Drobeta-Turnu Severin

Drobeta-Turnu Severin
	Drobeta-Turnu Severin
	Theatre
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Location of Drobeta-Turnu Severin
	Coordinates: 44°34′N 22°40′E / 44.567°N 22.667°E
Country	Romania
County	Mehedinţi
Status	County capital
	Government
- Mayor	Gherghe Constantin (Social Democratic Party)
	Area
- Total	55 km2 (21.2 sq mi)
	Population (2002)
- Total	104,557
- Density	1,900/km2 (4,921/sq mi)
- July 1, 2004	109,450
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.primariadrobeta.ro/

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Drobeta-Turnu Severin (pronunciation: /dro'be.ta 'tur.nu se.ve'rin/; Latin: Drobetae; Hungarian: Szörényvár; Bulgarian: Северин; Serbian: Дробета-Турну Северин) is a city in Mehedinţi County, Oltenia, Romania, on the left bank of the Danube, below the Iron Gates. It is situated in western Oltenia, at the edge of the Topolniţa depression, 220 km south-east of Timisoara, 113 km west of Craiova and 353 km west of Bucharest. The region's sub-Mediterranean climate gives Severin warm summers and mild winters, meaning the city is home to magnolia trees, Caucasian nut trees, and gingko biloba as well as the almond trees, figs, lilacs, lindens, and chestnut trees more common throughout Europe.

The city incorporates three villages, Dudaşu Schelei, Gura Văii, and Schela Cladovei. The population of Severin is 104,557 (2002) up from 18,628 in 1900.

[edit] History

The first written document mentioning the city 1,870 years earlier was commemorated in 1992.

[edit] Roman times

The city, which was called Drobetae by the Romans, took its later name of Turnu Severin (meaning the Northern Tower) from a tower on the north bank of the Danube built by the Byzantines. It stood on a small hill surrounded by a deep moat. This was built to commemorate a victory over the Gauls and Marcomanni by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (222-235). Near Turnu Severin are the remains of the celebrated Trajan's bridge, the largest in the Empire. Here, the Danube is about 1,200 metres (4,000 feet) broad. Built in only three years (103 - 105 AD) by the famous architect Apollodorus of Damascus, the bridge was considered the most daring work in the Roman world. The bridge was built on 20 pillars of stone blocks, was 1135 m long, 14.55 m wide and 18.60 m high. Each head had its own portal monument, whose remains can still be seen on both sides of the Danube. For the wooden parts of the construction oaks from 200 hectars of forest were used. The bridge was composed of twenty arches supported by stone pillars. Only two of them are still visible at low water.

Ruins of Trajan's Bridge

Drobeta became, from a strategic point, a town at the crossing of land and water roads wich led to the north and south of the Danube. It became the first urban center in the region and the third of Dacia after Sarmizegetusa and Apullum. During the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117 - 138 AD), the settlement was declared city (121). At this point the population had reached 14,000. During the reign of Septimius Severus (193 - 211), the city was raised to the rank of a colony (193) which gave its residents equal rights with citizens of Rome. As a colony Drobeta was a thriving city with temples, a basilica, a theater, a forum, a port and guilds of craftsmen. In the middle of the 3rd century, Drobeta covered an area of 60 hectars and had a population of almost 40,000 inhabitants.

After the retreat of the Roman administration from Dacia in the 4th century, the city was preserved under Roman occupation as a bridge head on the north bank of the Danube until the 6th century. Destroyed by Huns in the 5th century, it was rebuilt by Justinian I (527-565).

[edit] Medieval Age

Along with the forming of the Hungarian kingdom and Vallachian Voivodeships (Voievodatele Valahe), the Severin fortress was a reason for a war over a period of several generations between Oltenian Voievodes (Litovoi, Bărbat, then Basarab I) and Hungarians. The war ended with the Battle of Posada. Romanians then fought the Ottoman Empire which threatened the area of the Danube. In this context, castles on the banks of the river, the area of Iron Gates until Calafat began to be restored.

When the Hungarians attacked Oltenia and conquered Severin's fortress, Andrew II of Hungary organized the Banat of Severin. The first Ban of Severin, Luca, was mentioned in 1233. This year may be taken as date of birth of a new castle over the ruins of Drobeta, under the name Severin (Severinopolis). It was a basis for the Banat of Severin, Terra Zeurino, Ţara Severinului – Country of Severin). Severin's name was taken in memory of Emperor Septimius Severus, who raised Drobeta to the rank of a colony. Also during this period it is likely that Cetatea Grădeţului (the fortress of Grădeţ) was built.

