Mizil
Encyclopedia
Mizil is a town in Prahova County
, Romania
. Located in the southeastern part of the county, it lies along the road between the cities of Ploieşti
and Buzău
, and to the northeast of the national capital, Bucharest
. Its position led it to become a thriving market town beginning in the 18th century, before a long period of economic decline began in the early 20th century. Agriculture gave way to industry as the chief employment under the Communist regime
, but the town has continued to face difficulties in the wake of a late-1990s deindustrialisation.
; the four rural localities that surround it are Gura Vadului
(north), Baba Ana
(south), Săhăteni
(east) and Fântânele
(west). The Tohani, Pietroasa and Istriţa vineyards are all nearby. It is 35 km distant from both Ploieşti
and Buzău
, with Bucharest
92 km to the southwest. Mizil is the only city or town in Romania to lie on the 45th parallel north. Located on a series of fields with altitudes of 80-95 m, it is on the Mizil Plain, a subdivision of the Bucureştilor Plain, in turn part of the Wallachian Plain, and has been called the "gate to the Bărăgan
", a reference to the plain extending to its east. It is also on the edge of the plain region and the southern reaches of foothills leading up to the Southern Carpathians
, being bounded by the Sărata Plain to the south and by Istriţa Hill to the northeast. The area's rocks are Neogene
molasse
; there is also gravel and sand. Near the surface, there are loess
layers of different thickness.
Mizil covers 1931 ha
, of which 77.7% are agricultural land, water, forests and green spaces, and 22.3% are developed. The Istău stream runs through it. The town administers one village, Fefelei, although this is essentially a neighbourhood today.
, 12.4% Roma and 0.2% belonged to other groups. One estimate puts the number of Roma at 5,000 or some 31% of the population. According to religion, 97.1% were Romanian Orthodox
, 2.1% Pentecostal
, 0.3% Baptist
, 0.2% Seventh-day Adventist
, and 0.3% other or none.
Between 1992 and 2007, Mizil's population fell from 17,497 to an estimated 16,319, a drop of 6.7%. Reasons for this trend include lower birth rate, emigration and poor economic conditions.
. It was first mentioned as Eşteu in 1585, and as Istau in 1591, after its stream. Around the turn of the 18th century, Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu
owned the village, building houses at the nearby Corbeanca Dealul Dumbăvii vineyard and establishing an annual fair in Mizil that would become renowned. It was during the 18th century that a mail coach
station for changing horses opened in the village. Merchants began to set up shop, their business augmented by the location between two larger towns; coachmen, wheelwrights, woodcutters and watchmen also found work. In the Ottoman Turkish language
of Wallachia
's rulers, the station was known as a menzil. The n dropped out through syncope and the i became an e; given that activity and transactions that took place around it, the resulting name came to be used for the village as a whole and to replace its old name. The first church was built in 1790, and Mizil was declared a town in 1830.
Mizil reached its peak of activity during the 19th century, rapidly outpacing Urlaţi
, which had possessed the advantage of having the closest market to most of the towns in that part of Wallachia. Moreover, in 1847 the Ploieşti-Buzău road began to be built along the foothills, shortening and modernising the link between the capitals of the Danubian Principalities
, Bucharest and Iaşi. It was from the latter to the former city that Alexandru Ioan Cuza passed through Mizil in 1859, on his way to become head of the United Principalities
. In this period, inhabitants worked in agriculture, viniculture, animal husbandry and various trades. The first school was built in 1857, by the boyar
Ion Căciunescu, although teaching had begun around 1838. Following the efforts of mayor Leonida Condeescu, an elementary trade school was established about 1902, with a high school opening later.
The town's rapid growth slowed down in the first half of the 20th century, eventually stagnating. In the 1950s and '60s, under the Communist regime
, it was the centre of Mizil raion
in Regiunea Ploieşti. During this time, industry—textiles, wood and mechanics—came to be a chief source of employment for inhabitants.
, twelve councillors belong to the extra-parliamentary National Democratic Christian Party, two each to the Social Democratic Party
and the Democratic Liberal Party
, and one to the Party of the Roma
.
