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78-530: Inhabited since prehistoric times but first mentioned in the 14th century, it developed as a trading town in northern Wallachia , serving as an informal residence for various Wallachian Princes until the 18th century. From the 19th century and until the interwar period, it was an important political center for the National Liberal Party and the main residence of the Brătianu family of politicians. During

156-726: A Polish preacher and former Catholic priest who had returned from the United States (the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Romania was established only after 1918). By 1906, Pitești was home to a thriving cooperative bank , Banca Populară Pitești , which was also the first-ever financial institution in the Argeș County. In 1907, factory manager Edmond Landauer performed the very first Tayloristic experiments in Romania, at Pitești Weaving Mill. From late autumn 1916 to 1918, during

234-646: A leisure park. Pitești is adjacent to two reservoirs on the Argeș, in its Prundu area and in nearby Bascov (the Budeasa Dam). It is situated downstream from Lake Vidraru and upstream from the reservoir in Bălilești. According to the Köppen climate classification , the city lies within the humid continental climate ( Dfb ) category. Average annual temperatures range between 9 °C and 10 °C. The average January temperature

312-621: A public outdoor swimming pool in the Tudor Vladimirescu area. Nearby Bascov also has a public swimming place, on grounds adjacent to the Budeasa Dam. The national canoe racing also trains at the Budeasa Dam sports base, and the location is also used for recreational fishing. A tennis challenger tournament ( Turneul challenger feminin Pitești ) takes place each year, on grounds in Bascov. Pitești

390-478: A reputation as a tulip-growing area, and the flower-themed festival was first organized by the local authorities in 1978. Typically held in the cultural centre building ( Casa Cărții ), the festival also includes folk music performances, international scientific conferences, an art exhibit and youth sport competitions. The major football club in the city is FC Argeș Pitești , which has generally played in Liga I , and has

468-702: A skull dated ~36,000, nicknamed "Vasile"). Two human fossil remains found in the Muierii ( Peştera Muierilor ) and the Cioclovina caves in Romania have been radiocarbon dated using the technique of the accelerator mass spectrometry to the age of ~ 30,000 years BP (see Human fossil bones from the Muierii Cave and the Cioclovina Cave, Romania ). The first skull, scapula and tibia remains were found in 1952 in Baia de Fier , in

546-467: Is twinned with: Prehistory of the Balkans The prehistory of Southeast Europe , defined roughly as the territory of the wider Southeast Europe (including the territories of the modern countries of Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Cyprus , Greece , Kosovo , Moldova , Montenegro , North Macedonia , Romania , Serbia , Slovenia , and European Turkey ) covers

624-599: Is -2.4 °C, while the average July temperature is 20.8 °C. As of 2021 census data, 141,275 inhabitants live within the city limits, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2011 census. Romania's 2011 census recorded a population of 155,383 for the city. Of the individuals for whom data were available, 99.1% were ethnic Romanians and 0.6% Roma . In terms of religion, 98.4% were Romanian Orthodox ; 0.3% Roman Catholic ; and 0.2% each Pentecostal , Christian Evangelical , Baptist and Evangelical . A further 0.2% were atheist or non-religious. A 2016 estimate placed

702-585: Is applicable to Southeastern Europe. It ended with the Mesolithic (duration is two to four millennia) or, where an early Neolithisation was peculiar to, with the Epipalaeolithic . In regions with limited glacial impact (e.g. Southeastern Europe), the term Epipalaeolithic is preferable. Regions that experienced less environmental impact during the last ice age have a much less apparent and straightforward change, and occasionally are marked by an absence of sites from

780-511: Is equally important to recognize that the Balkan upper Palaeolithic was a long period containing little significant internal change. The Mesolithic may not have existed in the Balkans for the same reasons that cave art and mobiliary art never appeared: the changes in climate and flora and fauna were gradual and not drastic. (…) Furthermore, one of the reasons that we do not distinguish separate industries in

