpathians, on the Bistrița River, Peștișani has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

. Its altitude ranges from in the southern part to close to in the northern part, where we can find the (1,946 m), the highest point in the

Vâlcan Mountains The Vâlcan Mountains are a chain of mountains in the Southern Carpathians in Gorj County, Romania. They are part of the Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group, and run for approximately . The highest point is Oslea Peak at , and the second highest is ...

Demographics

At the 2021 census, the commune had a population of 3,535, of which 95,36% 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, ...

. The population density is about 16 people per square kilometre.

History

Casa-muzeu Constantin Brancusi-exterior-cladiri anexa

Peștișani is mentioned through its name for the first time in a document of

Vladislav II of Wallachia Vladislav II (died 20 August 1456) was a voivode of the principality of Wallachia, from 1447 to 1448, and again from 1448 to 1456. The way Vladislav II came to the throne is debatable. The most accepted view is that Vladislav assassinated Vl ...

, dated 5 August 1451, but its lands and territories are also mentioned in a 1385 document of

Dan I of Wallachia Dan I (1354 – 23 September 1386) was the ruler of Wallachia from 1383 to 1386. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and the half-brother of Mircea I of Wallachia. The primary sources on his death agree that Dan was assassinated, but disagr ...

(Dan Vodă). Vasile Arimia, Moise Bojincă, Constantin Codiță
Monografia comunei Peștișani
Târgu-Jiu, Academica Brâncuși, 2015. Nicolae N. Tomoniu.
Istoricul comunei Peștișani
Primăria Peștișani. The village Boroșteni (originally called Borăsul, then Borăști, and eventually Boroșteni) is mentioned for the first time in a document in 1509, Brădiceni in 1518, Frâncești in 1584, Gureni in 1525, Hobița (originally called Chobița) in 1518, and Seuca in 1586. Roman vestiges, ceramic/bronze figurines, and coins dating secol I-II have been found in Boroșteni (in a place known as "Scaunul Turcului", next to "Conacul Brăiloaiei"), in Brădiceni (in a place known as "Beciuri"), in Frâncești (in a place known as "Seninul"), and in Gureni (in a place known as "Ciocanul Ursului"). Crow's Cave ( Peștera Cioarei), located in Boroșteni, was inhabited by

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

more than 50,000 years ago, making it the oldest

paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

habitat from Romania and one of the oldest in Europe.

References

Communes in Gorj County Localities in Oltenia {{Gorj-geo-stub