Calafat

Calafat
—  Municipality  —
The monument commemorating the soldiers who fought in the War of Independence in 1877
Coat of arms
Calafat Location of Calafat
Coordinates: 43°59′09″N 22°57′27″E / 43.98583°N 22.9575°E / 43.98583; 22.9575Coordinates: 43°59′09″N 22°57′27″E / 43.98583°N 22.9575°E / 43.98583; 22.9575
Country	Romania
County	Dolj County
Status	Municipality
Government
– Mayor	Mircea-Marinel Guţă (Democratic Liberal Party (2008–present))
Population (2000)
– Total	21,227
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Calafat (Romanian pronunciation: [kalaˈfat]) is a city in Dolj County, Romania, on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by ferryboat. The construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge is planned between the two cities.

The city administers three villages: Basarabi, Ciupercenii Vechi and Golenţi.

History

It was founded in the 14th century by Genoese colonists, who employed large numbers of workmen (Calfats) in repairing ships. This industry gave the town its name.

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 Russian garrison at nearby Cetate, which was under the command of Colonel Alexander Baumgarten.^[1] 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 Iosif Romanovich Anrep reached Calafat and began the siege which lasted until May. Riddled by disease and unable to take the town, Anrep withdrew.^[2]

Population

• 1900: 7,113
• 2000: 21,227

Transport

Calafat City Hall

Calafat lies on the river corridor VII-Danube and the pan-European corridor IV which starts in Germany and ends in Istanbul and Thessaloniki [2]. The city is at crossroads of DN56, DN56A, DN55A and E79. Between the city of Calafat and neighbour, Vidin (Bulgaria), stands links made by specially equipped vessels (tanks), and there are plans to build a bridge over the Danube in the area called Başcov (whose construction will be completed in 2010) by the Spanish company FCC. The project of constructing a bridge in the area Calafat-Vidin dates from the year 1925. Road traffic between Vidin and Calafat doubles every year, so it has become necessary to construct a bridge that will have four lanes of traffic road, a railway line, a lane two meters wide for bikes and a pavement for pedestrians. The bridge will have a total length of 1,971 m and it will cost over 100 million euros.

Newspaper

Calafat has several city newspapers. One of them is called Ziarul De Calafat,^[3] which is also maintained online; another is Calafat Live.^[4] It has useful daily information about the city of Calafat and the area around it.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Twin towns — Sister cities

Calafat is twinned with:

• Vidin, Bulgaria
• Zaječar, Serbia
• Duiven, Nederlands

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ 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
3. ^ "News" Ziarul De Calafat
4. ^ [1]

External links

• Official website
• Hellenic Community of Calafat, elen-calafat.com
• Ziarul de Calafat, Ziarul de Calafat.ro
• Calafatul.ro, Calafatul.ro