Medgidia ( or ; historical Turkish names: ''Karasu'' or ''Carasu'', ''Mecidiye'' or ''Megidie'') is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( or simply ; , ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube, Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria. ...

, south-eastern

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 ...

History

Archaeological findings show that Dobruja was inhabited since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period. Starting with 46 BC the region was administered by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. A

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

was built in the Carasu Valley, becoming the cradle of the settlement. In 1417, the Turks invaded

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

. From the 15th century onwards, the region started to be colonized with a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population. The settlement named "Karasu" (Turkish for "Black Water") was mentioned on the map of Iehuda ben Zara in 1497, in the notes of Paolo Giorgio (1590) and

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

(1653). Modern Medgidia was built by the Ottoman administration on the place of the old Karasu beginning with 1856. It was built as a planned city to accommodate refugees from the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

and to serve as an economic hub for the central zone of Dobruja. The town was named in honour of the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Abdülmecid I, the Ottoman sovereign of the period. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878,

became part of Romania. Medgidia was the last capital of

Silistra Nouă County Silistra Nouă County was a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in Northern Dobruja, with its capital city first at Rasova, later at Cernavodă and finally at Medgidia. It was established on 13 November 1878 and abolished on 1 April 1879. After ...

(1878–1879) before it was merged into

Geography

Medgidia is located between 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 ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, away from

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

. The city is crossed by the

Danube–Black Sea Canal The Danube–Black Sea Canal () is a navigable canal in Romania, which runs from Cernavodă on the Danube river, via two branches, to Constanța and Năvodari on the Black Sea. Administered from Agigea, it is an important part of the waterway li ...

west to east; the river Medgidia discharges into the Canal in Remus Opreanu village. The general aspect of the relief is that of a low plateau with a limestone structure, covered with thick deposits of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

. The natural resources in the area consist of limestone deposits and kaolin sand. The limestone structure of the earth permits a natural filtering of the groundwater.

Climate

The climate is temperate-continental, with short and cold winters and very hot summers.

Local administration

Medgidia became 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 1994. The town infrastructure is continuously developing and offers the inhabitants 4 high schools, 8 primary schools, 12 nurseries, 4 cultural centers with a hall for cultural activities, 2 show and cinema halls, 3 clubs and 5 libraries, a 30,000-seat stadium, a sports hall, and a swimming pool. Medgidia also houses a 500-bed hospital. The following villages are administered by the municipality: * Remus Opreanu (historical name: ''Alibei-Ceair'', ) – renamed after Remus Opreanu, the first Romanian

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of Constanța County (1878–1881) * Valea Dacilor (historical name: ''Endecarachioi'', or ''Hendek Kara Kuyusu'')

Politics

The current mayor of Medgidia is (PNL). The Medgidia Municipal Council, elected in the 2024 local government elections, consists of 18 councillors. The National Liberal Party holds 10 seats, the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

holds 5 seats, the

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

holds 2 seats, and one seat is held by the S.O.S. Romania party.

Economy

The economic landscape spotlights the existence of a town fully involved in its progress. Out of 1,200 registered enterprises, only 30 are state-owned and 15 are joint ventures. Beside the agricultural activities (milk-processing, milling, bakery and wine growing), the main industry deals in cement and building materials, agricultural machinery and forging equipment,

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

and furniture factories. Medgidia lies in the center of an agricultural area of several tens of millions hectares, with a fertile soil and provided with irrigation systems. The area offers: * a rich agricultural tradition and trained specialists * a road network for the transport of goods * relatively short transport distances, especially through the port * access to other Romanian or European regions * better climate conditions than in other parts of Romania (winter is shorter) * an outstanding irrigation potential The Medgidia clinker storage facility was completed in 2009 and is the world's largest dome-type cement clinker storage facility. The

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five air bases, a logistics base, an air defense brigade, an air defense regiment and an ISR (Intel ...

operates a WSR-98D radar station in Medgidia. The facility is officially designated and operated as a civilian radar station by the National Meteorological Administration, however the data is fed into the NATO Integrated Air Defense System as well.

Transport

The town is a road and rail node and an inland port to the

. The Canal crosses the town for about of its length. The Danube–Black Sea Canal has a capacity of 11.2 million tons/year and can admit ships of . Provided with road and rail links, the harbor offers storage facilities and cranes able to lift up to 16-ton weights. Beside a SNCFR marshaling yard, along the Canal there is a Free Trade Area in course of being finalized. The A2

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

from

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 ...

