Buzau
Encyclopedia
The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County
, Romania
, in the historical region of Wallachia
. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River
, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains
and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain
.
The city's name dates back to 376 AD
when the name appeared on a letter that spoke about the martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth
. During the Middle Ages, Buzău was as an important Wallachian market town
and Eastern Orthodox
episcopal see
. It faced a period of repeated destruction during the 17th and 18th century, nowadays symbolized on the city seal by the Phoenix bird
. Those destructions are the main reason for which no building older than the 18th century exists in the city. After that, Buzău slowly recovered to become nowadays an important modern city in south-eastern Romania.
The city's landmark building is the Communal Palace, located in the central Dacia Square. The Nicolae Bălcescu Boulevard links it to the Crâng park
, Buzău's main recreational area.
Buzău is a railway hub in south-estern Romania, where railways that link Bucharest to Moldavia and Transylvania to the Black Sea coast meet. DN2
, a segment of European route E85
crosses the city. Buzău's proximity to trade routes helped it develop its role as a commerce hub in older days, and as an industrial center during the 20th century. Most of the city's industry was developed during Romania's communist period, and was refactored through the 1990s to a capitalist economical framework.
At the 2002 census, the population of Buzău had the following ethnic composition:
The city's most important landmark is the Communal Palace, built between 1899 and 1903, now serving as City Hall. Along with the Courthouse, the Communal Palace was designed by architects commissioned by mayor Nicu Constantinescu
, at the end of the 19th century.
From the Communal Palace, Cuza Vodă Street leads to the Bazaar. The Cuza Vodă Street features late 19th century buildings
Crâng Park
, carved in the corner of a larger forest, lies in the western outskirts of the town and is a remnant of the old Codrii Vlăsiei
. Crâng was designed in the late 19th century. It has an obelisk, erected in 1976 to celebrate 1600 years since the town's first recorded historical attestation.
The oldest building in Buzău is the Vergu-Mănăilă house
, erected in the 17th or 18th century as a boyar
s' mansion
. Renovated between 1971–1974, it now hosts the local Museum of ethnography
and folk art
.
The church of Banului, erected in the 16th century as a monastery, underwent renovation several times. In 1884, it was repainted by a team of painters including Gheorghe Tattarescu
and his uncle Nicolae Teodorescu
.
An old tradition of the city is the Drăgaica fair
, a midsummer
fair traced back to traditional shepherd's fairs in the Buzău mountains, that moved to Buzău sometimes before the 18th century.
valley, that forms its northern bounds, the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains
' curvature and the Danube Plain. It has an oblong shape, as it is larger along the Buzău river and shorter across. The altitude of Buzău ranges from 101 meters in the North-West, near the hills to 88 meters close to the river, with a 95 meter average (as is also the altitude in the Dacia square, in the center). Therefore, Buzău is located on a flat relief, with a 10 meters altitude difference along a 4 km line.
The climate is mostly continental, with an average 92 days of frost a year (16 days with temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius), but also with 92 days of summer, prone to excessive heat and drought
.
in the west, a 189 hectares oak
forest. Crâng Park
occupies 10 hectares of this forest. Most streets in Buzău have trees planted alongside them, such as chestnut
s on the Nicolae Bălcescu Boulevard and lime trees on the Unirii Boulevard. Flowers grown by the local people in the yard typically include various species of rose
s, hyacinths, tulip
s, peonies
, cranesbill
s and petunia
s, as well as vine
and ivy for shade.
Wild fauna in Buzău is represented by typical temperate climate city-dwelling species. The most common birds are the house sparrow
, the collared dove and the goldfinch
, while the rodents are represented by the ferret
and the brown rat
. Lakes are inhabited by small fish such as the rhodeus amarus
and eel
s, as well as by green lizards
and snail
s.
(named Mousaios (Μουσαίος) in Greek
) on its bank is a letter from Ioannis Soranus, governor of Scytia Minor, to the archbishop of Caesarea Mazaca (about 400 A.D.). The document, kept in copies at the Vatican Library and San Marco Library in Venice
, tells about the martyrdom of a Christian missionary by the name of Sabbas
, drowned by the Goths in the river Buzău. He is the spiritual patron of the city of Buzău as well as of several local villages.
Several graves (3rd to 5th century AD) were found in Buzău, as well as coins that prove the continuance of the settlement.
Buzău evolved during the Middle Ages as a commercial and cultural center.
Gustav Treiber, in his work Siebenburgische Viertel Jahresschrit states that prior to the 12th century, the city was surrounded by a wall with four gates towards the four main directions.
The earliest mention of Buzău as a market town (târg
) and customs station is found in a document, dated January 31, 1431, and issued by Dan II
, voivod of Wallachia. The document stated that salesmen from Braşov
were free to trade in several Wallachian towns (Buzău, among them) just as they were during the reign of Mircea cel Bătrân. These privileges have been later reinforced by Vlad III the Impaler
, who stated that the roads to be taken by the salesmen were to be: via Rucăr
, Prahova
, Teleajen
or Buzău.
In 1500, Radu cel Mare
created The Bishopric of Buzău, making the town a spiritual center of Eastern Wallachia. In 1507, Buzău appears (under the name of Boza) for the first time on a map, made by Nicolaus Germanus
. At the time, the city was the 4th largest city of Wallachia
, and an important trade partner of Braşov
. Between 1503 and 1515, the salesmen from Buzău traded merchandise worth 2,245,835 aspres (an Ottoman currency). A document dated 1536 shows that the town was administered by one judeţ (mayor) and 12 elected pârgari (city councillors). Underground tunnels dating back to the 16th century connect the bishopric's complex, the city center and the Crâng Park
(at the time, only a large forest at the town's outskirts). Their role was to store supply and evacuate people in case of danger.
In 1571, the Banu monastery was erected. The monastery's name, "Banu", indicates the nobility title of its builder, ban
Andronic Cantacuzino. The monastery church was rebuilt by Andreiana, wife of Şerban Cantacuzino, in 1722. After the monastic assets secularizing act
of 1863, the monastery was dismantled; its church, however, was sparred.
A 1575 document mentions the Bazaar
(permanent market with shops, stores, cellars, storage rooms). The Bazaar of Buzău was the second oldest in Wallachia. At the end of the 16th century, Buzău was divided in four parts: the Bishopric with its servants, the Banu monastery and its servants, the old market and the city (located between the bishopric and the monastery).
During the last decade of the 16th century, around 18,000 Serbs settled in Wallachia. Several families made Buzău their home, by founding a neighbourhood known to this day by the name Serbs and located on the bank of the Buzău River
. Later, in 1792-1838, many Bulgarian
refugees settled in the same neighbourhood. Due to similarities of the mother tongues spoken by the two ethnic groups, the locals called the new refugees also Serbs. The Bulgarians were given land by the river where they created vegetable gardens.
The army of Mihai Viteazul was located in Buzău in 1596. After the army left, the city was devastated in 1597 by Ottoman
and Tatar raids. The next year, Mihai Viteazul brought gifts to the inhabitants of the city to compensate for the damages. The chronicler Balthasar Walter described the tatar invasion of 1597:
In April 1616, many houses in Buzău were burnt down during a Polish invasion, during one of the Moldavian Magnate Wars
. The inhabitants took refuge in the nearby mountains and forests. All existing land deeds were lost at the event. One year later, in July 1617, the city was once again occupied by the Ottoman army.
Buzău was pillaged by Tatars
again in 1623, as pointed out by Matei Basarab
in a 1633 letter:
A Turkish invasion in 1659 again led to the city being burnt down and destroyed, and the locals being taken captive. In 1679, Buzău was pillaged again by the Ottomans. The city was rebuilt every time, thus appearing on a 1700 map of Wallachia, printed in Padova by stolnic
Constantin Cantacuzino
. The map shows 22 other cities and market towns of the country.
After a period of relative peace, during which the bishopric was subsidized by the domn to open a school in Greek
and another in Slavonic
, in 1739, during a Russo-Turkish War, Russian troops as well as Frilow's Cossack
s ravaged through Buzău, taking the bishop with them as they went.