Running water comes from Bălţeşti
and is supplied by a private company on a network built in 1968. Since 2005, garbage collection is done by a private firm contracted by town hall. In 2002, the town switched from heating oil
to natural gas
, supplied by a public utility. There is also an electricity network, and the street light
s were modernised in 2006. Mizil has 35 km of roads, 36% of which are asphalted. The most significant of these is the Ploieşti-Buzău European route E577 that links Bucharest with Moldavia
. There is no public transportation, but there are private buses running to Ploieşti, Buzău and surrounding communes, as well as taxis. There is also a Căile Ferate Române
train station, lying between Ploieşti and Buzău. Companies active in Mizil offer fixed and mobile telephone services, cable television, Internet, postal services, banking and gasoline.
As of 2002, Mizil had 8 ha of green space, including roadsides and parks. Agriculture was a primary occupation for the town's inhabitants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but is much reduced in importance as of the early 21st. Still, as of 2005, 1448 of the total 1931 ha are agricultural land, of which 89% is cultivated arable land, 7% pastures and 6% vineyards. Since 1990, the small tracts of land used for producing hay and growing fruit trees have been converted to other uses.
During the Communist era, Mizil depended for employment on three large factories employing almost the entire workforce. The town reached an economic nadir in 1998-1999, when these laid off thousands of workers. One factory, formerly employing 8,500, fired all but around 400, while another dismissed almost all its 2,000 employees. Unemployment rose to 17.5% (against a national average of 8.7%); including those who had stopped looking for work, unemployment reached 80% of the working-age population (18 to 62). Poverty had reached alarming levels, with tension and crime also rising, particularly among the generally jobless, under-educated Roma. As of 2005, 39% of Mizil firms are involved in commerce, 15% in services, 12% in industry, 11% in construction, 5% in agriculture, 3% in transport, and 15% in other domains. That year, the working-age population was 65% of the total, of whom 30% had jobs. Roma represented a significant portion of the 70% who did not. Due to the factory closings, there was a dramatic fall in employment between 1994 and 2001; even with a slight rise in subsequent years, the workforce only reached half the 1994 level.
There is one hospital in Mizil, serving the town and surrounding communes.
Mizil has three historic Orthodox churches. The oldest, dedicated to the Holy Trinity
, dates to the late 18th century and is in Fefelei. Another one, dedicated to John the Baptist
, is in the town centre and was built in 1857. The building is cross-in-square
in form and Byzantine
and Gothic
in style, with Renaissance
touches. Its original painting was lost; a restoration took place in 1916. The iconostasis
is sculpted out of linden
wood and covered with gold leaf in folk art fashion. A third church, consecrated to the Dormition of the Theotokos
and located in the town square, is from 1865. Among its sacred objects is a wooden blessing cross
featuring silver filigree
work and twenty-four red gems; this is from the end of the 19th century and appears to be the work of an anonymous artist from the Russian school. Additionally, there are four 19th-century roadside crosses, two of which are considered historic monuments by the Culture Ministry.
A monument dedicated to the troops of the 72nd Mizil Infantry Regiment, who fought during the Romanian Campaign of World War I
(1916-1917), stands in the town. Built in 1921, the pedestal is 1.8 m high and the sculptures reach 2.7 m. They depict a woman in folk costume embodying the Fatherland, with her right hand raised in salute and her left holding the standard; a soldier and a woman sitting before her, the latter with an open book on her knees and representing History. There is a bronze plaque showing a battle scene, another featuring an inscription, and others naming the 1190 officers and enlisted men who died in battle.
There is a public library. There is also a cultural house, built in 1965-1966. This has 384 seats and a stage of around 50m2; the building was modernised in the mid-2000s. Social and cultural activities take place there, with well-known theatrical troupes occasionally performing. There is a children's chess club in the house, and chess can also be played seasonally in the town park. The town's festival days take place during October.
The playwright Ion Luca Caragiale
was a friend of mayor Condeescu, whom he parodied in his work; the latter's conversations with Caragiale and with Mihai Eminescu
's brother Matei, a soldier assigned to Mizil and who became the mayor's brother-in-law, convinced him to build a theatre. It had 200 seats and opened in 1895; among the plays staged were Caragiale's. After falling into a state of degradation, it was demolished in 1968. A cinema used to operate in Mizil; this was sold to a company that promised to continue screening films but did not do so.
