Turnu Magurele
Encyclopedia
Turnu Măgurele (ˌturnu məɡuˈrele) is a city in Teleorman County
, Romania
(in the informal region of Wallachia
). Developed nearby the site once occupied by the medieval port of Turnu, it is situated north-east of the confluence between the Olt River
and the Danube
.
plies across the Danube to the Bulgaria
n city of Nikopol
. There are some vestiges of a Roman
bridge across the Danube, built in 330 by Constantine the Great. It is build in the Danube plain in a fertile land called Burnas plain. At 4 km south-west from it the river Olt joins the Danube. Its medium altitude is 33 m above sea level.
, in reference to the defense-wall tower of a fort built on the spot by Byzantine
Emperor Justinian I
in 6th century (ruins of the facilities can still be seen).
Bulgarians
maintained in this place a fortress named Holavnik. The town was occupied by the Ottoman Empire
in 1417, towards the end of Prince Mircea I
's rule, and, like Giurgiu
and Brăila
, constituted a kaza on the left bank of the Danube. With short interruptions during the anti-Ottoman rebellions of Vlad III the Impaler
and Michael the Brave, destroyed by Iancu Jianu
's hajduk
s in their campaign against Osman Pazvantoğlu
and his successor (1809) and never rebuilt under Turkish rule, Turnu, like the other two kazas, was due to be returned to Wallachia through the 1826 Akkerman Convention - and was ultimately ceded in 1829, through the Treaty of Adrianopole. It became the capital of Teleorman County in 1839.
The village of Islaz
, near Turnu Măgurele, was the initial center of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (see Proclamation of Islaz
). During the Romanian War of Independence
, the town served as a base for the campaign in Bulgaria. After the administrative reform of 1968, it became a municipality.
Cathedral and constructed in a late renaissance style.
Another city landmark is the independence monument. It was built in celebration of the major role that Turnu Măgurele played in the Romanian Independence War
(1877-1878).
and textile industry
(MTM, Manufactura Turnu Măgurele) center in the past, the city has more recently been diversifying its economy (ElectroTurris - a diesel engine
factory, and ConservTurris - a food processing
plant).
The chemical plant is notorious for the air pollution (issued gases contain ammonia
and hydrogen sulfide
in times above the norms), and it quite possibly does not meet the EU ecological (air pollution) requirements.
Teleorman County
Teleorman is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.The name Teleorman is of Cumanic origin. It literally means crazy forest and, by extension, "thick and shadowy forest" in the Cuman language...
, 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 informal 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...
). Developed nearby the site once occupied by the medieval port of Turnu, it is situated north-east of the confluence between the Olt River
Olt River
The Olt River is a river in Romania. It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its source is in the Hăşmaş Mountains of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, near the village Bălan. It flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Covasna, Braşov, Sibiu, Vâlcea and Olt...
and the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
.
Geography
A ferryFerry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
plies across the Danube to the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n city of Nikopol
Nikopol, Bulgaria
Nikopol is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley...
. There are some vestiges of a Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
bridge across the Danube, built in 330 by Constantine the Great. It is build in the Danube plain in a fertile land called Burnas plain. At 4 km south-west from it the river Olt joins the Danube. Its medium altitude is 33 m above sea level.
History
The name of the city means "Hill Tower" in RomanianRomanian 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...
, in reference to the defense-wall tower of a fort built on the spot by Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
in 6th century (ruins of the facilities can still be seen).
Bulgarians
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
maintained in this place a fortress named Holavnik. The town was occupied by 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...
in 1417, towards the end of Prince Mircea I
Mircea I of Wallachia
Mircea the Elder was ruler of Wallachia from 1386 until his death. The byname "elder" was given to him after his death in order to distinguish him from his grandson Mircea II...
's rule, and, like Giurgiu
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
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...
, constituted a kaza on the left bank of the Danube. With short interruptions during the anti-Ottoman rebellions of 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...
and Michael the Brave, destroyed by Iancu Jianu
Iancu Jianu
Iancu Jianu was a Wallachian Romanian hajduk.-Biography:Born in Caracal, Oltenia, Wallachia, to the Jianu boyar family, as the youngest of four brothers...
's hajduk
Hajduk
Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans, Central- and Eastern Europe....
s in their campaign against Osman Pazvantoğlu
Osman Pazvantoglu
Osman Pazvantoğlu was a Bosnian Ottoman soldier, a governor of the Vidin district after 1794, and a rebel against Ottoman rule...
and his successor (1809) and never rebuilt under Turkish rule, Turnu, like the other two kazas, was due to be returned to Wallachia through the 1826 Akkerman Convention - and was ultimately ceded in 1829, through the Treaty of Adrianopole. It became the capital of Teleorman County in 1839.
The village of Islaz
Islaz
Islaz is a commune in southern Romania, located in the southwestern Teleorman County, 10 km west of Turnu Măgurele. It is part of the historical province Oltenia, and is composed of two villages, Islaz and Moldoveni....
, near Turnu Măgurele, was the initial center of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (see Proclamation of Islaz
Proclamation of Islaz
The Proclamation of Islaz was the program adopted on June 9, 1848 by Romanian revolutionaries. It was written by Ion Heliade Rădulescu. On June 11, under pressure from the masses, Domnitor Gheorghe Bibescu was forced to accept the terms of the proclamation and recognise the provisional...
). During the Romanian War of Independence
Romanian War of Independence
The Romanian War of Independence is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish war, following which Romania, fighting on the Russian side, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire...
, the town served as a base for the campaign in Bulgaria. After the administrative reform of 1968, it became a municipality.
Demographics
| Year | Population | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 8,668 | |
| 1977 | 32,341 | official census |
| 1992 | 36,966 | official census |
| 2002 | 30,187 | official census |
| 2006 | 28,297 | estimate |
Tourist attractions
The major tourist attraction is Saint Haralambios Cathedral in the center of the town. Built by Greek farmers at the beginning of the 20th century, the cathedral is based on the plans of Curtea de ArgeşCurtea de Arges
Curtea de Argeș is a city in Romania on the right bank of the Argeş River, where it flows through a valley of the lower Carpathians , on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roşu Pass. It is part of Argeș County. The city administers one village, Noapteș...
Cathedral and constructed in a late renaissance style.
Another city landmark is the independence monument. It was built in celebration of the major role that Turnu Măgurele played in the Romanian Independence War
Romanian War of Independence
The Romanian War of Independence is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish war, following which Romania, fighting on the Russian side, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire...
(1877-1878).
Economy
A chemicalChemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
and textile industry
Textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....
(MTM, Manufactura Turnu Măgurele) center in the past, the city has more recently been diversifying its economy (ElectroTurris - a diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
factory, and ConservTurris - a food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
plant).
The chemical plant is notorious for the air pollution (issued gases contain ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
and hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
in times above the norms), and it quite possibly does not meet the EU ecological (air pollution) requirements.