Pietroasele is a commune in

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km ...

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 rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

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 ...

, known for its

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s. The name means "the rockies". The commune is composed of six villages: Câlțești, Clondiru de Sus, Dara, Pietroasa Mică, Pietroasele and Șarânga. It became famous with the discovery in 1837 of the Pietroasa Treasure composed of several pieces of gold and precious stones. The Romanian historian Alexandru Odobescu wrote a book on the archaeological discovery. The village is the centre of several archaeological sites such as the Dacian fortress at Dari Gruiu. The six locations that make up the commune were built after the sixteenth century, on the lands of freeholders and lords of the neighbouring village of Bădeni, and were later divided into three municipalities: Pietroasa de Jos, Pietroasa de Sus and Șarânga, which were merged in 1968. Although it was initially a centre for stone extraction, today viticulture is the main economic sector of the village, known for Romanian wine. The Viticulture Research Center found here is managed by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bucharest.

History

A Dacian fortress is located at 1.5 km north of Pietroasa Mică village. A 3rd-4th century AD

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fort and thermae was built by

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

when he created the Constantine Wall of the Dacian Limes probably around 330 AD. It measured 124 m x 158 m. It was situated well beyond the

Danubian Limes The Danubian Limes (), or Danube Limes, refers to the Roman military frontier or '' limes'' which lies along the River Danube in the present-day German state of Bavaria, in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The ...

and was connected to bridge-head forts ( Sucidava, castra of Tirighina-Bărboși, and the unlocated Constantiniana Daphne) along the left bank of the

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 ...

river. The nearly 4000 people living in Pietroasele live mainly of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and farming, but a few are employed in tourism related to the Roman discoveries and museum.

Petroasele treasure

The Pietroasele treasure, an

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

ic hoard uncovered in 1837 by local villagers, is on display at the National Museum of Romanian History, in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. The original gold hoard, discovered within a large ring barrow known as "Istrița hill" near Pietroasele, is a late fourth-century Gothic treasure that included some twenty-two objects of gold, among the most famous examples of the polychrome style of

Migration Period art Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period (c. 300 – 800). It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the ...

. The total weight of the find was approximately . Of the twenty-two pieces, only twelve have survived, conserved at the National Museum of Romanian History, in

: a large eagle-headed

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

and three smaller ones encrusted with semi-precious stones; a

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''patera'' () or ''phiale'' ( ) is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

, or round sacrificial dish, modelled with Orphic figures Campbell, Joseph. ''The Masks of God: Creative Mythology''. 1968. surrounding a seated three-dimensional goddess in the centre; a twelve-sided cup, a ring with a Gothic runic inscription, a large tray, two other necklaces and a pitcher. Two of the targets are classified as monuments of architecture, both in the village of Pietroasele: a stone fountain dating from 1892 and a viticulture research station built in 1893. Three objects are considered tombstones or memorials: ''Crucea Frumoasă'' (Beautiful Cross), dating from the 19th century, ''Stan Avram'' and ''Ion Lemnaru'' (1841) from Pietroasa Minor.

References

External links

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Illustrations
{{Buzău County Communes in Buzău County Localities in Muntenia Goths

History

Petroasele treasure

See also

References

External links