Aside from Caragiale, the journalist Geo Bogza
, writing after the town's economic decline had begun, helped impress on the public Mizil's image as a place where nothing important ever happens, in a 1938 reportage titled 175 de minute la Mizil ("175 Minutes in Mizil") and summarised as "the adventure of the banal". Other literary portrayals have been undertaken by local writers, including the poets Mihai Negulescu and Petre Strihan; the journalist and poet George Ranetti (Romeo şi Julieta la Mizil, "Romeo and Juliet in Mizil"); Joachim Botez (Însemnările unui Belfer, "Notes of an Idle Rich Man"; Minerva la Mizil, "Minerva at Mizil"; De la Piatra la Mizil, "From Piatra to Mizil"; Împuşcat la Mizil, "Gunned Down in Mizil"); and the novels of Cosmin Manolache since 2000, including Ce faţă cumplită am ("What a Cruel Face I Have").
team Rapid Mizil was playing in Divizia C
. By the 1985–1986 season, Mizil had a stadium, modernized by the town's mechanical plant, which owned and financed the Steaua Mizil team that played in Divizia B
until it was disbanded in 2006. The abandoned stadium is now in an advanced state of degradation. There is a town-financed boxing
club, as well as a modern gymnasium opened in 2007, allowing for sports such as volleyball
, handball
and tennis
to be played.
Prahova County
Prahova is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploieşti.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 829,945 and the population density was 176/km². It is Romania's most populated county, having a population density double than the country's mean...
, 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...
. Located in the southeastern part of the county, it lies along the road between the cities of 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 Buzău
Buzau
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...
, and to the northeast of the national capital, 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....
. Its position led it to become a thriving market town beginning in the 18th century, before a long period of economic decline began in the early 20th century. Agriculture gave way to industry as the chief employment under the Communist regime
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...
, but the town has continued to face difficulties in the wake of a late-1990s deindustrialisation.
Geography
The town is situated in southeastern Prahova County, on the border with Buzău CountyBuzau 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....
; the four rural localities that surround it are Gura Vadului
Gura Vadului
Gura Vadului is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Gura Vadului, Perşunari and Tohani....
(north), Baba Ana
Baba Ana
Baba Ana is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Baba Ana, Cireşanu, Conduratu, Crângurile and Satu Nou....
(south), Săhăteni
Sahateni
Săhăteni is a commune in Buzău County, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Găgeni, Istriţa de Jos, Săhăteni and Vintileanca.It is known for its vineyards, being located in the Dealu Mare hills region, close to Pietroasele and Valea Călugărească....
(east) and Fântânele
Fântânele, Prahova
Fântânele is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Bozieni and Fântânele. It also included Ghinoaica, Ungureni and Vadu Săpat villages until 2004, when they were split off to form Vadu Săpat Commune....
(west). The Tohani, Pietroasa and Istriţa vineyards are all nearby. It is 35 km distant from both 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 Buzău
Buzau
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...
, with 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....
92 km to the southwest. Mizil is the only city or town in Romania to lie on the 45th parallel north. Located on a series of fields with altitudes of 80-95 m, it is on the Mizil Plain, a subdivision of the Bucureştilor Plain, in turn part of the Wallachian Plain, and has been called the "gate to the Bărăgan
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....
", a reference to the plain extending to its east. It is also on the edge of the plain region and the southern reaches of foothills leading up to the Southern Carpathians
Southern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...
, being bounded by the Sărata Plain to the south and by Istriţa Hill to the northeast. The area's rocks are Neogene
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...
molasse
Molasse
The term "molasse" refers to the sandstones, shales and conglomerates formed as terrestrial or shallow marine deposits in front of rising mountain chains. The molasse is deposited in a foreland basin, especially on top of flysch, for example that left from the rising Alps, or erosion in the Himalaya...
; there is also gravel and sand. Near the surface, there are loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
layers of different thickness.
Mizil covers 1931 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 which 77.7% are agricultural land, water, forests and green spaces, and 22.3% are developed. The Istău stream runs through it. The town administers one village, Fefelei, although this is essentially a neighbourhood today.
Demographics
Of Mizil's 15,760 residents at the 2002 census, 87.4% were ethnic RomaniansRomanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, 12.4% Roma and 0.2% belonged to other groups. One estimate puts the number of Roma at 5,000 or some 31% of the population. According to religion, 97.1% were Romanian 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...