858-633: Is particularly noticeable among the male population: this segment not only has a higher mortality and lower life expectancy, but also, due to de-industrialization, emigrated in search of work in significant numbers. Pitești is one of the most industrialized cities in Romania. It is the center of the automotive industry in the country: the Automobile Dacia automaker is situated in the nearby town of Mioveni , and several other automobile parts manufacturers are located within its urban area ( Dräxlmaier Group , Lear Corporation and Valeo ). The city also houses

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936-572: Is sometimes called the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution . In the late Pleistocene , various components of the transition–material culture and environmental features (climate, flora, and fauna) indicate continual change, differing from contemporary points in other parts of Europe. The aforementioned aspects leave some doubt that the term Upper Palaeolithic Revolution is appropriate to the Balkans . In general, continual evolutionary changes are

1014-487: Is surrounded by hills rich in wineries and plum orchards. The latter give one of the finest Romanian țuicas : țuica de Pitești . The Ștefănești winery, situated on the opposite bank of the Argeș River, is one of the best known in Romania. Pitești is home to a County Theater; established in 1948, it was named in honor of playwright Alexandru Davila a decade later. Its branches include a puppet theater (created in 1949),

1092-647: The Arpechim oil refinery, part of the Petrom group. The plant, established as a state-owned company during communism, has traditionally been the center of controversy over its air pollution records. In 2007, the Ministry of the Environment withdrew Arpechim's permit, but Petrom contested the decision in court. The plant is scheduled to gradually reduce its activity over a period of several years, pending eventual closure. The city

1170-515: The Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718 , Habsburg troops attacked and captured the town; Pitești was again the scene of battles during the Austro-Turkish War of 1737–1739 . In 1780, Tuscan numismatist Domenico Sestini passed through the Argeș region, and described the town as having 250 houses and 7 churches. In 1804, the citizens requested to have an upper school opened (to offer lectures in Greek,

1248-473: The County Museum of History and Natural Sciences . Both buildings are eclectic in style, and feature frescoes painted by Iosif Materna . Pitești experienced urbanization and economic development with several changes in landscape and a number of regional firsts. In 1868–1869, Pitești was the first city in Romania to have a recorded Seventh-day Adventist community, formed around Michał Belina-Czechowski ,

1326-581: The Estrada section for open-air performances (1958), and a folklore section (1970). The Theater's Studio 125 was established in May 1975 by director Liviu Ciulei . The first written record of a theatrical performance in the city dates to 1848, when Constantin Halepliu set up a troupe. Following that year's revolution , several actors, Halepliu included, were arrested, and the theatre closed until 1856. A Communal Theatre

1404-621: The Getic Plateau (an area of foothills leading up to the Southern Carpathians ). The Plateau is at its narrowest in the Pitești area, where it only reaches 30 km (19 miles) in width, as opposed to the 70–80 km (43–50 miles) average. The city has access to a piedmont plain, known as Câmpia Piteștilor ("Pitești Plain") and characterized by water-meadows . To the west, it abuts the Trivale Forest , which has been partly set up as

1482-474: The Greek Civil War (some of the buildings erected for this purpose were later used to house resettled peasants). Florica was nationalized in 1948, and was later partly devastated by Romanian Communist Party activists (for a while during the 1970s, it was a residence of the communist politician Ion Dincă ). The bust of Ion Brătianu , standing in front of Saint Nicholas Church, was removed and melted, and

1560-711: The Mycenean civilisation during the Late Bronze Age collapse . Human prehistory in Southeast Europe is conventionally divided into smaller periods, such as Upper Paleolithic, Holocene Mesolithic / Epipaleolithic , Neolithic Revolution , expansion of Proto-Indo-Europeans , and Protohistory . The changes between these are gradual. For example, depending on interpretation, protohistory might or might not include Bronze Age Greece (3000–1200 BC), Minoan, Mycenaean , Thracian and Venetic cultures. By one interpretation of

