Boldești-Scăeni (), often spelled ''Boldești-Scăieni'', is a town in

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

, southern

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 ...

. Located about north of

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, it is an important oil-extraction center. It is situated in the historical region of

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 ...

History

The town was created in 1968 by the unification of two neighbouring communes, Boldești and Scăeni. One village, Seciu, is administered by the town.

The phalanstère

Scăeni was the location of the only attempt to create a

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...

-type phalanstère in Romania. In 1835, Theodor Diamant, a utopian socialist who had met Fourier in Paris, created the phalanstère, named ''The Agronomy and Manufacturing Society'', on a patch of land provided by Emanoil Bălăceanu, a local land-owner. The

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n authorities saw this enterprise as a threat and took a stand against it. Therefore, the phalanstère was disbanded in 1836, a year and a half after it came into existence, with Diamant and Bălăceanu sent into exile.Scrisori către Vasile Alecsandri

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area was extensively bombed, as part of

Operation Tidal Wave Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania, on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part o ...

. Air-raid shelters can still be found on the wooded hills around Boldești.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Boldești-Scăeni depicts a

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

(in Romanian, ''scai'' or ''scaiete'') which refers to the name of the old Scăeni commune, as well as a grape, which represents the vineyards on the Seciu hills.H.G. 1697/2004 The shaking hands is a reminder of the 19th century Scăieni phalanstère experiment, but could also refer to the 1968 union of the Boldești and Scăieni communes.

Climate

Boldești-Scăeni 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 ...

Economy

The town's economy revolves around

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

-extraction as well as

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

. Almost half of the town's surface is cultivated with

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

. The Seciu winecellars are located in the direct vicinity of Boldești. Industry developed in the town after 1968, with a glass factory open in Scăeni. Many people who live in Boldești-Scăeni also work in the neighbouring city of Ploiești.

Trivia and Historical monuments

The utopian experiment by Theodor Diamant was featured in the movie "Falansterul" ("The Phalanstere"), directed by Savel Stiopul in 1979. Historical monuments in the city Boldești-Scăeni includes 6 historic monuments (3 in Seciu and 3 in the city itself), plus 3 new modern statues sculpted by Cristian Petru Balan from the United States. They are "Glass Breaker", a stainless steel statue, 6 m high, built in 2010, a single replica of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, worked in fiberglass reinforced concrete (5 m from ground) and statuary group "Mihai Eminescu and Veronica Micle" in front of the Culture House "Mihai Eminescu", two busts on a common base (2.5 m), all molded fiberglass and reinforced concrete. Last two monuments were erected in July 2014. Since ancient monuments only one is classified as a monument of national importance, that being "Casa Rusescu" in Seciu, built in 1826.

Natives

* Cristian Vlad (born 1977), football player

Notes

References

*
Scrisori către Vasile Alecsandri: Teodor Diamant
(''Letters to Vasile Alecsandri: Teodor Diamant''), from wikisource. *
Boldeşti-Scăieni: Monograph of Boldeşti-Scăieni
(''by Cristian Petru Bălan, Ed. Premier, 2007''), from wikisource. * Romanian Government Decision no. 1697/2004, retrieved fro
legislatie.just.ro
on 27 August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boldesti-Scaieni Towns in Romania Populated places in Prahova County Localities in Muntenia