, partially financed by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, bypasses the town, allowing the development of associated services (hotels, petrol stations and a parking yard for trucks) in the area. Medgidia station

Also, the Medgidia

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

is an important node on the CNCFR Main Line 800. The station provides rail service to several towns and cities, including

(35 km),

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by #Names, alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 65,624 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. It is one ...

(144 km), and București Nord (199 km).

Landmarks

The Art Museum "Lucian Grigorescu"

It was opened in 1964 with exhibitions of Romanian contemporary painting, sculpture, and graphics, signed Lucian Grigorescu, Marius Bunescu, Ion Jalea, and others. The permanent exhibition takes in classic and modern artworks but also works of contemporary art classics, including Lucian Grigorescu,

Nicolae Tonitza Nicolae Tonitza (; April 13, 1886 – February 27, 1940) was a Romanian painter, Engraving, engraver, Lithography, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-Impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in ...

, Francisc Șirato,

Ștefan Dimitrescu Ștefan Dimitrescu (January 18, 1886 – May 22, 1933) was a Romanian Post-Impressionism, Post-impressionist painter and draftsman. Biography Born in Huşi, Huși into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his ho ...

, and

Iosif Iser Iosif Iser (21 May 1881 – 25 April 1958; born and died in Bucharest) was a Romanian painter and graphic artist. Born to a History of the Jews in Romania, Jewish family, he was initially inspired by Expressionism, creating drawings with thick, ...

. The museum also displays a collection of ceramic artworks. In 1991 the museum was named after Lucian Grigorescu, a town native, who was deemed as the most Latin among the Romanian painters. The city honors the painter every year on 1 February, the anniversary of his birthday. Because of low income due to few visitors and high maintenance costs, the museum was closed in 2009.

The "Abdul Mejid" Mosque

Built in 1860 by the Ottoman Government, the mosque is an historic and architectural monument. It was named after the sultan

Abdulmejid I ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

, who reigned between 1839 and 1861. The mosque is served by an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

and a

muezzin The muezzin (; ), also spelled mu'azzin, is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin ...

. The building respects the traditional form of the Muslim cultural placements, decorated in the interior with oriental ornaments and inscriptions in Arabic.

The "Saints Peter and Paul" Orthodox church

The church was built in a Roman-Greek style and it was raised with the contribution of the local Christians on the ruins of a Roman

The Serbian Heroes' Monument

In 1926, Medgidia commemorated the heroism of the First Serbian Volunteer Division, which fought in Dobruja during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a part of the bloody Romanian theatre, by inaugurating a monument in the group's honor. The completed

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

, featuring an iconic

white marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliat ...

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

, was the setting of a ceremony held with the participation of both Romanian and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n officials. Wreaths were laid at the base of the monument by members of the Serbian and Romanian royal families.

Natives

* Mihaela Albu (born 1994), volleyball player * Stelian Carabaș (born 1974), football player * Alexandru Cicâldău (born 1997), football player * Titus Corlățean (born 1968), politician and diplomat, former Minister of Justice and of Foreign Affairs * Tiberiu Curt (born 1975), football player * Laurențiu Florea (born 1981), football player * Tahsin Gemil (born 1943), historian, translator, diplomat, and politician * Lucian Grigorescu (1894–1965), post-impressionist painter * Emil Hoștină (born 1976), actor * Marian Lazăr (born 1952), boxer * Bogdan Mitache (born 1994), football player * Bănică Oprea (born 1967), football player * Silviana Sfiringu (born 2004), artistic gymnast

Sports

CS Medgidia is the city's sports club. Its professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club currently play in the

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

. Apart from football, the club also competes in

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled "armwrestling") is a sport in which two participants, facing each other with their bent elbows placed on a flat surface (usually a table) and hands firmly gripped, each attempt to "pin" their opponent's hand by forcing ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, and rugby. The home ground for the club is Stadionul Iftimie Ilisei; opened in 1978, the stadium holds 32,700 people.

The Medgidia Festival

The festival has been celebrated each year since 1999, at the end of October, and is attended by thousands of locals.

Media

*''Graiul Dobrogei''
link Graiul Dobrogei
, local newspaper *Alpha Media, local TV channel *Media TV, local TV channel *Revista Dobrogeană, multilingual culture and history-themed periodical

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Medgidia is twinned with:Twin towns
*

Cahul Cahul (; also known by alternative names) is a city and municipality in southern Moldova. The city is the administrative center of Cahul District; it also administers one village, Cotihana. As of 2014 census, the city has a population of 30,0 ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

* Favara,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District.Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Constanța County Localities in Northern Dobruja Cities in Romania Turkish communities in Romania Place names of Turkish origin in Romania 1856 establishments in the Ottoman Empire