1638-500: The Nicolae Dobrin Stadium as its home ground. In addition, the city was home to a Liga II football club, Internațional Pitești (located on Stadionul Ștrand ), and has a school which doubles as a junior team, Sporting Pitești. Pitești hosts basketball team BCM U Pitești , as well as a women's volleyball team, Argeș Volei Pitești. Pitești is home to an Olympic size swimming pool , the home ground for CSM Pitești , and

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1716-573: The Republic of North Macedonia , although traces of it can be found all around the Southeastern Europe, parts of Central Europe and in Asia Minor . The Varna Necropolis , Bulgaria, is a burial site in the western industrial zone of Varna (approximately 4 km from the city centre), internationally considered one of the key archaeological sites in world prehistory. The oldest gold treasure in

1794-735: The Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology in Bucharest , and Agata Olariu , physicist at the Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering-Horia Hulubei , Bucharest, where samples were taken. One sample of bone was taken from the skull from Cioclovina; samples were also taken from the scapula and tibia remains from Muierii Cave . The work continued at the University of Lund , AMS group, by Göran Skog, Kristina Stenström and Ragnar Hellborg. The samples of bones were dated by radiocarbon method applied at

1872-696: The World War I battles , Pitești was occupied by the troops of the Central Powers . The city was originally abandoned by the Romanian Army and taken by the German commander August von Mackensen as the front stabilized on the Olt River , before Mackensen was able to occupy Bucharest and the entire southern Romania. During the post-war existence of Greater Romania , Pitești became a regional cultural center, notably hosting

1950-485: The Zinca Golescu National College . There are also 20 primary schools, 23 kindergartens and 10 nursery schools. A public library, named after intellectual figure Dinicu Golescu , was planned in 1869 by Paraschiva Stephu, a female member of the upper class, who drew up a will leaving 200 Austrian ducats for the purpose of creating a library. The institution became operational in 1880, and a large part of

2028-463: The "Cave With Bones" ( Peștera cu Oase ), near Anina , Romania . Nicknamed " John of Anina " ( Ion din Anina ), the remains (the lower jaw) are approximately 37,800 years old. These are some of Europe's oldest remains of Homo sapiens , so they are likely to represent the first such people to have entered the continent. According to some researchers, the particular interest of the discovery resides in

2106-507: The 13th century BCE. The "East Balkan Complex" (Karanovo VII, Ezero culture ) covers all of Thrace (modern Bulgaria). The Bronze Age cultures of the central and western Southeastern Europe are less clearly delineated and stretch to Pannonia , the Carpathians and into Hungary . The Minoan civilization based on the Greek island of Crete becomes Europe's first actual civilization. The culture of Mycenaean Greece (1600-1100 BC) offers

2184-474: The 1928–1929 series of the magazine Kalende (published in cooperation by literary critics Vladimir Streinu , Șerban Cioculescu , Pompiliu Constantinescu , and Tudor Șoimaru ). Pitești was affected in various ways by World War II and its successive regimes . After a fascist National Legionary State was proclaimed by the Iron Guard in late 1940, a bronze bust of former premier Armand Călinescu (whom

2262-671: The AMS system of the Lund University. The human fossil remains from Muierii Cave, Baia de Fier, have been dated to 30,150 ± 800 years BP, and the skull from the Cioclovina Cave has been dated to 29,000 ± 700 years BP. The Mesolithic period began at the end of the Pleistocene epoch ( 10th millennium BC ) and ended with the Neolithic introduction of farming , the date of which varied in each geographical region. According to Douglass W. Bailey: It

2340-554: The Balkans as Mesolithic is because the lithic industries of the early Holocene were very firmly of a gradually developing late Palaeolithic tradition The Mesolithic is the transitional period between the Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gathering existence and the development of farming and pottery production during the Postglacial Neolithic. The duration of the classical Palaeolithic, which lasted until about 10,000 years ago,