During another Russo-Turkish War, Ottoman soldiers burnt all the stores and houses, burning the city to the ground. The Bishopric church was also destroyed, and the bishop moved temporarily to Bucharest. The Banu monastery church escaped destruction, only to be destroyed in 1774 by an earthquake. Also, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787 - 1792, the city was once again destroyed. The long string of war-caused damage went on in 1806 and 1807, when the Ottoman army burnt down the city to ruins leaving 230 people dead. The locals fled to the Nişcov river valley, from where they returned only in 1812.
The cholera
and bubonic plague
epidemics at the beginning of the 19th century also decimated the city's population (see Caragea's plague
).
The last time the city was devastated by war was in 1821 at the Greek War of Independence
. After that, in light of the establishment of the Organic Regulations
, a period of reconstruction and modernisation began. Also, Wallachia stopped being a theatre of operations in the wars between the Ottoman Empire
and Russia
, the conflincts moving further away, in Crimea
, the Southern and Western Balkans
and the Caucasus
.
Thus, although Buzău is attested by documents as a polis since the 4th century AD, and as a market town since 1431, the oldest building in the city is the Vergu-Mănăilă house, erected as recently as the 18th century, around 1780. The Vergu-Mănăilă house
was owned at the time by a high-ranking boyar named Vergu, who owned a pub and a bakery near the house.
Schools began to be set up, as in 1831 the Bishopric opened a school for muralists and icon painters, led by Nicolae Teodorescu
and attended by Gheorghe Tattarescu
. One year later, the National School (the first school in Buzău to teach in the Romanian language
) was open, and in 1838 Şcoala Normală (a school for teachers) was inaugurated by Dionisie Romano. Şcoala normală trained teachers for the city schools and for 115 villages. The Buzău theological seminar was open in 1836. It was the first secondary school in Buzău and the second theological school in Wallachia, after the one in Bucharest
.
The oldest known census in Buzău showed, in 1832, a total population of 2567, of which one was Austrian, one was English
, 18 were Jewish and the rest Romanian.
Around 1837-1840, public lighting was introduced on the main street. The street lamps were using tallow
candle
s. By 1861, the number of public street lamps grew from 38 to 50. In 1841 the streets were realigned "by urban rules".
By 1842, the city had a stable doctor, a drugstore
, a fire squad and an officially authorized midwife.
During the Wallachian revolution of 1848
, a "National Guard", supervised by Barbu
and Nicolae Bălcescu
was set up immediately after the government was organized in Bucharest in June. However, the revolution was crushed by Russian and Ottoman forces, and Buzău was occupied by the Russian army for three years. The Russian army briefly occupied Buzău again in 1853 during the Crimean War
. After the occupation ended, the city's development was resumed.
At the Ad-hoc divans organized after the Congress of Paris in 1856, a large majority of representatives of Buzău voted for Wallachia's union with Moldova. Later on, after a personal union was completed on 5 February 1859, prince Alexander John Cuza
was welcomed enthusiastically by the inhabitants of Buzău and was persuaded to spend the night in the city on his way from Iaşi
to Bucharest
. The newly-elected Domn of both Wallachia and Moldova left the city the next day via Strada Mare, a street known today by the name of Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard).
The buildings on the Cuza Vodă Street (at the time known as Strada Târgului -- Market Street) were erected between 1850 and 1880 in the style of the 19th century South-Eastern European commercial houses—two-story buildings with shops on the ground floor, and residences on the top floor.
Cultural life blossomed, as in 1852, the first theater show in Buzău took place. In 1854, a printing press
was imported by the Bishopric from Vienna
, and was subsequently used to print the Buzău Bible, the fourth Romanian bible (the first three being the Bucharest Bible in 1688, one printed in Blaj
in 1792 and another printed in Saint Petersburg
in 1819).
Public lighting was enhanced in 1860 by introducing petrol lamps. In the same year, street numbers were assigned to houses, and streets were paved with stones. The Gârlaşi Hospital (nowadays, the Infectious Diseases Hospital) was open in 1865, being the first permanent city hospital.
The Moldavia theater was open in 1898 in a building in central Buzău. The 400 seats hall was the location where important Romanian artists that came to Buzău, such as Nicolae Leonard
, Constantin Nottara and George Enescu
performed.
In 1899, mayor Nicu Constantinescu began the construction of the Communal Palace, a project completed in 1903. The Communal Palace is now the city's most prominent landmark. Constantinescu also decided to refactor the central streets of Buzău, which were narrow and winding, an heritage of the market town history and the repeated destructions followed by disorganized rebuilding of the city. Thus, the wide and straight Park Boulevard (linking the city center and the Crâng Park) and the Railway Station Boulevard (linking the center to the railway station) were built.
During this period, Constantin Brâncuşi
and Ion Luca Caragiale
were briefly residents of Buzău. Caragiale leased a restaurant near the railway station in 1894 and lived there for a year. During this period, he also held a public conference, whose intended subject, Prose
writing techniques was changed at the last moment into Causes of human stupidity. Brâncuşi lived in the city in the summer of 1914, after Eliza Seceleanu, a young local landowner's widow, had commissioned him to create two sculptures: Prayer and the bust
of Petre Stănescu, her late husband. After creating the two sculptures in Paris
, Brâncuşi brought them to Buzău and lived there for a few months while working to prepare the sculptures' stands. Both sculptures decorated Stănescu's tomb at the local Dumbrava cemetery for a while, but they were since moved to the National Museum of Art of Romania
in Bucharest
, being replaced by two copies. The copies have been stolen in 1999 and have not been replaced since.
The first electric light bulb in the city was installed in 1899, in front of the public garden in the center of Buzău. The first cinema show in Buzău took place in 1904, in a beer pub on the Park Boulevard, by a local named Nicolae Mihăilescu.
, the city was occupied, from 14 December 1916 to 14 November 1918, by German
forces, and many of the inhabitants took refuge in Moldavia
or in the country side. Buzău returned to Romanian administration at the end of the war.
After 1918, Buzău continued to develop, slowly becoming an industrial center. Also, a football team, named Vârtejul was created in 1921, and the first boxing
match in Buzău took place in 1931, when a sports newspaper was first printed.
The most important mayor of Buzău between the two world wars was Stan Săraru, who erected in 1935 a modern food market, which nowadays is the most important market in the city and is named the Stan Săraru market. He also started the construction of the Crâng Stadium, and a public bathhouse
and paved the main streets with cobblestone
.
An eagle, nicknamed Ilie by the locals and raised by a salesman who lived nearby was the railway station's mascot
between 1930 and 1943. Ilie came to the train station often, and ate out of people's hands. The eagle died during World War II, shot by Nazi
soldiers. A beer brewed in Buzău was named Vulturul (The eagle), and a street in Buzău was named Strada Vulturului (Eagle street) in his memory.
During World War II
, Soviet troops occupied Buzău in August 1944, and, as German soldiers were barricaded inside the Communal Palace, its tower was knocked down by cannons. The tower was rebuilt after the war. Heavy fighting took place in the area after August 23, 1944, when Marshal Ion Antonescu
was arrested in Bucharest and his pro-Nazi government overthrown. The Heroes' Cemetery, which lies in the western part of the city, is the burial ground of the Soviet, German, and Romanian soldiers who died at that time.
All the factories in Buzău were nationalized and the central government in Bucharest ran a policy of building monotonous and drab blocks of flats. Consequently, some old neighborhoods in Buzău were demolished
to make way for the new buildings. Before 1953, the residential areas were exclusively made up of houses, but many of them were razed to build blocks of flats. The process was slow at first, but between 1980 and 1988, all the houses on the main street of the city were demolished and blocks of flats were built. During that time, many historic buildings were destroyed, such as the Moldavia theater. Of the historic city center, only the Cuza Vodă street buildings escaped demolition. Also, in 1969, a residential area was built into the Crâng Park, reducing its size. This development was sometimes chaotic, as it happened in 1985, when the new Unirii Boulevard was rerouted by mayor Dochia who ordered that the foundations of some blocks that were being built be buried during one night and the street to run over the covered foundations.
Forced industrialization took place during the communist regime, as the Buzău-South industrial platform was inaugurated in 1963. The location was chosen as to use some barren land and to have the local winds move the pollution away from the city.
