Orşova

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Orşova

Coat of arms

Orşova

Location of Orşova

Coordinates: 44°43′31″N 22°23′46″E / 44.72528, 22.39611

Romania

Mehedinţi County

Government

- Mayor

Constantin Negulescu (Conservative Party)

Population (2002)

- Total

16,975

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

- Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Website: http://primariaorsova.lx.ro/

Orşova (German: Orschowa, Hungarian: Orsova, Bulgarian: Орсово, Polish: Orszawa, Czech: Оršova) is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinţi County (Oltenia, but sometimes considered as part of the Banat). It is situated just above the Iron Gates, on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube.

[edit] History

Orşova in summer

The first documented mention of its name was in 1150 under the Latin name Ursoua. The name possibly comes from the Hungarian name Uros + the Slavic -ova.

The locality was the site of a Roman port in Dacia Malvensis Orşova, and the site of a a castrum named Dierna.

An important Magyar burial site discovered in the region shows the presence of the Magyars since the early 10th century.

King Ladislaus I of Hungary decisively defeated the Cumans near Orşova in 1091.

It was a major border fortification in the Middle Ages.

The city was captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522.

Orşova became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1687 at the start of an Ottoman-Habsburg War, but Ottoman forces recaptured it in 1690. Finally the Treaty of Požarevac gave the city back to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1718. The city remained in Hungary until the end of World War I, when it became part of Romania. It was officially included in Oltenia during the administrative reform of 1968.

The Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen was buried near Orşova from 1848 till 1853.

During the works at the Iron Gates, the old center of the town was flooded and Orşova was developed (1966-1971) on higher ground, including the southern side of the Almăj Mountains and the villages of Jupalnic, Tufari, and Coramnic.

[edit] Economy

Orşova in winter

The town is a center for the extraction of bentonite, chromium, and granite. The industry is centered on energy production (the hydroelectric plant), shipbuilding and engine manufacturing, assembly parts for electricity production, textiles, and the processing of feldspar, asbestos, quartz, talc, wood, etc.