:''For the
Bulgarian city see
Targovishte.''
'Târgovişte' (also spelled ''Tîrgovişte''; ) is a city in the
Dâmboviţa county of
Romania. It is situated on the right bank of the
Ialomiţa River.
As of 2003, it has an estimated population of 89,000.
History
First attested in
1396, in the ''Travel Accounts'' of
Johannes Schiltberger, it became the capital of the
Wallachian
voivodship, probably during the reign of
Mircea cel Bătrân, when the Royal Court (''"Curtea Domnească"'') was built.
Vlad III Dracula later added the
Chindia Tower, now a symbol of the city.
In
1597 Mihai Viteazul fought and won a decisive battle against the
Ottoman Empire in Târgovişte.
After
Constantin Brâncoveanu moved the capital to
Bucharest, Târgovişte lost its importance, decaying economically as its population decreased.
Târgovişte was the site of the trial and execution of
Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife
Elena in December
1989.
Interestingly, there are towns with the same name (albeit with different spellings) in both
Bulgaria and
Serbia. The Romanian and Bulgarian towns are
twinned. The name is of
Slavic origin, from the root ''-trg-'' or ''-tǎrg-'' ("trade") and the placename suffix ''-ište'', and means "marketplace".
Population
★
16th century: 60,000
★
1900: 9,400
★
1977: 61,300
★
2002: 89,930
Twin towns
★ '
Targovishte',
Bulgaria
★ '
Trakai',
Lithuania
★ '
Orvault',
France
★ '
Miami ',
USA
★ '
Corbetta',
Italy
★ '
Santarem',
Portugal
★ '
Vellinge',
Sweden
★ '
Castellon de la Plana',
Spain
Famous natives
★
Vasile Blendea (1895 - 1988), painter, sculptor artist
★
Alexandru Brătescu-Voineşti (1868 - 1946), writer
★
Iulian Chiriţă (1967), football player
★
Cornel Dinu (1948), football player
★
Ion Heliade Rădulescu (1802 - 1872), writer, philologist, politician
★
Laurenţiu Reghecampf (1975), football player
★
Theodor Stolojan (1943), economist, politician
★
Claudiu Voiculeţ (1985), football player
★
Tony Bulandra, actor
External links
★
A presentation of the Medieval Princely Court of Târgovişte - includes 25 contemporary photos, 3 ancient images, 2 layouts, a reconstruction of the Court, bibliography and many other info (in Romanian).
★
Map of the city
★
Târgovişte Online
★
the 360 panorama view of Târgovişte
★
free classifieds for Târgovişte