However, some city improvements have also been made during this period. The Tineretului Park was built in the Eastern side of the city, with a sports hall and a swimming pool. In 1981, a movie theater with 650 seats was open, and a major hospital
was built in 1971-1973. In 1976, the city celebrated 1,600 years since its oldest historical attestation. To mark the event, an obelisk was erected in Crâng Park
. In the same year, the Dacia square, the city's main square located in front of the Communal Palace, was repaved, with white, red and grey Măgura marble
, with patterns similar to those on traditional folk costumes from the Bisoca
area.
Construction work for an Orthodox
cathedral, called the St. Sava Cathedral, was started in 1991. In 1995, a theater was opened once again in Buzău, and called the George Ciprian Theater.
, Moldavia
and Transylvania
met.
As a consequence of the agricultural reform that took place during the reign of Alexander John Cuza
in 1897 and 1898, the Bulgarian gardeners rented some land that the state had taken over from the bishopric. They developed a distribution network for their products in Buzău, as well as in the nearby cities Braşov
, Ploieşti
and Râmnicu Sărat
. Their activity became more successful after some of them took over ownership of their land after a second land reform in 1921.
After the destruction period had ended, the economical development took on an industrial component. Towards the end of the 19th century, the development of the Romanian railway network, in which Buzău was an important hub, gave a strong momentum to the evolution from small workshops to full scale industrial plants. The first industrial facility was the Garoflid mill, open in 1883, which also functioned as a textile factory. In 1894, the Saturn society opened an oil
refinery, which functioned for fifty years.
After a severe national-wide drop of the industrial production level, caused by World War I
(the 1919 total production was merely a quarter of the 1913 production), industrial development accelerated again during the interbellum. The baking industry was an important part of the local economy. The first industrial mill in the city, Garoflid, renamed Zangopol after its new owned, managed to have a capital of 5 million lei
in 1928, and 30 million lei in 1938, and the society that managed the mill had about 100 employees. Another important business that started at this time was the Metalurgica şi Turnătorie – S.A. (Metallurgica and Metal Casting) factory, founded in 1928 with a capital of over 9 million lei. Although it had to overcom several difficulties at the beginning, being closed during the Great Crisis, it reopened in 1933.
After World War II
, the establishment of the Communist government
, and the nationalization decision of 11 June 1948 all companies in Buzău became state property. Also, the Communist government began implementing forced industrialization, some of the industries that developed in Buzău during the Communist rule being unsuitable for the location. In 1965 the industrial platform Buzău South was inaugurated, on 318 ha
of land, in the area where the Saturn refinery previously had existed, before being blown up during World War II
. The most important factories in Buzău, created or enhanced at this time, are located in the Buzău South industrial zone: The Steel Wire and Steel Wire-by Products (renamed Ductil after 1990), The Railway Equipment Factory (after 1990, Apcarom), Metalurgica (founded in 1928), The Glass Factory(after 1991, Gerom S.A.http://www.gerom-buzau.ro).
Other industrial state enterprises opened in Buzău in other parts of the city. Thus, The Contactors Factory is located in the north-western part of the city and the plastic factory (after 1990, Romcarbon S.A.) is located in the north side.
In spite of the forced industrialization process, Buzău was not based on solely one leading industry, as it happened in other Romanian cities, and there was no single factory on which the entire city economy depended. According to a new law of commercial societies, adopted 1990, after the fall of the Communist regime
, the factories in the city reorganized as joint stock companies
. Only some of the companies failed to become competitive on a market economy
and were closed during the transition process, many others, after reorganizing, became functional businesses.
The largest Buzău-based company is the Romet holding
, with Romanian capital
, made up of several companies that produce isolation material for water and gas pipes, water purifiers, fire-extinguishers and other such products. The company became successful during the 1990s
, by selling its Aquator water purifier. In 1999, this group acquired Aromet S.A., company which managed the Metalurgica factory, founded in 1928.
Other companies in Buzău were privatized by programs supervised by the World Bank
. Apcarom S.A., the only Romanian producer of railway equipment, was taken over by the Austria
n company VAE, and had, a social capital
of 7.38 milloan lei. Ductil S.A. http://www.ductil.ro/, one of the largest businesses in Buzău, was privatized in 1999 and subsequently diveded by the new majority shareholder, FRO Spa, which kept only the electrods and welding
equipment section and sold the other departments. The section that produces steel wire and steel wire products, steel nets and concrete became Ductil Steel S.A.http://www.ductilsteel.ro/mainRO.html and is now part of the portfolio of the Italian company Sidersipe. The iron powder section was renamed Ductil Iron Powder. In 2007, FRO Spa sold their majority shares of Ductil S.A. to the Russian Mechel company, for 90 million euro
s.Zahărul S.A., the local sugar producer, was acquired by the Agrana România Austria
n capital group, which owns other sugar factories in Roman
and Ţăndărei
.
The baking industry still plays an important role in the local economy. The largest producer on this market in Buzău is Boromir Prod, whose majority shareholder is the Boromir Ind group of Râmnicu Vâlcea
.
and Ploieşti
to Focşani
, Galaţi
and Constanţa
meet in the city. The main railway station was inaugurated in 1872, together with the Bucharest-Galaţi railroad.
A branch of that railroad, running from Buzău to Mărăşeşti
was open a few years later, on 13 June 1881, becoming the first railroad designed by Romanian engineers.
The Buzău-Nehoiaşu commuter railway line, open in 1908, links Buzău to most communes on the Buzău River
valley, including the towns of Nehoiu
and Pătârlagele
.
(E85) from Bucharest
and the main cities from Moldavia
. DN1B
connects Buzău to Ploieşti and DN10
crosses the Carpathian Mountains at their curvature through the Buzău Pass
to Braşov
. Galaţi and Brăila
can be reached via DN2B.
Two inter-city bus stations, one located in the north of the city, the other in the south, near the railway station, are in use for private passenger transport companies who provide coach
connections to other cities or run commuter lines with nearby communes.
, in Otopeni
, 110 km away.
The local council is made up of 25 councillors, and has the following party composition:
The first school in Buzău was the school for church and icon painters, opened by Chesarie, the bishop of Buzău. The school functioned at the bishopric of Buzău, and was managed by Nicolae Teodorescu
. Gheorghe Tattarescu
started learning painting here.
The city's most important educational landmark is the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College
, attended by the Nobel prize winner George Emil Palade
in his youth. The Hasdeu high school was inaugurated in 1867.
The city's public library was opened in 1893, under the name of Carol I Public Library. Later it took the name of Vasile Voiculescu
, Buzău's most prominent author, writer, and poet.
The George Ciprian stage theatre was created in 1996. It does not have an acting crew of its own, relying on contracts. Its first manager was playwright Paul Ioachim
.
The first university in the city was the Economic University College, inaugurated in 1992, a branch of the Academy of Economic Studies
in Bucharest
.
The main museum in Buzău is the Buzău County Museum, which exhibits items related to the region's history. The same museum oversees the ethnography
exhibition at the Vergu-Mănăilă House
, as well as the Amber
Museum in Colţi
and the Vasile Voiculescu Memorial House in Pârscov.
with: Oudenaarde
, Belgium
, since 1999 Agios Dimitrios
, Greece
, since 2006
Buzau County
Buzău is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 496,214 and the population density was 81/km².*Romanians – 97%*Roma – under 3% declared, and others....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, in the historical region of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River
Buzau River
Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...
, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain
Baragan Plain
The Bărăgan Plain is a steppe plain in south-eastern Romania. It makes up much of the eastern part of the Wallachian Plain. The region is known for its black soil and a rich humus, and is mostly a cereal-growing area....
.
The city's name dates back to 376 AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
when the name appeared on a letter that spoke about the martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth
Sabbas the Goth
Sabbas the Goth is a martyr and Christian saint.He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău river valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia region in Romania...
. During the Middle Ages, Buzău was as an important Wallachian market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and Eastern Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
episcopal see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
. It faced a period of repeated destruction during the 17th and 18th century, nowadays symbolized on the city seal by the Phoenix bird
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
. Those destructions are the main reason for which no building older than the 18th century exists in the city. After that, Buzău slowly recovered to become nowadays an important modern city in south-eastern Romania.
