Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

region of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. It is situated on the Southern Sub-

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

, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polata, Preajba Mare, Romanești, Slobozia and Ursați. The city is noted for the Sculptural Ensemble of Constantin Brâncuși.

History

The city takes its name from the river Jiu, which runs through it. In antiquity, there was a Dacian village in around the location of today's city surrounded by forests. After the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

conquests of Oltenia (101-102), military units were stationed around the roads that connected different important routes at the time. During the digging of the Târgu Jiu -

Rovinari Rovinari () is a town in Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. A large coal burning electric power plant it is located near the town. Surface and underground lignite coal mines operate in the surrounding area. It officially became a town in 1981, as a ...

railroad, mosaics, coins, ceramics and Roman bricks were found in the south-eastern part of the city. This and ancient testimonies support the idea that Târgu Jiu was a commercial town (a ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'') while under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

's rule. A very important route that connects the Danube to

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

runs through the city, so historians believe that part of the Roman army under

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

's leadership stayed and then passed in the actual location of the city. After the 271 withdrawal of the Roman army, the city remained in the Latin influence zone, mainly because of

Constantine The Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

's involvement in

which he sought to bring under imperial rule. The importance of keeping this zone under Rome's control was underlined by Constantine's decision to build a second bridge over 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 , p ...

between today's Corabia (then

Sucidava Sucidava (Sykibid, Skedevà after Procopius,Olga Karagiorgou Σucidava after Vasile Pârvan, where Σ is pronounced "sh"Pârvan - știri din Dacia Malvensis http://www.cimec.ro/Arheologie/ParvanArticole/ParvanStiriNouaDinDaciaMalvensis.pdf)) ...

) and the Bulgarian city of

Gigen Gigen ( bg, Гиген, ) is a village in northern Bulgaria, part of Gulyantsi Municipality, Pleven Province. It is located near the Danube River, close to the place where the Iskar River empties into it, opposite the Romanian town of Corabia. ...

. It was over 2400 meters long, one of the longest of all time. This territory was under Litovoi's rule, a

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

( Romanian) ''

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

'' in the 13th century, whose territory comprised northern Oltenia. He is mentioned for the first time in a diploma issued by king

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his fath ...

(1235–1270) on 2 July 1247. In 1277 (or between 1277 and 1280), Litovoi was at war with the Hungarians over lands King

Ladislaus IV of Hungary Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, wa ...

(1272–1290) claimed for the crown, but for which Litovoi refused to pay tribute. Litovoi was killed in battle. The first written account of the city appears in a document dating from 23 November 1406 in an order signed by Mircea cel Batran. Since 1497, the city has been the seat of Gorj County. Constantin Brâncuși, who had lived here as a boy, was commissioned to contribute to a memorial monument to the fighters of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, called Calea Eroilor, "Heroes' Street", which was finished in 1938. His large sculptures are now the main tourist attractions in Târgu Jiu: The Table of Silence, Stool Alley, The Gate of the Kiss, and The Endless Column. The latter is shown in the middle section of the city's coat of arms. In the 1950s the Communist mayor planned to demolish Brâncuși's "bourgeois" art. The plan was not carried out. Starting in the 1960s, coal surface mining contributed to a rapid population growth. Other local industries include wood, machine building, textiles, glassware and construction materials (

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

, bricks and

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s). In 1992, a university was founded and named after Brâncuși.

Brâncuși ensemble

Mihai Radu, a Romanian architect based in New York, described Târgu Jiu's downtown - rebuilt during the Communist era - as little more than "a mix of poorly maintained paving, disheveled mass housing, jumbled signage and buildings of every size and description". The overall cityscape is "mundane, but vibrant and no doubt livable", with "often dissonant" street pattern and urban fabric. Representing the interior space of Brâncuși's ensemble, the ''Calea Eroilor'' - otherwise an unprepossessing, uninspiring and "unacceptably vernacular" street - defines through his sculptures the town's civic areas in the same manner as the Great Axis of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Brâncuși's work in Târgu Jiu is “absolutely revolutionary”: the sculptures exist at the same time as conventional public art with multiple meanings and as functional structures (seats, gateway, monumental marker). Most importantly for Târgu Jiu's urban design, they shape a larger urban structure, being spatially integrated with the town's urbanism in a dramatic and fundamental way. One's progression through the entire ensemble is a spatial experience rare in any modern day city. The sculptures peacefully coexist with and transcend their mundane context. Through Brâncuși's work, East and West come together in Târgu Jiu in a “completely unique” way. The town's imperfections reinforce his ensemble's place in the "messy" cityscape and its history. Juxtaposed against the city's messy urbanism, Brâncuși's ensemble is pluralist urbanism in its finest form. Civic in every way, his ensemble is closely integrated with Târgu Jiu's everyday life. A small-town Romanian fabric merged with a sculptural ensemble of world significance makes Târgu Jiu's plural urbanism astonishing.Brent D. Ryan, MIT Press, 27 oct. 2017, ''The Largest Art: A Measured Manifesto for a Plural Urbanism'', pp. 126-129
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Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Târgu Jiu consists of a shield with seven towers. In the centre of the shield lies the representation of Constantin Brâncuși's '' Endless Column'', a symbol of Romanian art and culture. In the right and left sides of the shield lies a golden lion holding a black sword, "guarding" the column. The lion is the ancient symbol of

, thought to originate in the logo of one of Rome's legion stations in this area, the 13th Legion "Gemina (Legio XIII Gemina)". It represents the bravery and combative spirit of the city's inhabitants.