, 2.1% Pentecostal
Pentecostal Union of Romania
The Pentecostal Union of Romania is Romania's fourth-largest religious body and one of its eighteen officially recognised religious denominations. At the 2002 census, 330,486 Romanians declared themselves to be Pentecostals; ethnically, they were 85.2% Romanians, 10.6% Roma, 1.9% Ukrainians, 1.8%...
, 0.3% Baptist
Baptist Union of Romania
The Baptist Union of Romania is an alliance of Baptist churches for cooperative ministry in Romania. Since independent churches have no legal standing in Romania, the Baptist Union also provides a mediatorial relationship between churches and government.The first modern-era Baptists in Romania...
, 0.2% Seventh-day Adventist
Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is Romania's eighth-largest religious body. At the 2002 census, 97,041 Romanians declared themselves to be Seventh-Day Adventists; they have over 500 church buildings...
, and 0.3% other or none.
Between 1992 and 2007, Mizil's population fell from 17,497 to an estimated 16,319, a drop of 6.7%. Reasons for this trend include lower birth rate, emigration and poor economic conditions.
History
Mizil was mentioned in 1529, in an official document at BraşovBrasov
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....
. It was first mentioned as Eşteu in 1585, and as Istau in 1591, after its stream. Around the turn of the 18th century, Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu
Constantin Brâncoveanu
Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714.-Ascension:A descendant of the Craioveşti boyar family and related to Matei Basarab, Brâncoveanu was born at the estate of Brâncoveni and raised in the house of his uncle, stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino...
owned the village, building houses at the nearby Corbeanca Dealul Dumbăvii vineyard and establishing an annual fair in Mizil that would become renowned. It was during the 18th century that a mail coach
Mail coach
In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
station for changing horses opened in the village. Merchants began to set up shop, their business augmented by the location between two larger towns; coachmen, wheelwrights, woodcutters and watchmen also found work. In the Ottoman Turkish language
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
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...
's rulers, the station was known as a menzil. The n dropped out through syncope and the i became an e; given that activity and transactions that took place around it, the resulting name came to be used for the village as a whole and to replace its old name. The first church was built in 1790, and Mizil was declared a town in 1830.
Mizil reached its peak of activity during the 19th century, rapidly outpacing Urlaţi
Urlati
Urlați is a town in Prahova county, Wallachia, Romania. In 2004, it had a population of 11,876. Sixteen villages are administered by the town: Arioneștii Noi, Arioneștii Vechi, Cherba, Jercălăi, Mărunțiș, Orzoaia de Jos, Orzoaia de Sus, Schiau, Ulmi, Valea Bobului, Valea Crângului, Valea Mieilor,...
, which had possessed the advantage of having the closest market to most of the towns in that part of Wallachia. Moreover, in 1847 the Ploieşti-Buzău road began to be built along the foothills, shortening and modernising the link between the capitals of the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
, Bucharest and Iaşi. It was from the latter to the former city that Alexandru Ioan Cuza passed through Mizil in 1859, on his way to become head of the United Principalities
United Principalities
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, also known as the Romanian Principalities, was the official name of Romania following the 1859 election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince or domnitor of both territories...
. In this period, inhabitants worked in agriculture, viniculture, animal husbandry and various trades. The first school was built in 1857, by the 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....
Ion Căciunescu, although teaching had begun around 1838. Following the efforts of mayor Leonida Condeescu, an elementary trade school was established about 1902, with a high school opening later.
The town's rapid growth slowed down in the first half of the 20th century, eventually stagnating. In the 1950s and '60s, under the Communist regime
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...
, it was the centre of Mizil raion
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
in Regiunea Ploieşti. During this time, industry—textiles, wood and mechanics—came to be a chief source of employment for inhabitants.
Government, economy and infrastructure
Mizil is governed by a mayor and 17-member local council. Since the 2008 local electionRomanian local election, 2008
Local elections were held in Romania on June 1, 2008, with a runoff for mayors on June 15, 2008.On June 1 where elected:* all the villages, communes, cities, and municipal cluncils , and the Sectors Local Councils of Bucharest...