2418-682: The Brave ( see Moldavian Magnate Wars ). Around that time, fighting occurred in and around the town as the new prince Radu Șerban clashed with the Ottomans and their Crimean Khanate allies. Constantin Șerban financed the building of the Orthodox Saint George Church, completed in 1656. His building program also included a (since-lost) palace and adjacent gardens. Around that time, the city hosted travelers of renown, such as Arab chronicler Paul of Aleppo and Swedish politician Claes Rålamb . It

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2496-472: The German financier Bethel Henry Strousberg , this was the second project of its kind in Romania (after the Bucharest- Giurgiu rail link of 1869). The Pitești Town Hall was completed in 1886, and currently houses an art gallery. The Argeș County Prefecture, designed by Dimitrie Maimarolu , was erected in 1898–1899 on the site previously occupied by an Orthodox hermitage ; it is the present-day site of

2574-455: The Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from the older Linear A, an undeciphered earlier script used for writing the Minoan language , as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos , Kydonia , Pylos , Thebes and Mycenae , but disappeared with the fall of

2652-557: The Guard had assassinated in September 1939), was chained and dragged through the city streets. In December 1943, under the dictatorship of Conducător Ion Antonescu (a Pitești native), it saw the final chapter in a chain of deportations of Romani people to Transnistria ( see Holocaust in Romania ). The city was sporadically bombed by the Allies : on July 4, 1944, it was struck by a section of

2730-531: The Mesolithic era in Bulgaria is Pobíti Kámǎni. There has been no other lithic evidence of this period found in Bulgaria. There is a 4,000-year gap between the latest Upper Palaeolithic material (13,600 BP at Témnata Dupka) and the earliest Neolithic evidence presented at Gǎlǎbnik (the beginning of the 7th millennium BC). At Odmut in Montenegro there is evidence of human activity in the Mesolithic period. The research on

2808-695: The Mesolithic era. There is lithic evidence of the Iron Gates mesolithic culture, which is notable for its early urbanization, at Lepenski Vir . Iron Gates mesolithic sites are found in modern Serbia , south-west Romania and Montenegro . At Ostrovul Banului , the Cuina Turcului rock shelter in the Danube gorges and in the nearby caves of Climente, there are finds that people of that time made relatively advanced bone and lithic tools (i.e. end-scrapers, blade lets, and flakes). The single site with materials related to

2886-675: The Muierii Cave, Gorj County in the Oltenia province, by Constantin Nicolaescu-Plopşor . In 1941 another skull was found at the Cioclovina Cave near Commune Bosorod , Hunedoara County , in Transylvania. The anthropologist, Francisc Rainer , and the geologist, Ion Th. Simionescu , published a study of this skull. The physical analysis of these fossils was begun in the summer of the year 2000 by Emilian Alexandrescu , archaeologist at

2964-549: The National Liberal leaders. For a short period in 1882, Pitești was home to dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale , leading some to propose that it was the unnamed National Liberal-dominated city depicted in Caragiale's famous play O scrisoare pierdută . By 1872, a national railway connection with the capital Bucharest and Târgoviște was built, at the same time as one linking Bucharest with Ploiești through Chitila . Overseen by

3042-586: The Palaeolithic (and then by implication the Mesolithic ) should not be considered correct in all cases. In this regard, the absence of Upper Palaeolithic cave art in the region does not seem to be surprising. Civilisations develop new and distinctive characteristics as they respond to new challenges in their environment. In 2002, some of the oldest modern human ( Homo sapiens sapiens ) remains in Europe were discovered in

3120-740: The Southeastern Europe from the Lower Paleolithic onwards, but the number of sites is limited. According to Douglass W. Bailey : it is important to recognize that the Southeastern Europe Upper Palaeolithic was a long period containing little significant internal change. Thus, regional transition was not as dramatic as in other European regions. Crucial changes that define the earliest emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens are presented at Bacho Kiro at 44,000 BC. The Bulgarian key Palaeolithic caves named Bacho Kiro and Temnata Dupka with early Upper Palaeolithic material correlate that