The city's landmark building is the Communal Palace, located in the central Dacia Square. The Nicolae Bălcescu Boulevard links it to the Crâng park
Crâng park
Crâng Park is the largest and most important park in the city of Buzău, Romania.-Location:The park is located on the western outskirts of the city. It has an area of about . It represents only a part of a 1.89 square kilometre forest, named the Crâng forest, which is a remainder of the Codrii...
, Buzău's main recreational area.
Buzău is a railway hub in south-estern Romania, where railways that link Bucharest to Moldavia and Transylvania to the Black Sea coast meet. DN2
DN2
The Romanian national road DN2 links Bucharest with the historical region of Moldavia in north-east Romania. Recently upgraded, it is today one of the best-maintained roads in the country. Along the first from Bucharest to Săbăoani, near Roman the road has two lanes with one narrow emergency lane...
, a segment of European route E85
European route E85
European route E 85 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe.The E 85 starts from Klaipėda runs south through Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria to Greece, ending at Alexandroupolis....
crosses the city. Buzău's proximity to trade routes helped it develop its role as a commerce hub in older days, and as an industrial center during the 20th century. Most of the city's industry was developed during Romania's communist period, and was refactored through the 1990s to a capitalist economical framework.
Population
- 1832: 2,567
- 1864: 9,027
- 1892: 17,300
- 1900: 21,000
- 1941: 44,511
- 1968: 66,433
- 1977: 101,149
- 1992: 148,087
- 2002: 134,227
At the 2002 census, the population of Buzău had the following ethnic composition:
- RomaniansRomaniansThe Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
: 128,423 - 95.67% - Roma: 5,502 - 4.09%
Landmarks
Nicu Constantinescu
Nicu Constantinescu was a Romanian liberal politician, mayor of the city of Buzău, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He is credited for much of the modern urban development of the city....
, at the end of the 19th century.
Crâng Park
Crâng park
Crâng Park is the largest and most important park in the city of Buzău, Romania.-Location:The park is located on the western outskirts of the city. It has an area of about . It represents only a part of a 1.89 square kilometre forest, named the Crâng forest, which is a remainder of the Codrii...
, carved in the corner of a larger forest, lies in the western outskirts of the town and is a remnant of the old Codrii Vlăsiei
Codrii Vlasiei
Codrii Vlăsiei was the forest that once covered parts of southern Romania, including the territory of today's Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov County....
. Crâng was designed in the late 19th century. It has an obelisk, erected in 1976 to celebrate 1600 years since the town's first recorded historical attestation.
The oldest building in Buzău is the Vergu-Mănăilă house
Vergu-Manaila House
The Vergu-Mănăilă house is the oldest surviving building in Buzău, Romania. An 18th century boyar's mansion, renovated between 1971 and 1974, it hosts a museum of ethnography and folk art....
, erected in the 17th or 18th century as a boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s' mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
. Renovated between 1971–1974, it now hosts the local Museum of ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
and folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
.
The church of Banului, erected in the 16th century as a monastery, underwent renovation several times. In 1884, it was repainted by a team of painters including Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting.-Early life and studies:...
and his uncle Nicolae Teodorescu
Nicolae Teodorescu
Nicolae Teodorescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian church painter , and the uncle of artist Gheorghe Tattarescu.In 1831, he was called on by Chesarie, the Orthodox bishop of Buzău to open a school for church painters at the local bishopric...
.
An old tradition of the city is the Drăgaica fair
Dragaica fair
Drăgaica is the traditional Midsummer fair held annually in Buzău, Romania. It takes place every year between 10 and 24 June.-History:The Drăgaica fair was initially a wool trading fair held in the mountain side of the Buzău River valley, every year, after the sheep shearing...
, a midsummer
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
fair traced back to traditional shepherd's fairs in the Buzău mountains, that moved to Buzău sometimes before the 18th century.
Geography
Buzău is located between the Buzău riverBuzau River
Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...
valley, that forms its northern bounds, the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
' curvature and the Danube Plain. It has an oblong shape, as it is larger along the Buzău river and shorter across. The altitude of Buzău ranges from 101 meters in the North-West, near the hills to 88 meters close to the river, with a 95 meter average (as is also the altitude in the Dacia square, in the center). Therefore, Buzău is located on a flat relief, with a 10 meters altitude difference along a 4 km line.
Climate
Annual rainfall amounts to 500 mm and the winter snow can be as high as 30 cm. The Buzău river has frequent flow fluctuations, especially in spring, when snow melting in the mountains enhance the water flow. Therefore the city was built far from a deep riverbed and the river does not flood the city. At the major floods of 2005 in Romania, the waters damaged the bridge across the Buzău river north of Buzău, but did no damage whatsoever to the city.The climate is mostly continental, with an average 92 days of frost a year (16 days with temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius), but also with 92 days of summer, prone to excessive heat and drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
.
Flora and fauna
Flora is represented in Buzău by the remainder of the Codrii VlăsieiCodrii Vlasiei
Codrii Vlăsiei was the forest that once covered parts of southern Romania, including the territory of today's Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov County....
in the west, a 189 hectares oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
forest. Crâng Park
Crâng park
Crâng Park is the largest and most important park in the city of Buzău, Romania.-Location:The park is located on the western outskirts of the city. It has an area of about . It represents only a part of a 1.89 square kilometre forest, named the Crâng forest, which is a remainder of the Codrii...
occupies 10 hectares of this forest. Most streets in Buzău have trees planted alongside them, such as chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s on the Nicolae Bălcescu Boulevard and lime trees on the Unirii Boulevard. Flowers grown by the local people in the yard typically include various species of rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s, hyacinths, tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
s, peonies
Peony
Peony or paeony is a name for plants in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America...
, cranesbill
Cranesbill
Geranium is a genus of 422 species of flowering annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as the cranesbills. It is found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean region. The long,...
s and petunia
Petunia
Petunia is a widely cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, closely related with tobacco, cape gooseberries, tomatoes, deadly nightshades, potatoes and chili peppers; in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower derived its name from French, which took the word petun, meaning...
s, as well as vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
and ivy for shade.
Wild fauna in Buzău is represented by typical temperate climate city-dwelling species. The most common birds are the house sparrow
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia...
, the collared dove and the goldfinch
European Goldfinch
The European Goldfinch or Goldfinch is a small passerine bird in the finch family.-Habitat and range:The goldfinch breeds across Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia, in open, partially wooded lowlands. It is resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from colder regions...
, while the rodents are represented by the ferret
Ferret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...
and the brown rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
. Lakes are inhabited by small fish such as the rhodeus amarus
Rhodeus amarus
The European Bitterling, Rhodeus amarus, is a temperate freshwater fish belonging to the Acheilognathinae sub-family of the Cyprinidae family. It originates in Europe, ranging from the Rhone River basin in France to the Neva River in Russia...
and eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s, as well as by green lizards
European green lizard
The European Green Lizard is a large lizard distributed across mid European latitudes from the north of the Iberian peninsula to as far east as Ukraine. It is often to be seen sunning itself on rocks or lawns, or sheltering amongst bushes.- Description :The lizard reaches up to 13 cm in length...
and snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s.
First recorded historical attestation
The earliest mention on the river Buzău and the polisPolis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
(named Mousaios (Μουσαίος) in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
) on its bank is a letter from Ioannis Soranus, governor of Scytia Minor, to the archbishop of Caesarea Mazaca (about 400 A.D.). The document, kept in copies at the Vatican Library and San Marco Library in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, tells about the martyrdom of a Christian missionary by the name of Sabbas
Sabbas the Goth
Sabbas the Goth is a martyr and Christian saint.He was born in 334 to Christian parents in a village in the Buzău river valley and lived in what is now the Wallachia region in Romania...
, drowned by the Goths in the river Buzău. He is the spiritual patron of the city of Buzău as well as of several local villages.
Several graves (3rd to 5th century AD) were found in Buzău, as well as coins that prove the continuance of the settlement.
