Zimnicea

Zimnicea
—  Town  —
Coat of arms
Zimnicea Location of Zimnicea
Coordinates: 43°39′8″N 25°22′5″E / 43.65222°N 25.36806°E / 43.65222; 25.36806Coordinates: 43°39′8″N 25°22′5″E / 43.65222°N 25.36806°E / 43.65222; 25.36806
Country	Romania
County	Teleorman County
Status	Town
Government
– Mayor	Petre Pîrvu (Social Democratic Party)
Area
– Total	131.31 km2 (50.7 sq mi)
Population (2002)
– Total	16,500
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Zimnicea (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈzimnit͡ʃe̯a]) is a town in Teleorman county, Romania (in the historic region of Wallachia), a port on the Danube opposite the Bulgarian city of Svishtov.

Geography

Zimnicea is the southernmost point of Romania situated on the left bank of the Danube river. This is the most southern place on the banks of the Danube river and the most southern harbour on the Danube in Romania. The distance between the Zimnicea and Bucharest is 122 kilometres (76 mi), and the distance to Alexandria (capital of Teleorman County) is about 39 kilometres (24 mi).

Zimnicea is served around the clock by the Svishtov-Zimnich ferry — a regular operation Ro-ro ferryboat across the Danube between Zimnicea and Svishtov, Bulgaria. The ferry shortens the road path to and from Turkey to Central and Western Europe by 140 km when compared to the traditional route over the Danube Bridge at Ruse-Giurgiu and allows a time gain of nearly 4 hours thus avoiding the traffic in and around the city of Bucharest.

History

Zimnicea developed near a Geto-Dacian fortress (about 1,200 m west of downtown).^{[citation needed]} Traditional agriculture, fishing, iron processing, carpentry, pottery, tissue exchange of products were the occupations of the people throughout the town's existence.

The natives of Zimnicea sell grain, cattle, sheep, fish, butter, salt, honey, wax, timber and bought cloth, oriental fabric, carpets and spices.

In 1838, the settlement Zimnicea was passed in the fairs, with the general population census of that year 551 families and 3046 inhabitants. In the years 1837-1839 Zimnicea became the capital of Teleorman county.

Near Zimnicea there are ruins of several ancient fortresses and fortifications from the 4th to the 1st century BC. The oldest are believed by some scholars^[who?] to have been built to defend the town from Alexander the Great's general, Lisimachos.

The name of the town was first mentioned in 1385 in the travel logs of Christian pilgrims on their way home from their trip to Jerusalem. The Byzantines called it Demnitzikos and later on Dzimnikes or Dzimnikos.^{[citation needed]} The town flourished as a trade post on the trade routes that linked Central Europe to the Balkans.

In 1835, it had 531 households, being the twelfth largest market town in Wallachia. For a short time in 1837 to 1838, it was the capital of Teleorman county, but due to internal dissent between the landowners and merchants, it was replaced by Alexandria.^{[citation needed]}

During the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878), it was the headquarters of the Russians troops fighting in Bulgaria against the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, German Empire troops crossed the Danube in the Zimnicea sector, effectively bringing down the Romanian front in Muntenia.

About 80% of the town was destroyed during the 1977 Romanian Earthquake, and had to be rebuilt. Most of the destruction was actually done after the natural disaster by bulldozer, being ordered by communist authorities, as a means to create a town from scratch on a new design.^{[citation needed]} Ten years later, the newly-built infrastructure was falling apart due mainly to poor workmanship;^{[citation needed]}

Local industry has declined since the fall of the communist regime, as did the population.

Politics

The mayor of Zimnicea Municipality is Petre Pârvu, he is in his second mandate and is chosen from the list of the coalition For Zimnicea that includes PNL, PD-L, PC and PSD.

Interbelic coat of arms

Economics

In the communist era Zimnicea has undergone forced industrialization, and the new industres suffered a strong decline after the fall of the communist regime.

Education and culture

In Zimnicea there are 5 kindergartens, 3 elementary schools with primary and secondary education and one high school. The high school has 15 classrooms, a gym and a school workshop. Classes are attended by 511 students, with two shifts and evening school hours. Zimnicea High School has a library with 20,578 volumes and a science laboratory equipped with 30 computers.^{[citation needed]}

School No.1, Miron Radu Paraschivescu has 15 classrooms, including 3 laboratories (physics, chemistry, biology), 5 cabinets teachers (mathematics, geography, design, religion, Romanian), a gym, a workshop school and a library.^{[citation needed]}

The three elementary schools are: Miron Radu Paraschivescu Primary and Secondary School, School no. 2 and School no. 3

Culture

Zimnicea does not have any artistic events held occasionally or permanently. The budget allocated for cultural activities are insufficient for a cultural life. Cultural institutions operating in Zimnicea are: the cultural center and the town library.

The city library was founded in 1952 and after December 1989 received the name of local poet Miron Radu Paraschivescu.

Tourism

The „Dunărica” children camp has a capacity of 200 accommodation places, with a football field and a tennis court, a kayak-canoe base and a cafeteria with 250 places.

"Zimtub SA" Zimnicea Hotel has a capacity of 48 rooms, a restaurant with 100 seats and a night club with 80 seats.

The amusement and recreation base "Disko - Hope" is situated on the Danube riverside and has a beach with, as well as an outdoor dancing club with a capacity of 1,200 places; There is also an amusement base at the beach from Cheson.

Population

• 1834: 3,000
• 1977: 14,000
• 2000: 16,800