, twelve councillors belong to the extra-parliamentary National Democratic Christian Party, two each to the 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...
and the Democratic Liberal Party
Democratic Liberal Party (Romania)
The Democratic Liberal Party is a populist, centre-right party in Romania. It was formed on 15 December 2007, when the Democratic Party merged with the Liberal Democratic Party. From 2004 to 2007, the Democratic Party was part of the governing Justice and Truth Alliance...
, and one to the Party of the Roma
Party of the Roma
The Party of the Roma , formerly known as Social Democratic Party of the Roma , is a political party in Romania representing the Romani minority...
.
Running water comes from Bălţeşti
Baltesti
Bălţeşti is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bălţeşti, Izeşti and Podenii Vechi.'The commune is located in the central part of Prahova County, framed by the meridian that passes through 26 degrees and latitude 45 degrees Teleajen Valley crossing Prahova...
and is supplied by a private company on a network built in 1968. Since 2005, garbage collection is done by a private firm contracted by town hall. In 2002, the town switched from heating oil
Heating oil
Heating oil, or oil heat, is a low viscosity, flammable liquid petroleum product used as a fuel for furnaces or boilers in buildings. Home heating oil is often abbreviated as HHO...
to natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, supplied by a public utility. There is also an electricity network, and the street light
Street light
A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...
s were modernised in 2006. Mizil has 35 km of roads, 36% of which are asphalted. The most significant of these is the Ploieşti-Buzău European route E577 that links Bucharest with 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...
. There is no public transportation, but there are private buses running to Ploieşti, Buzău and surrounding communes, as well as taxis. There is also a Căile Ferate Române
Caile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române is the official designation of the state railway carrier of Romania. Romania has a railway network of of which are electrified and the total track length is . The network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks, providing pan-European passenger...
train station, lying between Ploieşti and Buzău. Companies active in Mizil offer fixed and mobile telephone services, cable television, Internet, postal services, banking and gasoline.
As of 2002, Mizil had 8 ha of green space, including roadsides and parks. Agriculture was a primary occupation for the town's inhabitants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but is much reduced in importance as of the early 21st. Still, as of 2005, 1448 of the total 1931 ha are agricultural land, of which 89% is cultivated arable land, 7% pastures and 6% vineyards. Since 1990, the small tracts of land used for producing hay and growing fruit trees have been converted to other uses.
During the Communist era, Mizil depended for employment on three large factories employing almost the entire workforce. The town reached an economic nadir in 1998-1999, when these laid off thousands of workers. One factory, formerly employing 8,500, fired all but around 400, while another dismissed almost all its 2,000 employees. Unemployment rose to 17.5% (against a national average of 8.7%); including those who had stopped looking for work, unemployment reached 80% of the working-age population (18 to 62). Poverty had reached alarming levels, with tension and crime also rising, particularly among the generally jobless, under-educated Roma. As of 2005, 39% of Mizil firms are involved in commerce, 15% in services, 12% in industry, 11% in construction, 5% in agriculture, 3% in transport, and 15% in other domains. That year, the working-age population was 65% of the total, of whom 30% had jobs. Roma represented a significant portion of the 70% who did not. Due to the factory closings, there was a dramatic fall in employment between 1994 and 2001; even with a slight rise in subsequent years, the workforce only reached half the 1994 level.
There is one hospital in Mizil, serving the town and surrounding communes.
Culture
The town houses two high schools, three primary schools and five kindergartens. One high school is focused on physics, chemistry, biology and computer science, while the other prepares students to become technicians.Mizil has three historic Orthodox churches. The oldest, dedicated to the Holy Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, dates to the late 18th century and is in Fefelei. Another one, dedicated to John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, is in the town centre and was built in 1857. The building is cross-in-square
Cross-in-square
The term cross-in-square or crossed-dome denotes the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. The first cross-in-square churches were probably built in the late 8th century, and the form has remained in use throughout the Orthodox world until the present day...
in form and Byzantine
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
and Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
in style, with Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
touches. Its original painting was lost; a restoration took place in 1916. The iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
is sculpted out of linden
Tilia tomentosa
Tilia tomentosa is a species of Tilia native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Hungary and the Balkans east to western Turkey, occurring at moderate altitudes....