Market town and bishopric in the Middle Ages
Gustav Treiber, in his work Siebenburgische Viertel Jahresschrit states that prior to the 12th century, the city was surrounded by a wall with four gates towards the four main directions.
The earliest mention of Buzău as a market town (târg
Târg
A târg was a medieval Romanian market town. The term originates from the Slavic root torg for "trade". Târgs were originally established on the places where periodic fairs were held. With time, they became permanent settlements as craftsmen built their workshops near the place where the fair was held...
) and customs station is found in a document, dated January 31, 1431, and issued by Dan II
Dan II of Wallachia
Dan II was a voivode of the principality of Wallachia in the 15th Century, ruling an extraordinary five times, and succeeded four times by Radu II Chelul, his rival for the throne...
, voivod of Wallachia. The document stated that salesmen from Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
were free to trade in several Wallachian towns (Buzău, among them) just as they were during the reign of Mircea cel Bătrân. These privileges have been later reinforced by Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
, who stated that the roads to be taken by the salesmen were to be: via Rucăr
Rucar
Rucăr is a commune in the north-eastern part of Argeş County, Romania. At the 2002 census, the population of the commune was 6,207. It is composed of two villages, Rucăr and Sătic....
, Prahova
Prahova River
The Prahova River is a river of Southern Romania, which rises from the Bucegi Mountains, in the Southern Carpathians and flows into the Ialomiţa...
, Teleajen
Teleajen River
The Teleajen River in southern Romania is a tributary of the Prahova River. Its source is located in the Ciucaş Mountains in the locality of Cheia, at the junction of headwaters Cheiţa and Tâmpa River...
or Buzău.
In 1500, Radu cel Mare
Radu cel Mare
Radu IV the Great was a Voivode of Wallachia from September 1495 to April 1508. He succeeded his father, Vlad Călugărul, who was one of the three brothers to Vlad III the Impaler . He was married to Princess Catalina Crnojević of Zeta, and was succeeded by his first cousin Mihnea cel Rău, son to...
created The Bishopric of Buzău, making the town a spiritual center of Eastern Wallachia. In 1507, Buzău appears (under the name of Boza) for the first time on a map, made by Nicolaus Germanus
Nicolaus Germanus
Donnus Nicolaus Germanus was a German cartographer who wrote a pioneering Cosmographia and created two globes depicting earth and sky in 1477, thus predating the Erdapfel of Martin Behaim....
. At the time, the city was the 4th largest city of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, and an important trade partner of Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
. Between 1503 and 1515, the salesmen from Buzău traded merchandise worth 2,245,835 aspres (an Ottoman currency). A document dated 1536 shows that the town was administered by one judeţ (mayor) and 12 elected pârgari (city councillors). Underground tunnels dating back to the 16th century connect the bishopric's complex, the city center and the Crâng Park
Crâng park
Crâng Park is the largest and most important park in the city of Buzău, Romania.-Location:The park is located on the western outskirts of the city. It has an area of about . It represents only a part of a 1.89 square kilometre forest, named the Crâng forest, which is a remainder of the Codrii...
(at the time, only a large forest at the town's outskirts). Their role was to store supply and evacuate people in case of danger.
In 1571, the Banu monastery was erected. The monastery's name, "Banu", indicates the nobility title of its builder, ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Andronic Cantacuzino. The monastery church was rebuilt by Andreiana, wife of Şerban Cantacuzino, in 1722. After the monastic assets secularizing act
Secularization of monastery estates in Romania
The law on the secularization of monastery estates in Romania was proposed in December 1863 by Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza and approved by the Parliament of Romania. By its terms, the Romanian state confiscated the large estates owned by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Romania...
of 1863, the monastery was dismantled; its church, however, was sparred.
A 1575 document mentions the Bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
(permanent market with shops, stores, cellars, storage rooms). The Bazaar of Buzău was the second oldest in Wallachia. At the end of the 16th century, Buzău was divided in four parts: the Bishopric with its servants, the Banu monastery and its servants, the old market and the city (located between the bishopric and the monastery).
During the last decade of the 16th century, around 18,000 Serbs settled in Wallachia. Several families made Buzău their home, by founding a neighbourhood known to this day by the name Serbs and located on the bank of the Buzău River
Buzau River
Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...
. Later, in 1792-1838, many Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
refugees settled in the same neighbourhood. Due to similarities of the mother tongues spoken by the two ethnic groups, the locals called the new refugees also Serbs. The Bulgarians were given land by the river where they created vegetable gardens.
Successive destructions
The late Middle Ages brought a wave of destruction to the town, Buzău being completely or partially destroyed by multiple wars and foreign military invasions, as well as natural disasters.The army of Mihai Viteazul was located in Buzău in 1596. After the army left, the city was devastated in 1597 by Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Tatar raids. The next year, Mihai Viteazul brought gifts to the inhabitants of the city to compensate for the damages. The chronicler Balthasar Walter described the tatar invasion of 1597:
In April 1616, many houses in Buzău were burnt down during a Polish invasion, during one of the Moldavian Magnate Wars
Moldavian Magnate Wars
The Moldavian Magnate Wars refer to the period at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century when the magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth intervened in the affairs of Moldavia, clashing with the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire for domination and influence over the...
. The inhabitants took refuge in the nearby mountains and forests. All existing land deeds were lost at the event. One year later, in July 1617, the city was once again occupied by the Ottoman army.
Buzău was pillaged by Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
again in 1623, as pointed out by Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab
Matei Basarab was a Wallachian Voivode between 1632 and 1654.-Reign:Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1637, 1639, and 1653 - see Battle of Finta...
in a 1633 letter:
Stolnic
Stolnic was a boier rank and the position at the court in the history of Romania: in Moldavia and Wallachia. The title approximately corresponds to seneschal and is borrowed from the Slavic title stolnik a person in charge of the royal table.The title mare stolnic means "great stolnic", or...
Constantin Cantacuzino
Constantin Cantacuzino
Constantin Cantacuzino may refer to several members of the Cantacuzino family:*Constantin Cantacuzino , Wallachian stolnic, historian and diplomat*Constantin Cantacuzino , Wallachian kaymakam in 1848...
. The map shows 22 other cities and market towns of the country.
After a period of relative peace, during which the bishopric was subsidized by the domn to open a school in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and another in Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Church Slavic was the first literary Slavic language, first developed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius who were credited with standardizing the language and using it for translating the Bible and other Ancient Greek...
, in 1739, during a Russo-Turkish War, Russian troops as well as Frilow's Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
s ravaged through Buzău, taking the bishop with them as they went.
During another Russo-Turkish War, Ottoman soldiers burnt all the stores and houses, burning the city to the ground. The Bishopric church was also destroyed, and the bishop moved temporarily to Bucharest. The Banu monastery church escaped destruction, only to be destroyed in 1774 by an earthquake. Also, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787 - 1792, the city was once again destroyed. The long string of war-caused damage went on in 1806 and 1807, when the Ottoman army burnt down the city to ruins leaving 230 people dead. The locals fled to the Nişcov river valley, from where they returned only in 1812.
The cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
epidemics at the beginning of the 19th century also decimated the city's population (see Caragea's plague
Caragea's plague
Caragea's plague or Caradja's plague was a bubonic plague epidemic that occurred in Wallachia, mainly in Bucharest, in the years 1813 and 1814. It coincided with the rule of the Phanariote Prince John Caradja.-Alleged source:...
).
The last time the city was devastated by war was in 1821 at the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
. After that, in light of the establishment of the Organic Regulations
Regulamentul Organic
Regulamentul Organic was a quasi-constitutional organic law enforced in 1834–1835 by the Imperial Russian authorities in Moldavia and Wallachia...
, a period of reconstruction and modernisation began. Also, Wallachia stopped being a theatre of operations in the wars between the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, the conflincts moving further away, in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, the Southern and Western Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
.
Thus, although Buzău is attested by documents as a polis since the 4th century AD, and as a market town since 1431, the oldest building in the city is the Vergu-Mănăilă house, erected as recently as the 18th century, around 1780. The Vergu-Mănăilă house
Vergu-Manaila House
The Vergu-Mănăilă house is the oldest surviving building in Buzău, Romania. An 18th century boyar's mansion, renovated between 1971 and 1974, it hosts a museum of ethnography and folk art....
was owned at the time by a high-ranking boyar named Vergu, who owned a pub and a bakery near the house.