Population

*1889: 4,076 *1900: 6,634 *1940: 26,634 *2002: 96,641 *2011: 80,548 As of 2011 census, 78,553 inhabitants live within the city limits: 96,29% were

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

(75,640 people), 3,41%

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

Roma people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

(2.683 people) and 0,20% others.

Transport

*The public transport system of Târgu Jiu consists of 2

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

lines and 8 bus lines. It is operated by S.C. Transloc. S.A. A ticket for one trip costs around €0.50. *The main railway station is situated on Republicii Blvd. It was reconstructed within the last 25 years. *The city's road network consists of five boulevards (Blvd. Constantin Brâncuși, Blvd. Nicolae Titulescu, Blvd. Republicii, Blvd. Ecaterina Teodoroiu, Blvd. Unirii). The main street of the city is Calea Victoriei (Victory Avenue). The largest boulevard in Târgu Jiu is Blvd. Ecaterina Teodoroiu. * Târgu Jiu is crossed by many important roads, such as E 79 and DN 67.

Gallery

File:RO GJ Tg Jiu Endless Column park.jpg, The Endless Column by Constantin Brâncuși File:Poarta sarutului 3.jpg, Gate of the Kiss by Constantin Brâncuși File:Monumentul lui Tudor Vladimirescu, Târgu Jiu img0571.jpg,

Tudor Vladimirescu Tudor Vladimirescu (; c. 1780 – ) was a Romanian revolutionary hero, the leader of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and of the Pandur militia. He is also known as Tudor din Vladimiri (''Tudor from Vladimiri'') or, occasionally, as Domnul Tudo ...

monument File:Colegiul Național "Tudor Vladimirescu", Târgu Jiu.JPG, Tudor Vladimirescu National College File:RO GJ Tg Jiu city hall.jpg, City Hall File:Târgu Jiu.jpg, Holy Archangels Church and Gorj County Prefecture File:Tower Central Parc Tragu Jiu 2013.JPG, Central Park File:Palatul Finanțelor, azi Universitatea C. Brâncuși.JPG, Palace of Finance, today Constantin Brâncuși University File:Biblioteca "Tudor Arghezi" din Târgu Jiu.JPG,

Tudor Arghezi Tudor Arghezi (; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer, best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to ''Argesis'', th ...

Library File:RO GJ Casa memoriala Ecaterina Teodoroiu Targu Jiu (22).jpg,

Ecaterina Teodoroiu Ecaterina Teodoroiu (; born Cătălina Toderoiu; 15 January 1894 – 3 September 1917) was a Romanian woman who fought on the front and died in World War I, and is regarded as a heroine of Romania. A Romanian Scouts member, she had initially wo ...

Memorial House

Education

Main high schools are:
National College "Ecaterina Teodoroiu"
* Tudor Vladimirescu National College *Constantin Brăiloiu Music and Arts High School
National College "Spiru Haret"Colegiul Comercial "Virgil Madgearu
*Colegiul Tehnic "General Gheorghe Magheru"
Scholar Group Energetic Nr. 1"
The universities are: * Constantin Brâncuși University * Spiru Haret University

Sports

The main football team of the city is Pandurii. They have spent 12 season in the country's top league,

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

. Their best result was achieved in the 2012–13 season, when they came in second. Pandurii has qualified for European competitions on two occasions, and reached the group stages of the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at th ...

. Also, the city has one

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team in Liga Națională, CSM Târgu Jiu and two handball team in Divizia A, UCB Târgu Jiu, at male's and CSM Târgu Jiu, at female's.

Twin cities

Târgu Jiu is twinned with the following cities: *

Forbach Forbach ( , , ; gsw, Fuerboch) is a commune in the French department of Moselle, northeastern French region of Grand Est. It is located on the German border approximately 15 minutes from the center of Saarbrücken, Germany, with which it co ...

, France *

Lauchhammer Lauchhammer ( dsb, Łuchow) is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, approx. 17 km west of Senftenberg, and 50 km north of Dresden. History From 1815 to ...

, Germany * Noci, Italy * Pendik, Turkey *

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the ad ...

, Bulgaria

Natives

* Ioan Bengliu, general *

Ioan Culcer Ioan Culcer (29 July 1853 – September 1928) was a Wallachian-born Romanian military leader and politician. Culcer served as a lieutenant during the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878) and as a general during the Second Balkan War and Worl ...

, general * Adrian Ioana, mathematician * Grigore Iunian, politician * Mihail Lascăr, general * Horațiu Mălăele, actor * Vasile Martinoiu, opera singer *

Sergiu Nicolaescu Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu (; 13 April 1930 – 3 January 2013) was a Romanian film director, actor and politician. He was best known for his historical films, such as '' Mihai Viteazul'' (1970, released in English both under the equivalent tit ...

, actor and film director * Constantin Petrovicescu, soldier and politician * Gheorghe Tătărescu, lawyer and prime minister *

, World War I heroine * Emil Ungureanu, chess International Master

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Targu Jiu Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Populated places in Gorj County Localities in Oltenia Market towns in Wallachia