Calafat

Etymology

According to historian Nicolae Iorga, the toponym "Calafatis" comes from the Byzantines and means "place where ships are tarred".

History

It was founded in the 14th century by Genoese colonists. These colonists generally employed large numbers of workmen in repairing ships.

In January 1854, during the Crimean War, when Russian forces were headed up the Danube, Ahmed Pasha, commanding the Turkish forces at Calafat, made a surprise attack on the temporary Russian garrison nearby Cetate, which was under the command of Colonel . This diverted the initial Russian attack and allowed Ahmed Pasha to consolidate his forces in Calafat. On 28 January, the Russians under the command of General Joseph Carl von Anrep, reached Calafat and began the siege which lasted until May. Riddled by disease and unable to take the town, Anrep withdrew.

There used to be a small Greek community in Calafat since the Late Middle Ages, numbering about 165 people at the end of the 19th century.

Calafat was declared a municipiu in 1997.

Climate

|1900 |7113 |1912 |7608 |1930 |7633 |1948 |8251 |1956 |8069 |1966 |9483 |1977 |15568 |1992 |20445 |2002 |21227 |2011 |16247 |2021 |13807

Transport

Main article: New Europe Bridge

Calafat lies on the river corridor VII-Danube and the pan-European corridor IV, which starts in Germany and ends in Istanbul and Thessaloniki. The city is at the crossroads of National Roads DN56, DN56A, and DN55A and European route E79. The city of Calafat and its neighbour, Vidin (Bulgaria), are linked by a bridge over the Danube in the area called Bașcov (Danube Bridge 2), built by the Spanish company FCC. The project of constructing a Danubian bridge in the area of Calafat–Vidin dates back to 1925. Road traffic between Vidin and Calafat was doubling every year, so it became necessary to construct a bridge with four lanes of road traffic, a railway line, a lane two meters wide for bikes and a pavement for pedestrians. The bridge has a total length of 1971 m and its cost is estimated at US$200 million. It was officially opened on 14 June 2013.

Newspapers

Calafat has several city newspapers. One of them is called Ziarul De Calafat, which is also maintained online; another one is Calafat Live.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Calafat is twinned with:

• Bulgaria Vidin, Bulgaria
• Serbia Zaječar, Serbia
• Philippines Biñan, Philippines

References

References

1. "Results of the 2024 local elections". Central Electoral Bureau.
2. Ντίνας, Κ., Σούτσιου, Τσ., Χατζηπαναγιωτίδη, Α. & Χρηστίδης, Γ. (2011). "«Ελληνόγλωσση Πρωτοβάθμια και Δευτεροβάθμια Διαπολιτισμική Εκπαίδευση στη Διασπορά»". [[University of Crete]].
3. Jaques, Tony (2007) ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A guide to 8,500 battles from antiquity through the twenty-first century: A-E'' Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Volume 1, page 247 {{ISBN. 0-313-33536-2
4. Jaques, Tony (2007) ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A guide to 8,500 battles from antiquity through the twenty-first century: A-E'' Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, Volume 1, page 184 {{ISBN. 0-313-33536-2
5. The Greek presence in the city was continued by [[Refugees of the Greek Civil War
6. ''Comunele și orasele României'', p. 448. Bucharest: Editura All Beck, 2005
7. "Medii lunare pentru Calafat, Romania". weather.com.
8. [http://focus-news.bg/?id=n1786188 Announcement] of the Bulgarian president as published by Focus News Agency on 22 May 2013 (in Bulgarian), retrieved 31 May 2013
9. "Ziarul De Calafat".