Danube

Culture in Drobeta Turnu Severin

2008-11-20T12:29:03-07:00

The IRON GATES Region Museum

The Museum of the Iron Gates Region is only one of the culture centers of our town which has been carrying on an intense activity, contributing to the scientific, musical and artistic education of the town inhabitants and becoming a centre of cultural irradiation for those areas situated south of the Danube which are inhabited by Romanians who have been separated from their brothers by the cruelty of history.

Founded in 1912 by Al. Barcacila, the museum was concerned with preserving the archeological remains of our town, an activity which was begun as early as the 19th century. It thus became a reference institution for the Romanian museography the very moment it made its appearance. Its impressive collections - which have been completed since 1951 with a cultural, scientific and artistical heritage which used to belong to the ,,Dr. C.I. Istrati" Museum (it was open for some 25 years in the west wing of the Cultural Palace) - contributed to the modem organization of several exhibitions with various profiles: history - archeology, natural science, aquarium, folklore etc. (1972).

Art Museum

The Arts Museum exhibits great values of the Romanian feudal art, as well as artistic creations of the 19th and 20th centuries (paintings signed by famous Romanian artists such as Grigorescu, Tonitza, Palady, Petrascu, Darascu). The eastern wing of the Cultural Palace has been housing the ,,I.G. Bibicescu" Library (since 1924). It bears the name of its donor and is the richest book donation in Romania (more than 30.000 volumes, including books and Journals).

Subsidiaries of this library have been organized in Romania and on the other bank of the Danube, all of them being endowed with books and furniture. But, of course, this is not the only place in Turnu Severin where young people can acquire all sorts of technical, artistic or data processing knowledge.

The Youth Community Centre

Clisura Dunării

2008-08-24T17:15:04-06:00

Clisura Dunării (Serbian: Банатска Клисура or Banatska Klisura) is a geographical region in Romania. It is located in southern Banat, along the northern bank of the river Danube. Clisura Dunării is situated between river Nera in the west, and Gura Văii or Cazanele Dunării in the east.

Here boughted lands and built penthouses more Romanian ex prime-ministers and ex managers from a Romanian bank (Bancorex) that was the first major case of bankruptcy in Romania. The price for the accomodation here is much more expensive that for a hotel room in Bucharest.

The area includes the municipality of Orşova and the town of Moldova Nouă, as well as several communes (Socol, Pojejena, Coronini, Gârnic, Sicheviţa, Berzasca, Sviniţa, Dubova, Eşelniţa, Iloviţa, and Brezniţa-Ocol).

The population of the region is composed of Romanians, Czechs and Serbs. Most of the localities have a Romanian majority, while Socol, Pojejena, and Sviniţa are majority Serb. The Czech presence is especially in and around Gârnic.

Historically, the region belonged to the Banatian Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy, and was divided into "Vlach" (Romanian) and "Illyrian" (Serb) sections.

(Film made by Dan Alexoae)

Decebalus Rex

2008-08-15T02:34:19-06:00

Decebalus (Decebal in Romanian) or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia (originally named Diurpaneus—ruled the Dacians 87 – 106)[2] and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors.

The Statue of Dacian king Decebalus is a 40-meter high statue that is the tallest rock sculpture in Europe. It is located on the Danube's rocky bank, near the city of Orşova, Romania.

Under the face of Decebal there is a Latin inscription which reads "DECEBALUS REX - DRAGAN FECIT" ("King Decebal - Made by Drăgan").

Film made by Dan Alexoae

Eşelniţa

2008-08-14T09:29:55-06:00

Eşelniţa (as of 1966, the old name is Ieşeliniţa) is a village in Banat, România, on the West side of the Mehedinti county, on the National Road DN 57. The neighbors are Orsova municipium at the East of Eselnita, on the Danube river side, 7 km from Orşova, near the Almăj Mounties.

Film made by Dan Alexoae

Energy and water in Drobeta Turnu Severin

2008-08-14T07:43:14-06:00

The Hydroelectric Power System of the Iron Gates (SHNPF)

The local officials bestowed particular attention to the lighting of the town by introducing street lamp lighting in 1850 and later, the electricity produced by the power plant located in the public gardens (1907).

Today, the kilowatts are pumped by the power giant from Gura-Vaii. Built as a result of the cooperation between Romania and neighboring Yugoslavia, it has an installed capacity of 2,050 Mw, half of which belongs to the Romanian party.

The Turbine Hall at the Iron Gates

In order to permit an unhampered shipping traffic on the Danube, a sluice was built on either of its banks. They are both provided with upstream and downstream outposts as well as with equipments which are able to ensure lock chamber filling and evacuation operations.

The power plant is also provided with a control tower which helps to regulate and guide sluice traffic.

The sluice lock chamber sizes are in accordance with the recommendations of the Danube Committee for the Lower Danube sector. The Iron Gates I system for navigation and energy production (S.H.E.N.) is the third in Europe, following the hydropower stations on the Volga river.

The Electrical Company Headquarters (ENEL)

A particular problem the municipality had to solve was that of the town power supply. At the very beginning this was ensured by means of casks with water coming from the town fountains and later, from a well that was located in the Radu-Negru square and which was wind powered.

The "RADU NEGRU" Hall

It was only in 1910 that the water plant and the Water Tower started to be erected, the water source being the Danube itself.

The Water Tower

Two of the public-buildings which are emblematic for the town, the Water Tower and the Hall were erected between 1910-1913 and 1904-1906, respectively. The building project of the former belonged to the engineer Elie Radu, while the architecture plants for the latter were drawn up by C.I. Gabrielescu.