19th Century development
During the 19th century, the city overcame the difficulties of repeated reconstruction, and started to develop as a modern city with solid businesses and a cultural life. The Crâng forest became a leisure place for the locals around 1829, and was eventually organized as a public garden by 1850.Schools began to be set up, as in 1831 the Bishopric opened a school for muralists and icon painters, led by Nicolae Teodorescu
Nicolae Teodorescu
Nicolae Teodorescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian church painter , and the uncle of artist Gheorghe Tattarescu.In 1831, he was called on by Chesarie, the Orthodox bishop of Buzău to open a school for church painters at the local bishopric...
and attended by Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting.-Early life and studies:...
. One year later, the National School (the first school in Buzău to teach in the Romanian language
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
) was open, and in 1838 Şcoala Normală (a school for teachers) was inaugurated by Dionisie Romano. Şcoala normală trained teachers for the city schools and for 115 villages. The Buzău theological seminar was open in 1836. It was the first secondary school in Buzău and the second theological school in Wallachia, after the one in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
The oldest known census in Buzău showed, in 1832, a total population of 2567, of which one was Austrian, one was English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, 18 were Jewish and the rest Romanian.
Around 1837-1840, public lighting was introduced on the main street. The street lamps were using tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
candle
Candle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
s. By 1861, the number of public street lamps grew from 38 to 50. In 1841 the streets were realigned "by urban rules".
By 1842, the city had a stable doctor, a drugstore
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, a fire squad and an officially authorized midwife.
During the Wallachian revolution of 1848
Wallachian Revolution of 1848
The Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the Principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in the Principality of Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by...
, a "National Guard", supervised by Barbu
Barbu Bălcescu
Barbu Bălcescu was a Wallachian-born Romanian lawyer and revolutionary, the younger brother of Nicolae Bălcescu....
and Nicolae Bălcescu
Nicolae Balcescu
Nicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
was set up immediately after the government was organized in Bucharest in June. However, the revolution was crushed by Russian and Ottoman forces, and Buzău was occupied by the Russian army for three years. The Russian army briefly occupied Buzău again in 1853 during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. After the occupation ended, the city's development was resumed.
At the Ad-hoc divans organized after the Congress of Paris in 1856, a large majority of representatives of Buzău voted for Wallachia's union with Moldova. Later on, after a personal union was completed on 5 February 1859, prince Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
was welcomed enthusiastically by the inhabitants of Buzău and was persuaded to spend the night in the city on his way from Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. The newly-elected Domn of both Wallachia and Moldova left the city the next day via Strada Mare, a street known today by the name of Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard).
The buildings on the Cuza Vodă Street (at the time known as Strada Târgului -- Market Street) were erected between 1850 and 1880 in the style of the 19th century South-Eastern European commercial houses—two-story buildings with shops on the ground floor, and residences on the top floor.
Cultural life blossomed, as in 1852, the first theater show in Buzău took place. In 1854, a printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
was imported by the Bishopric from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and was subsequently used to print the Buzău Bible, the fourth Romanian bible (the first three being the Bucharest Bible in 1688, one printed in Blaj
Blaj
Blaj is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,758 inhabitants.The landmark of the city is the fact that it was the principal religious and cultural center of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania....
in 1792 and another printed in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1819).
Public lighting was enhanced in 1860 by introducing petrol lamps. In the same year, street numbers were assigned to houses, and streets were paved with stones. The Gârlaşi Hospital (nowadays, the Infectious Diseases Hospital) was open in 1865, being the first permanent city hospital.
The Moldavia theater was open in 1898 in a building in central Buzău. The 400 seats hall was the location where important Romanian artists that came to Buzău, such as Nicolae Leonard
Nicolae Leonard
Nicolae Leonard was a Romanian opera tenor, nicknamed "Prince of the operetta".-References:...
, Constantin Nottara and George Enescu
George Enescu
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
performed.
During this period, Constantin Brâncuşi
Constantin Brancusi
Constantin Brâncuşi was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
and Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...
were briefly residents of Buzău. Caragiale leased a restaurant near the railway station in 1894 and lived there for a year. During this period, he also held a public conference, whose intended subject, Prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
writing techniques was changed at the last moment into Causes of human stupidity. Brâncuşi lived in the city in the summer of 1914, after Eliza Seceleanu, a young local landowner's widow, had commissioned him to create two sculptures: Prayer and the bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Petre Stănescu, her late husband. After creating the two sculptures in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Brâncuşi brought them to Buzău and lived there for a few months while working to prepare the sculptures' stands. Both sculptures decorated Stănescu's tomb at the local Dumbrava cemetery for a while, but they were since moved to the National Museum of Art of Romania
National Museum of Art of Romania
The National Museum of Art of Romania is located in the former royal palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest, Romania, completed in 1937...
in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, being replaced by two copies. The copies have been stolen in 1999 and have not been replaced since.
The first electric light bulb in the city was installed in 1899, in front of the public garden in the center of Buzău. The first cinema show in Buzău took place in 1904, in a beer pub on the Park Boulevard, by a local named Nicolae Mihăilescu.
The World Wars and the interbellum
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the city was occupied, from 14 December 1916 to 14 November 1918, by German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
forces, and many of the inhabitants took refuge in Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
or in the country side. Buzău returned to Romanian administration at the end of the war.
After 1918, Buzău continued to develop, slowly becoming an industrial center. Also, a football team, named Vârtejul was created in 1921, and the first boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
match in Buzău took place in 1931, when a sports newspaper was first printed.
The most important mayor of Buzău between the two world wars was Stan Săraru, who erected in 1935 a modern food market, which nowadays is the most important market in the city and is named the Stan Săraru market. He also started the construction of the Crâng Stadium, and a public bathhouse
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
and paved the main streets with cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
.
An eagle, nicknamed Ilie by the locals and raised by a salesman who lived nearby was the railway station's mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
between 1930 and 1943. Ilie came to the train station often, and ate out of people's hands. The eagle died during World War II, shot by Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
soldiers. A beer brewed in Buzău was named Vulturul (The eagle), and a street in Buzău was named Strada Vulturului (Eagle street) in his memory.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Soviet troops occupied Buzău in August 1944, and, as German soldiers were barricaded inside the Communal Palace, its tower was knocked down by cannons. The tower was rebuilt after the war. Heavy fighting took place in the area after August 23, 1944, when Marshal Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
was arrested in Bucharest and his pro-Nazi government overthrown. The Heroes' Cemetery, which lies in the western part of the city, is the burial ground of the Soviet, German, and Romanian soldiers who died at that time.
The communist period
After the war, when Romanian government was taken over by a communist regime, Buzău lost its county seat status in 1952, being included in the Ploieşti Region. Then Buzău county was later reinstated in 1968.All the factories in Buzău were nationalized and the central government in Bucharest ran a policy of building monotonous and drab blocks of flats. Consequently, some old neighborhoods in Buzău were demolished
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
to make way for the new buildings. Before 1953, the residential areas were exclusively made up of houses, but many of them were razed to build blocks of flats. The process was slow at first, but between 1980 and 1988, all the houses on the main street of the city were demolished and blocks of flats were built. During that time, many historic buildings were destroyed, such as the Moldavia theater. Of the historic city center, only the Cuza Vodă street buildings escaped demolition. Also, in 1969, a residential area was built into the Crâng Park, reducing its size. This development was sometimes chaotic, as it happened in 1985, when the new Unirii Boulevard was rerouted by mayor Dochia who ordered that the foundations of some blocks that were being built be buried during one night and the street to run over the covered foundations.
However, some city improvements have also been made during this period. The Tineretului Park was built in the Eastern side of the city, with a sports hall and a swimming pool. In 1981, a movie theater with 650 seats was open, and a major hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
was built in 1971-1973. In 1976, the city celebrated 1,600 years since its oldest historical attestation. To mark the event, an obelisk was erected in Crâng Park
Crâng park
Crâng Park is the largest and most important park in the city of Buzău, Romania.-Location:The park is located on the western outskirts of the city. It has an area of about . It represents only a part of a 1.89 square kilometre forest, named the Crâng forest, which is a remainder of the Codrii...