wood and covered with gold leaf in folk art fashion. A third church, consecrated to the Dormition of the Theotokos
Dormition of the Theotokos
The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos , and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition...
and located in the town square, is from 1865. Among its sacred objects is a wooden blessing cross
Blessing cross
A Blessing Cross is a hand cross held by a priest or bishop in Eastern Christianity when he gives a benediction. It is often made of precious metal and may be adorned with enamelwork, and precious or semi-precious gemstones...
featuring silver filigree
Filigree
Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...
work and twenty-four red gems; this is from the end of the 19th century and appears to be the work of an anonymous artist from the Russian school. Additionally, there are four 19th-century roadside crosses, two of which are considered historic monuments by the Culture Ministry.
A monument dedicated to the troops of the 72nd Mizil Infantry Regiment, who fought during the Romanian Campaign of 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...
(1916-1917), stands in the town. Built in 1921, the pedestal is 1.8 m high and the sculptures reach 2.7 m. They depict a woman in folk costume embodying the Fatherland, with her right hand raised in salute and her left holding the standard; a soldier and a woman sitting before her, the latter with an open book on her knees and representing History. There is a bronze plaque showing a battle scene, another featuring an inscription, and others naming the 1190 officers and enlisted men who died in battle.
There is a public library. There is also a cultural house, built in 1965-1966. This has 384 seats and a stage of around 50m2; the building was modernised in the mid-2000s. Social and cultural activities take place there, with well-known theatrical troupes occasionally performing. There is a children's chess club in the house, and chess can also be played seasonally in the town park. The town's festival days take place during October.
The playwright 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...
was a friend of mayor Condeescu, whom he parodied in his work; the latter's conversations with Caragiale and with Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
's brother Matei, a soldier assigned to Mizil and who became the mayor's brother-in-law, convinced him to build a theatre. It had 200 seats and opened in 1895; among the plays staged were Caragiale's. After falling into a state of degradation, it was demolished in 1968. A cinema used to operate in Mizil; this was sold to a company that promised to continue screening films but did not do so.
Aside from Caragiale, the journalist Geo Bogza
Geo Bogza
Geo Bogza was a Romanian avant-garde theorist, poet, and journalist, known for his left-wing and communist political convictions. As a young man in the interwar period, he was known as a rebel and was one of the most influential Romanian Surrealists...
, writing after the town's economic decline had begun, helped impress on the public Mizil's image as a place where nothing important ever happens, in a 1938 reportage titled 175 de minute la Mizil ("175 Minutes in Mizil") and summarised as "the adventure of the banal". Other literary portrayals have been undertaken by local writers, including the poets Mihai Negulescu and Petre Strihan; the journalist and poet George Ranetti (Romeo şi Julieta la Mizil, "Romeo and Juliet in Mizil"); Joachim Botez (Însemnările unui Belfer, "Notes of an Idle Rich Man"; Minerva la Mizil, "Minerva at Mizil"; De la Piatra la Mizil, "From Piatra to Mizil"; Împuşcat la Mizil, "Gunned Down in Mizil"); and the novels of Cosmin Manolache since 2000, including Ce faţă cumplită am ("What a Cruel Face I Have").
Sport
As of 1964, the footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team Rapid Mizil was playing in Divizia C
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...
. By the 1985–1986 season, Mizil had a stadium, modernized by the town's mechanical plant, which owned and financed the Steaua Mizil team that played in Divizia B
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....
until it was disbanded in 2006. The abandoned stadium is now in an advanced state of degradation. There is a town-financed 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...
club, as well as a modern gymnasium opened in 2007, allowing for sports such as volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
to be played.
Natives
- Cătălin Avramescu
- Agatha Grigorescu Bacovia
- Octav MayerOctav Mayer-External links:*...
- George Ranetti
- Gabriel SanduGabriel SanduGabriel Sandu is a Romanian economist and politician. A member of the Democratic Liberal Party , he was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Brăila County from 2004 to 2008...
- Iulian TameşIulian TamesIulian Tameş is a Romanian footballer who currently is under contract with Politehnica Timişoara. Tameş is a central offensive midfield.-Early career:...
- Grigore TocilescuGrigore TocilescuGrigore George Tocilescu was a Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folkorist, member of Romanian Academy....