Giurgiu

Giurgiu
—  County capital  —
Coat of arms
Location of Giurgiu
Coordinates: 43°54′03″N 25°58′26″E / 43.90083°N 25.97389°E / 43.90083; 25.97389
Country	Romania
County	Giurgiu County
Status	County capital
Government
- Mayor	Lucian Iliescu (National Liberal Party)
Population (2002)
- Total	69,345
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.primaria-giurgiu.ro/

Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda. The rich grain-growing land to the north is traversed by a railway to Bucharest, the first line opened in Romania, which was built in 1869 and afterwards extended to Smarda. Giurgiu exports timber, grain, salt and petroleum, and imports coal, iron, and textiles.

The Giurgiu-Ruse Friendship Bridge, the only one in the shared Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube, crosses the river in the outskirts of the city.

Population

According to the 2002 census, Giurgiu has a population of 69,345. In 1900 its population was 13,977; in 1930 it had a population of 30,348.

History

The area around Giurgiu was densely populated at the time of the Dacians (first century BC) as archeological evidence shows, and Burebista's capital was in this area (it is thought to be in Popeşti on the Argeş river). During the Roman times this was the site of Theodorapolis, a city built by the Roman emperor Justinian (483-565).

A marketplace in Giurgiu 1848

A marketplace in Giurgiu 1837

The city of Giurgiu was probably established in the 14th century as a port on the Danube by the Genoese merchant adventurers, who established a bank and traded in silks and velvets. They called the city after the patron saint of Genoa, San Giorgio (St George), and hence comes its present name. It was first mentioned in Codex Latinus Parisinus in 1395, during the reign of Mircea I of Wallachia, and was conquered by the Ottomans in 1420 as a way to control the Danube traffic. The Ottomans named the city Yergöğü, as if from yer 'earth' + gök 'sky,' but the name was probably given because of the similarity between the pronunciations of "(San) Giorgio" and "Yergöğü".

As a fortified city, Giurgiu figured often in the wars for the conquest of the lower Danube, especially in the struggle of Mihai Viteazul (1593–1601) against the Turks and in the later Russo-Turkish Wars. It was burned in 1659. In 1829, its fortifications were finally razed, the only defence left being a castle on the island of Slobozia, united to the shore by a bridge.

In 1952–1954, during the Communist regime, the USSR helped build the bridge between Giurgiu and Ruse, The Bridge of Friendship, the only bridge on the Danube linking Romania and Bulgaria.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Giurgiu

• Giurgiu Fortress Images, Layouts, and a Reconstruction

v • d • e Giurgiu County, Romania Municipalities Giurgiu (county seat) Towns Bolintin-Vale  · Mihăileşti Communes Adunaţii-Copăceni  · Băneasa  · Bolintin-Deal  · Bucşani  · Bulbucata  · Buturugeni  · Călugăreni  · Clejani  · Colibaşi  · Comana  · Cosoba  · Crevedia Mare  · Daia  · Floreşti-Stoeneşti  · Frăteşti  · Găiseni  · Găujani  · Ghimpaţi  · Gogoşari  · Gostinari  · Gostinu  · Grădinari  · Greaca  · Herăşti  · Hotarele  · Iepureşti  · Izvoarele  · Joiţa  · Letca Nouă  · Malu  · Mârşa  · Mihai Bravu  · Ogrezeni  · Oinacu  · Prundu  · Putineiu  · Răsuceni  · Roata de Jos  · Săbăreni  · Schitu  · Singureni  · Slobozia  · Stăneşti  · Stoeneşti  · Toporu  · Ulmi  · Valea Dragului  · Vânătorii Mici  · Vărăşti  · Vedea

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