. In the same year, the Dacia square, the city's main square located in front of the Communal Palace, was repaved, with white, red and grey Măgura marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, with patterns similar to those on traditional folk costumes from the Bisoca
Bisoca
Bisoca is a commune in the north of Buzău County, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Băltăgari, Bisoca, Lacurile, Lopătăreasa, Pleşi, Recea, Sările and Şindrila....
area.
Post-communism (1990-present day)
The process of demolition of homes was stopped after the fall of Communism in Romania, in late December 1989. The city's economy stagnated for some years, but Buzău slowly started to develop, as state-owned factories were privatized and some new industries emerged.Construction work for an Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
cathedral, called the St. Sava Cathedral, was started in 1991. In 1995, a theater was opened once again in Buzău, and called the George Ciprian Theater.
Economy
During the Middle Ages, Buzău's economy was centered on trade, as this market town was a customs point, taking advantage of its position at the Carpathians' curvature, at a point where roads that linked WallachiaWallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
met.
As a consequence of the agricultural reform that took place during the reign of Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
in 1897 and 1898, the Bulgarian gardeners rented some land that the state had taken over from the bishopric. They developed a distribution network for their products in Buzău, as well as in the nearby cities Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
, Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
and Râmnicu Sărat
Râmnicu Sarat
Râmnicu Sărat is a city in Buzău County, Romania. It was declared a municipality in 1439. On December 21, 1994 it celebrated its 555th anniversary....
. Their activity became more successful after some of them took over ownership of their land after a second land reform in 1921.
After the destruction period had ended, the economical development took on an industrial component. Towards the end of the 19th century, the development of the Romanian railway network, in which Buzău was an important hub, gave a strong momentum to the evolution from small workshops to full scale industrial plants. The first industrial facility was the Garoflid mill, open in 1883, which also functioned as a textile factory. In 1894, the Saturn society opened an oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
refinery, which functioned for fifty years.
After a severe national-wide drop of the industrial production level, caused by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(the 1919 total production was merely a quarter of the 1913 production), industrial development accelerated again during the interbellum. The baking industry was an important part of the local economy. The first industrial mill in the city, Garoflid, renamed Zangopol after its new owned, managed to have a capital of 5 million lei
Romanian leu
The leu is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani . The name of the currency means "lion". On 1 July 2005, Romania underwent a currency reform, switching from the previous leu to a new leu . 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL...
in 1928, and 30 million lei in 1938, and the society that managed the mill had about 100 employees. Another important business that started at this time was the Metalurgica şi Turnătorie – S.A. (Metallurgica and Metal Casting) factory, founded in 1928 with a capital of over 9 million lei. Although it had to overcom several difficulties at the beginning, being closed during the Great Crisis, it reopened in 1933.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the establishment of the Communist government
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, and the nationalization decision of 11 June 1948 all companies in Buzău became state property. Also, the Communist government began implementing forced industrialization, some of the industries that developed in Buzău during the Communist rule being unsuitable for the location. In 1965 the industrial platform Buzău South was inaugurated, on 318 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
of land, in the area where the Saturn refinery previously had existed, before being blown up during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The most important factories in Buzău, created or enhanced at this time, are located in the Buzău South industrial zone: The Steel Wire and Steel Wire-by Products (renamed Ductil after 1990), The Railway Equipment Factory (after 1990, Apcarom), Metalurgica (founded in 1928), The Glass Factory(after 1991, Gerom S.A.http://www.gerom-buzau.ro).
Other industrial state enterprises opened in Buzău in other parts of the city. Thus, The Contactors Factory is located in the north-western part of the city and the plastic factory (after 1990, Romcarbon S.A.) is located in the north side.
In spite of the forced industrialization process, Buzău was not based on solely one leading industry, as it happened in other Romanian cities, and there was no single factory on which the entire city economy depended. According to a new law of commercial societies, adopted 1990, after the fall of the Communist regime
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, the factories in the city reorganized as joint stock companies
Joint stock company
A joint-stock company is a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more individuals that own shares of stock in the company...
. Only some of the companies failed to become competitive on a market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
and were closed during the transition process, many others, after reorganizing, became functional businesses.
The largest Buzău-based company is the Romet holding
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, with Romanian capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
, made up of several companies that produce isolation material for water and gas pipes, water purifiers, fire-extinguishers and other such products. The company became successful during the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, by selling its Aquator water purifier. In 1999, this group acquired Aromet S.A., company which managed the Metalurgica factory, founded in 1928.
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. Apcarom S.A., the only Romanian producer of railway equipment, was taken over by the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n company VAE, and had, a social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
of 7.38 milloan lei. Ductil S.A. http://www.ductil.ro/, one of the largest businesses in Buzău, was privatized in 1999 and subsequently diveded by the new majority shareholder, FRO Spa, which kept only the electrods and welding
Welding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
equipment section and sold the other departments. The section that produces steel wire and steel wire products, steel nets and concrete became Ductil Steel S.A.http://www.ductilsteel.ro/mainRO.html and is now part of the portfolio of the Italian company Sidersipe. The iron powder section was renamed Ductil Iron Powder. In 2007, FRO Spa sold their majority shares of Ductil S.A. to the Russian Mechel company, for 90 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s.Zahărul S.A., the local sugar producer, was acquired by the Agrana România Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n capital group, which owns other sugar factories in Roman
Roman, Romania
Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....
and Ţăndărei
Tandarei
Ţăndărei is a town in Ialomiţa County, Romania, with a population of 12,000. It is located on the Bărăgan Plain and it is crossed by the Ialomiţa River. It was declared a town in 1968....
.
The baking industry still plays an important role in the local economy. The largest producer on this market in Buzău is Boromir Prod, whose majority shareholder is the Boromir Ind group of Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea is the capital city of Vâlcea County, Romania .-Geography and climate:Râmnicu Vâlcea is situated in the central-south area of Romania...
.
Transport
Rail
Buzău is an important regional railway hub, as railroads connecting BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
and Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
to Focşani
Focsani
Focşani is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the shores the Milcov river, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population of 101,854.-Geography:...
, Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
and Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
meet in the city. The main railway station was inaugurated in 1872, together with the Bucharest-Galaţi railroad.
A branch of that railroad, running from Buzău to Mărăşeşti
Marasesti
Mărăşeşti is a small town in Romania in Vrancea County. It is north of Focşani. It administers six villages: Călimăneşti, Haret, Modruzeni, Pădureni, Siretu and Tişiţa.King Milan I of Serbia was born in Mărăşeşti on 22 August 1854....
was open a few years later, on 13 June 1881, becoming the first railroad designed by Romanian engineers.
The Buzău-Nehoiaşu commuter railway line, open in 1908, links Buzău to most communes on the Buzău River
Buzau River
Buzău is a river in eastern Romania, tributary of the Siret River. Its total length is 302 km. Its source is in the south-eastern Carpathian Mountains, east of Braşov. The Buzău flows through the Romanian counties Braşov, Covasna, Buzău and Brăila...
valley, including the towns of Nehoiu
Nehoiu
Nehoiu is a town in Buzău County, Romania, with a population of 11,631. Wood processing is the local main economic activity. The town has a lumbermill since the early 20th century....
and Pătârlagele
Patârlagele
Pătârlagele is a town in Buzău County, Romania. In 2002 it had a population of 8,414.- Geography :Pătârlagele is located in the western part of the county, along the national road connecting Buzău and Braşov...
.
Road
Buzău is reachable by road via DN2DN2
The Romanian national road DN2 links Bucharest with the historical region of Moldavia in north-east Romania. Recently upgraded, it is today one of the best-maintained roads in the country. Along the first from Bucharest to Săbăoani, near Roman the road has two lanes with one narrow emergency lane...
