Calafat
Template:Infobox Romanian subdivision
Calafat (Script error: No such module "IPA".; Template:Langx) is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the bridges of late antiquity, for centuries Calafat was connected with the southern bank of the Danube by boat, and later by ferryboat.
The city administers three villages: Basarabi, Golenți, and Ciupercenii Vechi.
Etymology
According to historian Nicolae Iorga, the toponym "Calafatis" comes from the Byzantines and means "place where ships are tarred".[1]
History
It was founded in the 14th century by Genoese colonists.[citation needed] These colonists generally employed large numbers of workmen in repairing ships.
In January 1854, during the Crimean War, when Russian forces were headed up the Danube, Ahmed Pasha, commanding the Turkish forces at Calafat, made a surprise attack on the temporary Russian garrison nearby Cetate, which was under the command of Colonel Alexander Baumgarten.[2] This diverted the initial Russian attack and allowed Ahmed Pasha to consolidate his forces in Calafat. On 28 January, the Russians under the command of General Joseph Carl von Anrep, reached Calafat and began the siege which lasted until May. Riddled by disease and unable to take the town, Anrep withdrew.[3]
There used to be a small Greek community in Calafat since the Late Middle Ages, numbering about 165 people at the end of the 19th century.[1] The Greek presence in the city was continued by political refugees, who arrived there after World War II.[1] The community was re-established on 27 October 1996 by descendants of its old members and currently has approximately 80 official members.[1] There is also a Greek Church in Calafat dedicated to Life-giving Spring since 1880s and there used to be a Greek language school.[1][4]
Calafat was declared a municipiu in 1997.[5]
Climate
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| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 7,113 | — |
| 1912 | 7,608 | +7.0% |
| 1930 | 7,633 | +0.3% |
| 1948 | 8,251 | +8.1% |
| 1956 | 8,069 | −2.2% |
| 1966 | 9,483 | +17.5% |
| 1977 | 15,568 | +64.2% |
| 1992 | 20,445 | +31.3% |
| 2002 | 21,227 | +3.8% |
| 2011 | 16,247 | −23.5% |
| 2021 | 13,807 | −15.0% |
| Source: Census data | ||
Transport
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Calafat lies on the river corridor VII-Danube and the pan-European corridor IV, which starts in Germany and ends in Istanbul and Thessaloniki. The city is at the crossroads of National Roads DN56, DN56A, and DN55A and European route E79. The city of Calafat and its neighbour, Vidin (Bulgaria), are linked by a bridge over the Danube in the area called Bașcov (Danube Bridge 2), built by the Spanish company FCC. The project of constructing a Danubian bridge in the area of Calafat–Vidin dates back to 1925. Road traffic between Vidin and Calafat was doubling every year, so it became necessary to construct a bridge with four lanes of road traffic, a railway line, a lane two meters wide for bikes and a pavement for pedestrians. The bridge has a total length of Template:Cvt and its cost is estimated at US$200 million. It was officially opened on 14 June 2013.[7]
Newspapers
Calafat has several city newspapers. One of them is called Ziarul De Calafat,[8] which is also maintained online; another one is Calafat Live.
International relations
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Twin towns — Sister cities
Calafat is twinned with:
- Template:Flagicon Vidin, Bulgaria
- Template:Flagicon Zaječar, Serbia
- Template:Flagicon Biñan, Philippines
References
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- ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ντίνας, Κ., Σούτσιου, Τσ., Χατζηπαναγιωτίδη, Α. & Χρηστίδης, Γ (2011). "Η Ελληνόγλωσση Εκπαίδευση στη Ρουμανία και τη Βουλγαρία" [Greek-Language Education in Romania and Bulgaria]. «Ελληνόγλωσση Πρωτοβάθμια και Δευτεροβάθμια Διαπολιτισμική Εκπαίδευση στη Διασπορά» (PDF). University of Crete. pp. 60–63.
{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jaques, Tony (2007) Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A guide to 8,500 battles from antiquity through the twenty-first century: A-E Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Volume 1, page 247 Template:ISBN
- ^ Jaques, Tony (2007) Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A guide to 8,500 battles from antiquity through the twenty-first century: A-E Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Volume 1, page 184 Template:ISBN
- ^ [1] Biserica „Izvorul Tămăduirii”, Calafat
- ^ Comunele și orasele României, p. 448. Bucharest: Editura All Beck, 2005
- ^ https://meteomanz.com/sy3?l=1&cou=6240&ind=15482&m1=07&y1=2014&m2=04&y2=2026
- ^ Announcement of the Bulgarian president as published by Focus News Agency on 22 May 2013 (in Bulgarian), retrieved 31 May 2013
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ziarul De Calafat".
External links
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- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Calafat City Hall".
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Facebook page of the Greek community of Calafat".
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