3198-529: The US Fifteenth Air Force ( see Bombing of Romania in World War II ). In the 1950s, while serving as capital of Regiunea Argeș , Pitești gained an ill notoriety, when the communist authorities used the local detention facility to subject political detainees to " reeducation ", in which violence between inmates was encouraged to the point of being mandatory ( see Pitești prison ). The experiment

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3276-611: The area corresponding to today's Montenegro and Albania. The name Illyrii was originally used to refer to a people occupying an area centered on Lake Skadar, situated between Albania and Montenegro (see List of ancient tribes in Illyria ). The term Illyria was subsequently used by the Greeks and Romans as a generic name to refer to different peoples within a well defined but much greater area. Other tribal unions existed in Dacia at least as early as

3354-686: The area, is reported to have spent several seasons in the town. Under Vlad Vintilă, who allied himself with the Holy Roman Empire against his Ottoman overlords, Aloisio Gritti (governor of Ottoman Hungary ) and his Wallachian boyar partisans camped in the Pitești neighborhood of Războieni, where they were attacked and defeated by the Prince. In 1600–1601, troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , led by Jan Zamoyski , were stationed in Pitești during their expedition against Michael

3432-444: The beginning of the 2nd century BC under King Oroles . In the beginning of 1st century BC under Burebista 's rule, Dacia expanded its territory from Central Europe to the Southern Europe . Hellenistic culture spread throughout the Macedonian Empire created by Alexander the Great from the later 4th century BC. By the end of the 4th century BC Greek language and culture were dominant not only in Southeastern Europe but also around

3510-418: The church itself was demolished in 1962. The city is part of the historical region of Wallachia, situated in its north and in the westernmost part of its Muntenian subregion. It lies on the right bank of the Argeș, where the river meets its tributary, Râul Doamnei . Pitești is situated 280 metres (918.64 feet ) above sea level , on terraces formed by the Argeș, and belongs to the southernmost section of

3588-474: The city as part of the Great Turkish War (they were repelled later that year). In November 1714, as a direct result of Swedish defeats in the Great Northern War against Imperial Russia , Swedish King Charles XII unsuccessfully sought an alliance with Sultan Ahmed III ; on his way back from Istanbul , Charles and Axel Sparre passed through Pitești, and, after a three-week stay, made their way to Swedish Pomerania through Habsburg-ruled regions. During

3666-454: The early stages of the communist regime , it was one of the main sites of political repression, with the Pitești Prison becoming home to an experiment in brainwashing techniques. The earliest traces of human settlements in this area relate to the Paleolithic . Coins minted by the Dacians during the 3rd century BC, copying the design of Thracian tetradrachmon issued by Lysimachus , have been discovered here. A small Roman castrum

3744-417: The east of Southeastern Europe in the 5th century BC. By the 6th century BC the first written sources dealing with the territory north of the Danube appear in Greek sources. By this time the Getae (and later the Daci ) had branched out from the Thracian-speaking populations. The Illyrian kingdom in the west of Southeastern Europe from the early 4th century was organised by the Illyrian tribes situated in

3822-435: The educational language of the time); their request was denied by Prince Constantine Ypsilantis . During the 1790s, Pitești was visited by Luigi Mayer , a German pupil of Giovanni Battista Piranesi , who left etchings of the region (including the very first one of Pitești); they were published in London in 1810, with text by a T. Bowyer, whose caption for Pitești read "nothing more wild or romantic can be conceived". The town

3900-455: The experiment. In 1957, a new trial convicted certain members of the prison staff, who received light sentences; they were later pardoned. In parallel, Pitești underwent numerous changes in landscape, including the completion of the A1 freeway , the first road of its kind, during the 1960s, and the acceleration of industrialization with a focus on the chemical and automotive industries. Around 1950, Pitești area accommodated ELAS refugees from

3978-414: The expressions of identity and more flexible combinations of materials, which began to be used in the late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.” The aforementioned allows us to speculate whether or not there was a period which could be described as Mesolithic in Southeastern Europe, rather than an extended Upper Palaeolithic. On the other hand, lack of research in a number of regions, and the fact that many of

