Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , german: Langenau, Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from

Middle Bulgarian Middle Bulgarian language was the lingua franca and the most widely spoken language of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Being descended from Old Church Slavonic, Old Bulgarian, Middle Bulgarian eventually developed into modern Bulgarian language by t ...

)), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'', is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești. Demographics On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2. * Romanians – 97% * Roma (Gypsie ...

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 seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in ...

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, a ...

. It is situated among the outlying hills of the Carpathian mountains, at the head of a long well-wooded glen traversed by the

Râul Târgului The Râul Târgului is a left tributary of the river Râul Doamnei in Romania. Its source is near the Păpușa Peak, in the Iezer Mountains. It discharges into the Râul Doamnei between Micești and Mioveni.Argeș. Its pure air and fine scenery render Câmpulung a popular summer resort. In the city there are more than twenty churches, besides a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

and a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, which both claim to have been founded in the 13th century by

Radu Negru Radu may refer to: People * Radu (given name), Romanian masculine given name * Radu (surname), Romanian surname * Rulers of Wallachia, see * Prince Radu of Romania (born 1960), disputed pretender to the former Romanian throne Other uses * Radu ( ...

, legendary first

Prince of Wallachia This is a list of rulers of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which led to the creation of Romania. Notes Dynastic rule is hard ...

Name

"Câmpulung" literally means "Long Field" in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

, rendered as "Longus-Campus" in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

History

Theodor Aman - Street in Cîmpulung, 1890

Near Câmpulung are the remains of a Roman camp now known as the ''Castra of Jidava (or Jidova)''; and just beyond the gates, vestiges of a

Roman colony A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term '' colony''. Characte ...

, variously identified with Romula, Stepenium and

Ulpia Traiana Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital and the largest city of Roman Dacia, later named ''Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa'' after the former Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Built on the ground of a camp of the ...

, but now called ''Grădiștea'' (meaning ''place of a fortress'' in Romanian) or ''Jidovi''. Câmpulung was one of the earliest urban settlements in Wallachia, the Transylvanian Saxon colonists contributing to its development by bringing the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

urban culture. The earliest written evidence of the town's existence is dated 1300, and is to be found in the Câmpulung church. The inscription is an

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

of ''Laurencius de Longo Campo'',Rădvan, p.264 the full text being ''Hic sepultus est comes Laurencius de Longo-Campo, pie memorie, Anno Domini MCCC'' ("Here is buried count Laurentius of Longus-Campus, in pious memory,

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

1300"). Laurentius was most likely the person coordinating the colonization process.Rădvan, p.265 The first written record of Old Romanian language dated back to 1521 ( Neacșu's letter) names the city by its Old Romanian name, which was Slavic, according to its roots: ''Dlăgopole'' — ''Длъгополь'' (with the same meaning — "a long field"). The elongated shape of the town was determined by the valley and it had two main parallel streets. The town had a central

market square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. The non-German areas of the town were found towards the outskirts of the medieval town, where two Orthodox churches were built during the 14th-15th centuries. Originally, the Romanians of the town did not have the same rights as the German colonists, but by the 15th century, the two communities were already merged, as shown by the new Romanian churches built near the Catholic areas and by the fact that some of the elected ''

județ A ''județ'' (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. ''Județ'' translates into English as "jurisdiction", but is co ...

s'' were Romanians.Rădvan, p.266 Another community in the town were the Bogomil Bulgarians, who settled in the '' Șchei'' neighbourhood (''Șchei'' being an old Romanian word referring to Slavic people).Rădvan, p.267 Outside the town, in the south-west, on the hill currently named ''Câmpul mișeilor'' ("Field of the cripple") was a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. ''M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

, which had its own church and mill. Câmpulung was the first capital of the feudal state of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

, until succeeded by

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipality in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part of Ar ...

in the 14th century. There was a considerable traffic with

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 ...

, over the Bran Pass, 15 miles to the north, and with the south by a branch railway to

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a 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 Blejoi commun ...

Census

Natives

Theodor Aman Theodor Aman (20 March 1831 – 19 August 1891) was a Romanian painter, engraver and art professor. He mostly produced genre and history scenes. Biography His father was a cavalry commander from Craiova but he was born in Câmpulung, where his ...

* Constantin D. Aricescu * Gheorghe Arsenescu *

Ion Barbu Ion Barbu (, pen name of Dan Barbilian; 18 March 1895 –11 August 1961) was a Romanian mathematician and poet. His name is associated with the Mathematics Subject Classification number 51C05, which is a major posthumous recognition reser ...

George Demetrescu Mirea George Demetrescu Mirea (1852, in Câmpulung – 12 December 1934, in Bucharest) was a Romanian portrait painter, muralist and art teacher. Biography He was one of twelve children born to an Archpriest. His first art lessons were at the "Școal ...

* Dora Gad * Nicolae Golescu *

Ștefan Golescu Ștefan Golescu (1809 – 1874) was a Wallachian Romanian politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for two terms from 1 March 1867 to 5 August 1867 and from 13 November 1867 to 30 April 1868, and as Prime Minister of Romania b ...

Radu Gyr Radu Gyr (; pen name of Radu Ștefan Demetrescu ; March 2, 1905, Câmpulung-Muscel – 29 April 1975, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, essayist, playwright and journalist. Biography Early life Gyr was the son of actor Ștefan "Coco" Dumitre ...

Ion Jinga Ion Jinga (born 1 September 1961, Câmpulung) is a Romanian diplomat working in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1992. Between 9 April 2003 and 7 March 2008 he served as the Romanian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and between ...

Petre Libardi Petre Libardi (27 August 1942 – 14 August 2005) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Petre Libardi was born on 27 August 1942 in Câmpulung-Muscel and started playing football at Minerul Câmpulung. He ...

* Gabriel Moiceanu * Tudor Mușatescu * D. Nanu * Ion Negulici * George Oprescu *

Constantin Ion Parhon Constantin Ion Parhon (; 15 October 1874 – 9 August 1969) was a Romanian neuropsychiatrist, endocrinologist and politician. He was the first head of state of the Romanian People's Republic from 1947 to 1952. Parhon was President of the Physici ...

Pârvu Mutu Pârvu Mutu (''Pârvu the Mute'', nickname of ''Pârvu Pârvescu''; 1657–1735) was a Wallachian Romanian muralist and church painter. He was born in the town of Câmpulung as the sixth son of the Orthodox priest Ioan Pârvescu, and bega ...

* Mihail Vlădescu

Notes

References

External links

Câmpulung City Hall Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campulung Populated places in Argeș County Localities in Muntenia Cities in Romania Former capitals of Romania Market towns in Wallachia Monotowns in Romania Capitals of former Romanian counties