Dracula, a Chronology

2008-08-11T06:49:04-06:00

Dracula, a Chronology

1428 - Vlad Tepes, the son of Vlad Dracul, is born.
1463 - Vlad Tepes becomes Prince of Wallachia and moves to Tirgoviste.
1442 - Vlad Tepes is imprisoned with his father by the Turks.
1443 - Vlad Tepes becomes a hostage by the Turks.
1447 - Vlad Dracul is beheaded.
1448 - Vlad briefly attains the Wallachian throne. Dethroned, he goes to Moldavia and befriends Prince Stefan.
1451 - Vlad and Stephan flee to Transylvania.
1455 - Constantinople falls.
1456 - John Hunyadi assists Vlad Tepes to attain Wallachian throne. Vladislav Dan is executed.
1458 - Matthias Corvinu succeeds John Hunyadi as King of Hungary.
1459 - Easter massacre of boyers and rebuilding of Dracula's castle. Bucharest is established as the second governmental center.
1460 - Attack upon Brasov, Romania
1461 - Successful campaign against Turkish settlements along the Danube, Summer retreat to Tirgoviste.
1462 - Following the battle at Dracula's castle, Vlad flees to Transylvania. Vlad begins 13 years of imprisonment.
1475 - Summer wars in Serbia against Turks take place. November: Vlad resumes throne of Wallachia.
1476 - Vlad is assassinated.

Economy of Drobeta Turnu Severin

2008-08-09T13:13:22-06:00

The development of the town as well as the prosperity of its inhabitants is due to the setting up of the port (1851) and of the ship repair shop (1858) which was the first in our country and became the centre of the future shipyard which was to become the most important one in the 1914 Romania and one of the most significant shipyards on the Danube.

The port

In recognition of the importance of the port and of the economic development of the town, Prince Cuza establishes here the first commercial circumscription (1863).

Being close to the Iron Gates Canal and to the Bucuresti - Craiova - Timisoara railway, the port and the town of Severin become a powerful transit communication junction as it is the place where ship convoys are organized up-stream and downstream on the Danube.

The Wagon Plant

1882 is the year when the Romanian railway and Depot make their appearance. They are followed by the mills erected on the bank of the Danube (such as ,,Moara de Foc" in 1876) and by the Beer Factory (1856-1858), as well as the Alcohol Factory at Banovita.

After 1900, the Candy Factory (1902), the Slaughterhouse, the Tanning House of the Damianoff Brothers (1906), the Bakery and the Dairy Products Factory are also erected.

,,Aurora" Bakery

After I960, the town economy grows richer when the Wood Processing Plant complex, the Cellulose and Paper Mill as well as the Heavy Water Plant (ROMAG) and a thermo-electric power station are also built, during the last decades of the last century.

The Commercial Bank

The economic development also included the coming into being of some banking institutions such as a branch of the Romanian National Bank (1899), the Bank of Severin (1904) and the Commercial Bank.

Ada Kaleh

2008-08-03T05:49:55-06:00

Ada Kaleh (Turkish for "Island Fortress") was a small island on the Danube populated by Turks that was submerged during the building of the Iron Gates hydro plant in 1970. The island was about 3 km downstream from Orşova and measured 1.75 by 0.4-0.5 km.

The isle of Ada Kaleh is probably the most evocative victim of the Đerdap dam's construction. A Turkish enclave, it had a mosque and a thousand twisting alleys, and was known as a free port and smuggler's nest. Many other ethnic groups lived here beside Turks.

It was walled: the Austrians built a fort there in 1669 to defend it from the Turks, and that fort would remain a bone of contention for the two empires. In 1699 the island came under Turkish control, from 1716 to 1718 it was Austrian, after a four month siege in 1738 it was Turkish again, followed by the Austrians re-conquering it in 1789, only to have to yield it to the Turks in the trailing peace treaty. Thereafter, the island lost its military importance.

In 1804, during First Serbian Uprising Serbian rebels, led by Milenko Stojković, caught and executed the dahias, who had fled from Belgrade and took refuge on the island. It was the oppression brought by the dahias that was the direct cause for the uprising.

The 1878 Congress of Berlin forced the Ottoman Empire to retreat far into the south, and the island came under the control of Austria-Hungary, though it remained the property of the Turkish sultan. The inhabitants enjoyed exemption from taxes and customs and were not conscripted. In 1923, when the Ottoman monarchy had disappeared, the inhabitants chose to join Romania.

The Ada Kaleh mosque dated from 1903 and was built on the site of an earlier Franciscan monastery. The carpet, a gift from the Turkish sultan, has been located in the Constanţa mosque since 1965.

The population lived primarily on the cultivation of tobacco and fishery, later on tourism. In its last years of existence the island counted 600 to 1,000 inhabitants.

With the building of the dam, some of the structures built on the islands were moved to nearby Şimian Island, including part of the masonry of the fortress' catacombs, the Mosque, the bazaar, Mahmut Pasha's house, the graveyard and various objects. However, the Ada Kaleh community decided to emigrate to Turkey after the evacuation of the island instead of re-settling on Şimian island. Also, a smaller part went to Dobruja, another Romanian territory with a Turkish minority.

Literature

Ada Kaleh plays an important part in the novel of one of the most famous Hungarian authors, Mór Jókai. In the novel "The Golden Man" (Arany ember), published in 1872, Ada Kaleh is called the "Island of Nobody" and it becomes an almost mythical symbol of peace, seclusion and beauty, juxtaposed with the material outside world.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.