Calarasi County
With the passage of time, Calarasi county went through all the stages
of development known to human civilisation. Material testimonies unearthed
by systematic or accidental archaeological digs, as well as documentary
proofs attest, on the one hand, to how long the Romanians have been
living on this territory and to their productive concerns and, on
the other hand, to the unity and continuity in time and space of the
autochthonous population. From the material traces specific for the
Neolithic cultures of Boian and Gumelnita, to the archaeological finds
from the Geto-Dacians’ time and the early Middle Ages, experts have
established that in the valleys of the big rivers in the county, as
well as around lakes solid settlements had been set up that continued
to develop these days, unlike the land between the rivers that started
being populated in the modern epoch, especially after the carrying
out of the 1864 and 1921 agrarian reforms. Lying at the south-eastern
extremity of Muntenia (Wallachia), the territory of Calarasi county
was involved from a very early period in political and military events,
in the Romanian people’s struggle to safeguard liberty and state independence.
Thus, during the rule of Michael the Brave, the inhabitants of these
lands participated in the anti-Ottoman struggle. The Anonimul Cantacuzinesc
(Cantacuzene Anonymous Chronicle) reads that when the Romanian armies
attacked the Turkish citadels in Dobrogea and the Balkans, in the
winter of 1594 to 1595, boyars Preda and Radu Buzescu were putting
Harsova on fire while councillor Mihalcea set fire to Silistra in
January 1595, naturally going through Lichiresti (the old name of
Calarasi Municipality). Mihai Viteazu (Michael the Brave), coming
from Silistra, attacked Turtucaia, then crossed the frozen Danube
to Oltenita, a locality attested by a document dated to 1523. Later
on, at the turn of the 17th century, Constantin Brancoveanu created
a detachment of relay cavalry that he placed at the gates of Silistra,
at Lichiresti. The locality that was to take the name of this corps
(in Romanian Rosiori) witnessed an ascending trend, to become the
county seat of Ialomita county in 1833, and acquire the status of
town. Romania’s modern history triggered deeply significant economic,
social and political events in Calarasi, too. All this galvanised
capitalist production relations. Today, it can be said that agriculture
is the most developed branch thanks to the extension of cultivated
areas and the use of rotation crops. It was not accidentally that
this region yielded big amounts of grains and animal products that
were exported via the ports of Calarasi and Oltenita. Yet, we can
talk of proper industrial development only after the first world war,
the most important production units depending closely on the specific
agricultural crops in the region. Thus, the most important industrial
enterprise of Calarasi is Moara Sistematica Stefan Vineziu (Stefan
Vineziu Systematic Mill), while at Oltenita a similar unit takes pride
of place, the Moara Dunarea (Danube Mill), with 196 employees.
[ back to TOP ]
Geographical
Outline
Calarasi county, established as an administrative-territorial unit
in January 1981, lies in the south-east of the Romanian Plain on a
surface of 5,088 sq. km, having a population of 332,494 inhabitants
on 1 January 1998. From the point of view of territorial administration,
the county features two municipalities (Calarasi, the county seat,
and Oltenita), three towns (Budesti, Lehliu-Gara and Fundulea), 48
communes and 160 villages. The prevailing relief contour is the plain,
with four big units: the Baraganului Mostistei Plain (south Baragan),
the Vlasiei Plain, the Burnas Plain and the Danube Meadow. The hydrographic
network is first of all represented by the river Danube that borders
the county in the south and the south-east. The Danube branches out
into the Borcea arm, on the left, and the Old Danube on the right.
In between there is the Borcea Marsh. The Arges, the second river
in the county, flows into the Danube west of the town of Oltenita,
after having received upstream the waters of the Dambovita. Besides
the meadow lakes, in the radius of the Calarasi county there is a
network of storage lakes: Mostistea, Frasinet, Gurbanesti, Fundulea,
Galatui and Rasa. The climate is temperate-continental with a uniform
regime as a result of the even plain relief, with very hot summers
and relatively cold winters. The prevailing soil is chernozem, extremely
favourable for farming. The spontaneous flora has been considerably
reduced by the introduction into the productive process of big areas.
The vegetal formations specific to the county are those characteristic
for the steppe, silvosteppe and deciduous forest regions, plus water-loving
vegetation specific for marshes and lakes. The fauna is relatively
rich, the county being populated by numerous hares, boars and deer
that are sought after by local and foreign hunters.
[ back to TOP ]
Touristic
Information
Situated in the South-Eastern part of the Romanian Plain, along
the Danube River and its Borcea Branch, the Calarasi county has
2.1 per cent of Romania's surface. The population of this county
was of 339,800 inhabitants (July, 1992) and the density was of
66.8 inhabitants/sq.km. The relief of the Calarasi county is dominated
by plain: the Baragan, Mostistea (Southern Baragan), Viasia, Burnea
Plains and the Danube River Meadows. The hydrographic network
consists mainly in the Danube River which borders this county
to the South and to the South-East. The Danube River has two branches:
Borcea to the left and Old Danube to the right which create the
Ialomita Swamp or the Big Island of Ialomita. The Arges River
flows into the Danube near by the town of O1tenita after its confluence
with the Dambovita River near by the town of Budesti. Except these
in this county there are also manmade lakes as Iezeru-Mostistea
(2,600 ha), Frasinet (1,460 ha), Gurbanesti (680 ha), Fundulea
(440 ha). The climate is a temperate continental one with hot
summers and cold winters. The capital city is Calarasi. Dated
back June, 1st, 1541 (Magureni district) and by Mihai the Brave
in 1595 (central district named also Lichiresti), the town was
named Calarasi by Vojevode Constantin Brancoveanu. This name was
inspired by the riders (Calarasi) unit which delivered the mail
between Bucharest and Constantinopole via Silistra. Being the
shortest way between Bucharest and the seaside of the Back Sea
(261 km long and overcrossing the Danube at Chiciu-Ostrov). D.N.3
(National Road 3) is used by tourists who stop also in Calarasi
or in its environs. In fact here in Calarasi a number of eight
roads, rail and river ways converge offering direct connections
between the Eastern part of the Romanian Plain and the Dobrudja.
[ back to TOP ]
Economy
Profile
[ back
to TOP ]
Copyright (C) 1999-2000 SC Computer Club SRL. All rights reserved.
[Please send any comments to webmaster@clubromania.ro.]
|