In 1247 the Hungarian Kingdom brought in the country the Knights of John (Cavalerii Ioaniţi), giving them Severin as residency, where they built the medieval castle of Severin (this is the Castrul Zeurini mentioned in Diploma Cavalerilor Ioaniti in 1247). Inside the strong fort a Gothic church was erected, presumably the headquarters of the Catholic episcopate of Severin that was there until 1502. The knights withdrew in 1259, while the fortress remained in the range of the cannons of Turks, Bulgarians and Tatars who wanted to cross the Danube. The Hungarians still wanted to attack Oltenia.

Severin fortress was the most important strategic redoubt on the Danube. Its conquest meant to gain an important bridgehead in the region. At the end of the 13th century, King Stephen of Hungary fought five wars with the Bulgarian Tsarsdom for the defense of Severin fortress.

Romanian Voivodes have also disputed the priority of the powerful fortress conquering it or claiming it from time to time. For this fortress died Litovoi and Basarab I humiliated Carol Robert of Anjou at Posada in 1330. Mircea the Elder (Mircea cel Bătrân) established Bănia Severinului (Banat of Severin) and in 1406 concluded a treaty of alliance with Sigismund of Hungary right on Severin. After the death of Mircea, Sigismund will free the Severin Fortress occupied by the Turks, and even make some concessions to the monasteries of Vodita and Tismana. Then Banat of Severin returns to John Huniady (Iancu de Hunedoara), which consolidates all the castles on the Danube. Around 1330 possession passed to the Wallachian voivodes. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, attacks on the Danubian fortresses were mend, moving the Banat to Strehaia, later in Craiova, Severin population migrating to Cerneţi village at 6 km north, which will become the capital of Mehedinti district. In 1524, after a devastating attack of the Turks led by Soliman the Magnificent, from the fortress Severinului was left standing only one tower, which led to the appointment of the Mehedinti people by Turnul lui Sever (Tower of Sever). Then it was seized by the Ottoman Empire in 1524. Under Ottoman occupation, the territory's administration moved to the west of Oltenia and was centered in Cerneţi. In 1936, Prof. Dr. Al. Bărăcilă executed excavations at the fortress, where he managed to reconstruct the lay-out of the castle and recovered a rich archaeological material (rails, iron, copper, stone cannon-balls, pipe of a bronze cannon etc.). The fortress was rectangular shaped with two walls made of unprocessed river stones, glued with mortar. In the center of the castle there is a chapel built in part with materials taken from Drobeta Castrum, which was surrounded by graves. Also in the fortress is still an oven-hearth serving a weapons workshop. Inside the interior, to the north, was a tower with three floors, for defense and guard, to the east a second, thicker, at the angle of the wall, and south and the Danube the third. The entrance into the castle was through a gate dome and around the fortress had been digging a deep moat.

For nearly 300 years the body of the fortress was rebuild after each battle given here to defend Wallachia, against the Hungarians and Turks. Former Drobeta renascent (were discovered later even monuments from the Ancient Age embedded in the walls of new fortresses). In the three centuries there coexist two Christian churches, Catholic and Orthodox.

[edit] Modern times

After freedom from Ottoman control as a consequence of the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, it was decided to rebuild the present city. A rigorous program startet in 1836. It was followed in 1858 by the construction of the harbor. By 1900 the national road, rail, the Carol and Elisabeta boulevards, Navigaţia Fluvială Românească (River Navigation of Romania), the railway workshops, the shipyard (which in 1914 was the largest in the country), the Roman Hall, the Municipal Palace, three churches and two hospitals wer built. In 1883, on May 15, Theodor Costescu established Liceul "Traian" ("Traian" Highschool), which in the next century would become a modern school of national prestige. The building of industrial factories spurred the development of the city. In 1841 Severin became the capital of the county and in 1851 became a city. As a major port on the Danube, the freedom of trade facilitated the entry of the Vienna and the exchange of material necessary for economic development. Severin experienced a steady economic, urban and social growth until in 1972 it received the name of Drobeta-Turnu Severin.

In 1914 the Castelul de Apa (The Water Castle) was opened. Considered an emblematic monument to the people of Severin, even today it gives identity to the city by being built in one of the major traffic roundabouts of the settlement.

In the inter-war period, the city of Turnu Severin managed to be placed among the eighteen largest urban centers in all of Romania. The city became a metropolis of culture by the initiatives of the "Traian" Lyceum (highschool) and institutions that reside in imposing halls of the Palace of Culture: library, museum, theater, cinema, choral ensemble "Doina", "Lumina" Society, Free University, they continuing during the communist regime. In the latter period it was built less in central neighborhoods, the specific architecture of the city surviving demolition.

Among the most remarcable buildings of this period we can remembered: Hotel "Parc" residence SHN "Iron Gates", the Administration Palace, Youth House, shop "Decebal", House of Trade Unions and kinetic fountain in front of the Cultural Palace. In 1969 Turnu Severin become the capital of the county, and in 1972 became the city, adding the name of the ancient Drobeta to the city name, becoming Drobeta Turnu Severin.