(E85) from Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
and the main cities from Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
. DN1B
DN1B
The DN1B is a national road which runs from Ploieşti to Buzău via Mizil. The DN1B has recently been upgraded. On its first segment, from Ploieşti to Valea Călugărească it runs through one of Romania's most important wine regions and the site of many inns and historical cellars, many of which were...
connects Buzău to Ploieşti and DN10
DN10
The DN10 is a Romanian national road, that runs from Buzău to Braşov, crossing the Carpathian Mountains through the Buzău Pass.The road follows the Buzău River valley and is an important connection between Transylvania and the cities of the south-eastern Romania.- The December 2006 landslide :On 16...
crosses the Carpathian Mountains at their curvature through the Buzău Pass
Buzau Pass
Buzău Pass is a mountain pass that follows the Buzău River and connects Braşov with Buzău over the Buzău Mountains, in the Eastern Carpathians in Romania.This was one of the passes used by invaders, such as Turks and Tatars, to attack Transylvania...
to Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
. Galaţi and Brăila
Braila
Brăila is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County, in the close vicinity of Galaţi.According to the 2002 Romanian census there were 216,292 people living within the city of Brăila, making it the 10th most populous city in Romania.-History:A...
can be reached via DN2B.
Two inter-city bus stations, one located in the north of the city, the other in the south, near the railway station, are in use for private passenger transport companies who provide coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
connections to other cities or run commuter lines with nearby communes.
Air
The closest airport to Buzău is Henri Coandă International AirportHenri Coanda International Airport
Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, located northwest of the city of Bucharest, within Otopeni city limits. One of two airports serving the Romanian capital, the other being Băneasa, it is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of...
, in Otopeni
Otopeni
Otopeni is a town in Ilfov County, Romania, some north of Bucharest along the road to Ploieşti. It has 10,215 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the town....
, 110 km away.
Public transportation
Buzău's public transportation includes 10 regular bus lines, connecting the residential areas to the main industrial zones (including the Buzău Sud platform), city center and railway station. Several taxi companies are licensed and operate throughout the city and the nearby communes.Politics
The mayor of Buzău is Constantin Boşcodeală (since 1996).The local council is made up of 25 councillors, and has the following party composition:
| Party | Seats | Current Council | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 9 | |||||||||||
| Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party (Romania) The Social Democratic Party is the major social-democratic political party in Romania. It was formed in 1992, after the post-communist National Salvation Front broke apart. It adopted its present name after a merger with a minor social-democratic party in 2001. Since its formation, it has always... |
9 | |||||||||||
| National Liberal Party National Liberal Party (Romania) The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social... |
4 | |||||||||||
| Greater Romania Party Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party is a Romanian radical right-wing, ultra-nationalist political party, led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party.... |
2 | |||||||||||
| Conservative Party Conservative Party (Romania) The Conservative Party of Romania is a political party formed in 1991, after the fall of Communism, under the name of the Romanian Humanist Party . From 2005 until December 3, 2006, the party was a junior member of the ruling coalition... |
1 |
Education and culture
Nicolae Teodorescu
Nicolae Teodorescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian church painter , and the uncle of artist Gheorghe Tattarescu.In 1831, he was called on by Chesarie, the Orthodox bishop of Buzău to open a school for church painters at the local bishopric...
. Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu
Gheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting.-Early life and studies:...
started learning painting here.
The city's most important educational landmark is the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College
The Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College is the most important high school in Buzău, Romania. It was named after the Romanian scholar and historian Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu...
, attended by the Nobel prize winner George Emil Palade
George Emil Palade
George Emil Palade was a Romanian cell biologist. Described as "the most influential cell biologist ever", in 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, together with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve. The prize was granted for his innovations in electron microscopy and...
in his youth. The Hasdeu high school was inaugurated in 1867.
The city's public library was opened in 1893, under the name of Carol I Public Library. Later it took the name of Vasile Voiculescu
Vasile Voiculescu
Vasile Voiculescu was a Romanian poet, short-story writer, playwright, and physician.-Early life and education:Voiculescu was born in Pârscov, Buzău County, Romania, to a family of wealthy peasants. He attended primary school in Pleşcoi, a village near his home, for a year, after which he was sent...
, Buzău's most prominent author, writer, and poet.
The George Ciprian stage theatre was created in 1996. It does not have an acting crew of its own, relying on contracts. Its first manager was playwright Paul Ioachim
Paul Ioachim
Paul Ioachim was a Romanian playwright, actor, and theater director. He was also the director of George Ciprian Theatre in Buzău, who started out as one of his many projects, in 1995.Some of his works include:...
.
The first university in the city was the Economic University College, inaugurated in 1992, a branch of the Academy of Economic Studies
Academy of Economic Studies
The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies is the oldest university of economics and business studies in Romania. It was founded in April 6, 1913 in Bucharest, by the royal decree of Carol I of Romania, under the name Academy of High Commercial and Industrial Studies...
in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
The main museum in Buzău is the Buzău County Museum, which exhibits items related to the region's history. The same museum oversees the ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
exhibition at the Vergu-Mănăilă House
Vergu-Manaila House
The Vergu-Mănăilă house is the oldest surviving building in Buzău, Romania. An 18th century boyar's mansion, renovated between 1971 and 1974, it hosts a museum of ethnography and folk art....
, as well as the Amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
Museum in Colţi
Colti
Colţi is a commune in Buzău County, Romania, located in the Pătârlagele hollow, at the curvature of the Carpathian mountains, 13 km away from the town of Pătârlagele. It is composed of four villages: Aluniş, Colţi, Colţii de Jos and Muscelu Cărămăneşti....
and the Vasile Voiculescu Memorial House in Pârscov.
Buzău natives
- Vasile VoiculescuVasile VoiculescuVasile Voiculescu was a Romanian poet, short-story writer, playwright, and physician.-Early life and education:Voiculescu was born in Pârscov, Buzău County, Romania, to a family of wealthy peasants. He attended primary school in Pleşcoi, a village near his home, for a year, after which he was sent...
, poet, writer, playwright - Vasile CârlovaVasile CârlovaVasile Cârlova was a Wallachian officer and early Romantic poet.-Biography:Born into a low-ranking Romanian boyar family in Buzău, Cârlova remained an orphan in 1816, and, after being adopted by an aunt, moved to Craiova...
, poet - Alexandru MarghilomanAlexandru MarghilomanAlexandru Marghiloman was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.-Early career:...
, statesman, Prime Minister of RomaniaPrime Minister of RomaniaThe Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers... - George CiprianGeorge CiprianGeorge Ciprian was a Romanian actor and playwright. His writings make him a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd.-Biography:...
, actor, playwright - Mihaela RunceanuMihaela RunceanuMihaela Valentina Runceanu was a Romanian pop singer and vocal techniques teacher. She became a successful vocal singer, her voice being highly appreciated in Romania...
, pop singer - Ion BăieşuIon BaiesuIon Băieşu, pen name of Ion Mihalache was a Romanian playwright, novelist and movie and television writer, best known for his novel Balanţa and his play Preşul....
, playwright - Constantin C. GiurescuConstantin C. GiurescuConstantin C . Giurescu was a Romanian historian, member of Romanian Academy and professor at the University of Bucharest.Born in Focşani, son of historian Constantin Giurescu, he completed his primary and secondary studies in Bucharest...
, historian - Paul IoachimPaul IoachimPaul Ioachim was a Romanian playwright, actor, and theater director. He was also the director of George Ciprian Theatre in Buzău, who started out as one of his many projects, in 1995.Some of his works include:...
, Actor, playwright - Radu G. VlădescuRadu G. VladescuRadu G. Vlădescu , a Romanian professor born in Buzău, taught at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest. He was a member of the Romanian Academy and correspondent member of the French Academy....
, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, BucharestBucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, member of the Romanian AcademyRomanian AcademyThe Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
and correspondent member of the French Academy - Ştefan GuşăStefan GusaŞtefan Guşă or Guşe was a Romanian general who was the Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Armed Forces between 1986 and 1989....
, Romanian Army generalGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Sister cities
Buzău is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Welden, Volkegem and a part of Ooike.From the 15th to the 18th...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, since 1999 Agios Dimitrios
Agios Dimitrios
Agios Dimitrios is a suburb in the southern part of Athens, Greece. Several main roads pass through the city. It is also linked to Katechaki, Vouliagmenis Avenue to the east, Poseidonos Avenue Agios Dimitrios (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος meaning Saint Demetrius) is a suburb in the southern part of...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, since 2006