Zimnicea () is a town in

Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''wild/crazy for ...

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 ...

(in the historic 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 ...

), a port on 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 ...

opposite the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n city of

Svishtov Svishtov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous S ...

Geography

Zimnicea is situated on the left bank of the

river. It is the southernmost place in Romania and a harbour on the Danube river. The distance between the Zimnicea and

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 ...

is , and the distance to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

(capital of Teleorman County) is about . Zimnicea is served around the clock by the Svishtov–Zimnicea ferry – a regularly scheduled Roll-on/roll-off ferry across the Danube between Zimnicea and

, Bulgaria. The ferry shortens the road path to and from Turkey to Central and Western Europe by when compared to the traditional route over the

Danube Bridge The Danube Bridge (also known as the Friendship Bridge; , ''Most na druzhbata'' or, more commonly, , ''Dunav most''; or ''Podul de la Giurgiu'') is a steel truss bridge over the Danube River connecting the Bulgarian bank to the south with the R ...

at Ruse-Giurgiu and allows a time gain of nearly four hours thus avoiding the traffic in and around the city of Bucharest.

History

Zimnicea developed near a Geto-

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

n fortress (about west of town centre). Traditional agriculture, fishing, iron processing, carpentry, pottery, tissue exchange of products were the occupations of the people throughout the town's existence. The natives of Zimnicea sold grain, cattle, sheep, fish, butter, salt, honey, wax, timber and bought cloth, oriental fabric, carpets, and spices. In 1838, the settlement Zimnicea was passed in the fairs, with the general population census of that year 551 families and 3,046 inhabitants. In the years 1837–1839 Zimnicea became the capital of Teleorman County. Near Zimnicea there are ruins of several ancient fortresses and fortifications from the 4th to the 1st century BC. The oldest are believed by some scholars to have been built to defend the town from

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

's general,

Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek language, Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessaly, Thessalian officer and Diadochi, successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became king of Thrace, Anatolia, Asia Minor and Mace ...

. The name of the town was first mentioned in 1385 in the travel logs of Christian pilgrims on their way home from their trip to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The Byzantines called it ''Demnitzikos'' and later on ''Dzimnikes'' or ''Dzimnikos''. The town flourished as a

trade post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geograph ...

on the trade routes that linked Central Europe to the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. In 1835, it had 531 households, being the twelfth largest market town in

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 ...

. For a short time in 1837 to 1838, it was the capital of Teleorman County, but due to internal dissent between the landowners and merchants, it was replaced by

. During the

Romanian War of Independence The Romanian War of Independence () is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the phase of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), in which Romania, fighting on the Russian side of the war, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. On ...

of 1877–1878, Zimnicea was the headquarters of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

troops fighting in Bulgaria against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. 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 ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

troops crossed the Danube in the Zimnicea sector, effectively bringing down the Romanian front in

. During the

1977 Vrancea earthquake The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5, making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 Novem ...

, there were allegedly not many buildings destroyed by the earthquake itself. Most of the destruction is said to have actually been done after the natural disaster by bulldozer, being ordered by local authorities, in order to receive financial allowances from the central government to create a new town from scratch on a new design. In the next period, a new town hall, the House of Culture, a new hospital (with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n funding), a new high school (with funds allocated by the

Swiss government The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west ...

), and multiple blocks of flats were built, but other projects remained abandoned after the fall of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, amid declining local industry, and by a subsequent decline in population.

Natives

Răzvan Grădinaru Răzvan Toni Augustin Grădinaru (born 23 August 1995) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Steaua București He made his league debut on 16 April 2014 in Liga I match against FC Vaslui. Politehnica Ia� ...

(born 1995), footballer * Florea Opriș (born 1956), rugby union football player, referee, and coach *

Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, first ...

(1911–1971), poet, essayist, journalist, and translator

Politics

The mayor of Zimnicea Municipality is Petre Pârvu, he is in his second mandate and is chosen from the list of the coalition ''For Zimnicea'' that includes PNL, PD-L, PC, and

PSD PSD may refer to: Educational bodies * Poudre School District, a school district in Larimer County, Colorado Government and military * Payment Services Directive, EU regulation for payment services * Pesticides Safety Directorate, UK * President ...

Economy

During the communist era, Zimnicea underwent forced industrialization, and the new industries suffered a strong decline after the fall of the communist regime.

Education and culture

In Zimnicea there are 5 kindergartens, 4 elementary schools with primary and secondary education and one high school. The high school has 15 classrooms, a gym and a school workshop. Classes are attended by 511 students, with two shifts and evening school hours. Zimnicea High School has a library with 20,578 volumes and a science laboratory equipped with 30 computers. School No.1, ''Miron Radu Paraschivescu'' has 15 classrooms, including 3 laboratories (physics, chemistry, biology), 5 cabinets teachers (mathematics, geography, design, religion, Romanian), a gym, a workshop school and a library. The three elementary schools are: ''Miron Radu Paraschivescu'' Primary and Secondary School, School no. 2 and School no.3

Culture

Zimnicea does not have any artistic events held occasionally or permanently. The budget allocated for cultural activities is insufficient for a cultural life. Cultural institutions operating in Zimnicea are: the cultural centre and the town library. The city library was founded in 1952 and after December 1989 received the name of a local poet,

Tourism

The "Dunărica" children camp has a capacity of 200 accommodation places, with a football field and a tennis court, a kayak-canoe base and a cafeteria with 250 places. "Zimtub SA" Zimnicea Hotel has a capacity of 48 rooms, a restaurant with 100 seats and a nightclub with 80 seats. The amusement and recreation base "Disko - Hope" is situated on the Danube riverside and has a beach with, as well as an outdoor dancing club with a capacity of 1,200 places; There is also an amusement base at the beach from Cheson.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Zimnicea is twinned with:

References

{{Authority control Towns in Romania Monotowns in Romania Populated places on the Danube Port cities and towns in Romania Populated places in Teleorman County Localities in Muntenia Bulgaria–Romania border crossings Extreme points of Romania