Craiova

Sister cities

• Patras
• Shiyan
• Ferrara
• Figueres
• Lyon
• Skopje
• Vratsa
• Nanterre
• Kuopio

History

Craiova, which occupied the site of the Dacian and Roman city Pelendava, was formerly the capital of Oltenia. Its ancient bans, the highest ranking boyars of the Wallachian state, were initially those of the Craiovești family. The bans had the right of minting coins stamped with their own effigies – the origin of the Romanian word ban as used for coins. The economic power of the Craiovești family at the end of the 16th century was about 100 villages (182 financial goods). This power gave them a statute of political autonomy so big, that the hospodars ruling at that time were not able to keep in power without an alliance with this powerful dynasty. From the Craiovești family there were chosen a lot of hospodars to rule the country: Neagoe Basarab, Radu de la Afumați, Radu Șerban (1602–1611), Matei Basarab, Constantin Șerban, Șerban Cantacuzino, Constantin Brâncoveanu. In 1395 Craiova was probably the scene of a victory won by the Wallachian Prince Mircea I of Wallachia over Bayezid I, Sultan of the Ottomans (see Battle of Rovine). Frequently referred to as "a city" after the first half of the 16th century, the Craiova area was always regarded as an important economic region of Wallachia and Romania at large. During the 1718–1739 Habsburg occupation of Oltenia (see Banat of Craiova), Craiova's status declined due to economic pressures and increased centralism, partly leading to an increase in hajduk actions, in parallel with protests of Craiovan boyars. In 1761, under Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos, the bans relocated to Bucharest, leaving behind kaymakams to represent them in Craiova. Under Prince Emanuel Giani Ruset, Wallachia's seat was moved to Craiova (1770–1771), viewed as a place of refuge during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. A large part of the city…

Geography

Under the Köppen climate classification, Craiova has a humid continental climate (Dfa), bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). This results in a combination of occasional cold winters, but too mild of a climate to contain permanent snow cover, along with long and hot summers. Annually, Craiova experiences 64 days with fog, more frequently in winter than other seasons. The city also experiences 34 days per year with thunder, and 1 day with hail. |source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes and humidity, 1973–1992), Meteomanz (extremes since 2021) }}

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  78
• Eurasian Moorhen

  Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  55
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  52
• Eurasian Green Woodpecker

  Picus viridis Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  43
• Ragweed

  Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. · Magnoliopsida
  36
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  34
• slider

  Trachemys scripta (Thunberg In Schoepff, 1792) · Testudines
  33

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2023-08-20
  3 km S of Stăneşti, Romania
• M 4.9 — 2023-03-20
  2 km SSE of Arcani, Romania
• M 4 — 2023-02-22
  3 km SSE of Pe?ti?ani, Romania
• M 5.6 — 2023-02-14
  0 km ESE of Lele?ti, Romania
• M 4.1 — 2014-06-24
  4 km NNW of Corabia, Romania
• M 4.5 — 2012-01-01
  4 km W of Albeni, Romania