- Cuca, Argeş
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Cuca — Commune — Country 
RomaniaCounty Argeş County Population (2002)[1] 2,347 Time zone EET (UTC+2) – Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3) Cuca is a commune in Argeş County, in southern central Romania. It is composed of fourteen villages: Bălţata, Bărbălani, Cârceşti, Cotu, Crivăţu, Cuca, Lăunele de Sus, Măcăi, Măneşti, Sineşti, Stănicei, Teodoreşti, Valea Cucii and Vonigeasa. It was one of the most remote places in Romania. Today, in Romanian language, Cuca Măcăii means "a remote village or place, very difficult to reach".
Contents
History
The oldest document about Cuca[2] is from April 3, 1853, referring to an even older document, from 1537. The commune was formed in 1968 at its current shape by merging the former communes Cuca and Lăunele. Another former commune was Măcăi[3].
Geography
Cuca is placed in the Getic Platform, subdivision Cotmeana Platform[4]. The relief is segmented by many parallel valleys, while the villages are on the top of the hills, separated by forest areals.The rivers flow from North to South, South-East or South-West. The vallies dry up in summer[5]. The altitude varies from 390 to 530 meters[6].
The climate is temperate, with moderate summers and cold winters. The humidity is usually big[7].
Villages
The commune includes 14 small villages (the largest number in Argeş County)[8].
Village Distance from center Ethimology Population Cuca center Open in the roof for ilumination Isolated hill 429 Crivăţ 1 km E Winter wind 98 Bălţata 1 km N Bălţatu family name 38 Cîrceşti 14 km E Cîrciu famimy name 292 Vonigeasa 8 km E Voineagu family name 52 Sineşti 6 km S Sin or Sinescu family name 386 Măneşti 5 km W Manea or Mănescu family name 49 Măcăi 8 km W founded by Măcău family 100 Stănicei 7 km W Stănică (proper name) 54 Valea Cucii 9 km W Romanian translation: Valley of Cuca 118 Lăunele de Sus 5 km S "la unele" (Romanian translation - to some women) 203 Teodoreşti 7 km unknown 332 Cotu 9 km unknown 116 Bărbălani 17 km unknown 78 Transportation
There are two national roads close to Cuca[9]:
- DN 7 (or E81) Piteşti - Râmnicu Vâlcea
- DN 67b Piteşti - Drăgăşani.
From theese roads, the access way to Cuca is via loca county roads[10]:
- DJ 678a (asphalted) connects Cuca to South with Vâlcea County and DN 67b.
- DJ 678e (unasphalted) connects Teodoreşti village with DJ 678a.
- DJ 703 (asphalted to North and unasphalted to South) connects Cuca with DN 7 to North and with DN 67b to South, in Olt County.
The distances to the nearest towns are[11]:
- Piteşti 42 km
- Râmnicu Vâlcea 32 km
- Curtea de Argeş 52 km
- Drăgăşani 52 km
- Slatina 80 km
- Bucharest 164 km.
Economy
Resources
Cuca has two major resources: forests[12] and fruit trees[13]. The forests cover a big part of the commune and all the villages have direct access to the wooden areas. Nearly all the remaining terrain is used for fruit trees (mainly plum trees). The fruits are used to make ţuică, a Romanian alcoholic drink[14].
Firms
There are 21 firms[15] in the commune, including a pharmaceutical point and small local shops. There are no industrial or agricultural companies. The big distances to nearby cities (see #transportation) and the lack of bus lines[16] makes it very difficult for the local population to find a good job.
Problems
The main problem for the economy is isolation (see #Transportation). The second problem is the lack of water[17]. Some people say that in Cuca, water is as precious as in Sahara Desert[18]. The villages are on the top of the hills and the rivers are about 100 m below the villages and they dry up in summer (see #Geography). The freatic waters are even deeper, so permanent freatic water exixts more then 100 m below the river valleys[19]. Pumping water from such depth is nearly impossible. A water pipeline was constructed to bring water to the villages in Cuca[20]. For this, the pipe had to be longer then 100 km. It drains water from Topolog River and continues South to other communes with similar water problems[21].
The legend of Cuca Măcăii
In Romanian language, Cuca Măcăii defines a remote village or place, very difficult to reach[22][23]. It is still unknown how this expression apeared. However, the Măcăi village is called by the locals Cuca Măcăii. Many people associate the commune Cuca with Cuca Măcăii[24]. The entire commune is formed by small villages, isolated in forest (see#Villages). In past, transportation was very difficult. In 1922, the national road DN 67b did not exist[25]. Older maps[26] show that even the road that connects Piteşti and Râmnicu Vâlcea did not exist. Being isolated by sharp valleys and long, parallel hills (see #Geography), the land where Cuca is today must have been a very isolated place.
References
- ^ Romanian census data, 2002; retrieved on March 1, 2010
- ^ http://www.cjarges.ro/cuca/obj.asp?id=3097
- ^ http://www.cjarges.ro/cuca/ja.asp
- ^ http://www.ordogborda.hu/foldrajz/RO/geo_fiz.php?old=Relief&alold=Rezumatul_total#get
- ^ http://maps.google.bg/maps?hl=bg&rlz=1R2ADFA_enRO437&q=cuca+arges+map&gs_upl=12594l16938l1l17594l16l12l0l0l0l0l297l2703l0.4.8l12l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1440&bih=703&wrapid=tlif131629089223410&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x474d4c683f804451:0x55b9b61d6ac790c8,Cuca,+Romania&gl=bg&ei=ZwF1Tq24J6qk0QW-uaWYCA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA
- ^ http://maps.google.com/
- ^ meteo.ournet.ro/vremea/ro/Arges/Cuca/3947170
- ^ http://www.cjarges.ro/cuca/obj.asp?id=3094
- ^ www.harta-turistica.ro
- ^ http://www.cjarges.ro/upload/atachments/21906_drumuri%20judetene%20arges.pdf
- ^ Shell Eurokarte
- ^ http://www.firmepenet.ro/Asociatia-Proprietarilor-De-Padure-Privighetoarea-Cuca-Arges-Cod-Fiscal-28072805.html
- ^ http://www.primariaonline.ro/judet-Arges/primarie-Cuca/m/2/lang/1
- ^ www.cautanunt.ro/anunturi-tuica+cuca
- ^ http://www.listafirme.ro/harta/arges_cuca.htm
- ^ www.autogari.ro
- ^ http://www.realitatea.net/realitatea-tv-intr-un-duplex-original--bucuresti-cuca-macaii_92052.html
- ^ http://www.9am.ro/stiri-revista-presei/2007-07-09/cuca-macai-locul-unde-apa-este-la-fel-de-pretioasa-ca-n-sahara.html
- ^ http://www.presaonline.com/stiri/stiri-locale/foraje-de-mare-adancime-in-zece-localitati-care-nu-au-sisteme-de-alimentare-cu-apa-71501.html
- ^ http://www.ziare.com/pitesti/stiri-actualitate/alimentare-cu-apa-pentru-2-300-de-locuitori-ai-comunei-cuca-1052117
- ^ http://www.cjarges.ro/upload/atachments/9520_Anexa%202%20-%20Indicatori-teh.-eco.pdf
- ^ http://www.imed.ro/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9645
- ^ http://forum.softpedia.com/lofiversion/index.php/t150764.html
- ^ http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9309461
- ^ http://romaniainterbelica.memoria.ro/judete/arges/index.html
- ^ http://www.verticalonline.ro/hotarele-ungrovlahiei-in-evul-mediu
Categories:- Communes in Argeș County
- Argeș County geography stubs
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