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4056-509: The fact that it presents a mixture of archaic, early modern human and Neanderthal morphological features, indicating considerable Neanderthal/modern human admixture, which in turn suggests that, upon their arrival in Europe, modern humans met and interbred with Neanderthals. Recent reanalysis of some of these fossils has challenged the view that these remains represent evidence of interbreeding. A second expedition by Erik Trinkaus and Ricardo Rodrigo , discovered further fragments (for example,

4134-446: The first crucial characteristic of the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. The notion of the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution that has been developed for core European regions is not applicable to the region. What is the reason? This particularly significant moment and its origins are defined and enlightened by other characteristics of the transition to upper Old Stone Age. The environment, climate, flora and fauna corroborate

4212-403: The first to establish a system of trade routes in Southeastern Europe and, in order to facilitate trade with the natives between 700 BC and 300 BC, they founded several colonies on the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) coast, Asia Minor, Dalmatia etc. Other notable groups of peoples and tribes of Southeast Europe organised themselves in large tribal unions such as the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in

4290-407: The first written evidence of the Greek language . Several Mycenaean attributes and achievements were borrowed or held in high regard in later periods. while their religion already included several deities that can also be found in the Olympic Pantheon . Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace states. It was followed by the Greek Dark Ages and

4368-415: The historiography criterion, Southeast Europe enters protohistory only with Homer ( See also Historicity of the Iliad , and Geography of the Odyssey ). At any rate, the period ends before Herodotus in the 5th century BC. The earliest evidence of human occupation discovered in the region, in Kozarnika cave (Bulgaria), date from at least 1.5 million years ago. There is evidence of human presence in

4446-658: The implications. During the last interglacial period and the most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene (from 131,000 till 12,000 BP), Europe was very different from the regional glaciation. The glaciations did not affect southeastern Europe to the extent that they did in the northern and central regions. The evidence of forest and steppe indicate the influence was not so drastic; some species of flora and fauna survived only in this part of Europe. The region today still abounds in species endemic only to this part of Europe. The notion of gradual transition (or evolution) best defines southeastern Europe from about 50,000 BP. In this sense,

4524-414: The introduction of iron. After the period that followed the arrival of the Dorians , known as the Greek Dark Ages or Submycenaean Period, the classical Greek culture began to develop in Southeastern Europe, the Aegean islands and the western Asia Minor Greek colonies starting around the 9–8th century (the Geometric Period ) and peaking with the 5th century BC Athens democracy. The Greeks were

4602-454: The late 14th century, it became home to a sizable Armenian community. At the time, the locality was only extending on the left bank of the Argeș, and gradually expanded over the river, reaching the hill slopes to the west (in the 19th century, it completely absorbed Târgul din Deal ). While Pitești was commonly designated as a high-ranking town, a village of Pitești was still mentioned as late as 1528, which led some historians to conclude that

4680-429: The late Mesolithic period exist all over the Aegean sea. Some major settlements of Neolithic Greece are Sesklo, Dimini , Early Knossos and Nea Nikomedeia close to Krya Vrysi . The Bronze Age in Southeastern Europe is divided as follows (Boardman p. 166): The Bronze Age in the central and eastern part of Southeastern Europe begins late, around 1800 BCE. The transition to the Iron Age gradually sets in over

4758-494: The material culture and natural environment of the region of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene were distinct from other parts of Europe. Douglass W. Bailey writes in Balkan Prehistory: Exclusion, Incorporation and Identity : “Less dramatic changes to climate, flora and fauna resulted in less dramatic adaptive, or reactive, developments in material culture.” Thus, in speaking about southeastern Europe, many classic conceptions and systematizations of human development during

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4836-412: The period from the Upper Paleolithic , beginning with the presence of Homo sapiens in the area some 44,000 years ago, until the appearance of the first written records in Classical Antiquity , in Greece . First Greek language is Linear A and follows Linear B , which is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates

4914-715: The period has been supplemented with Greek Mesolithic finds, well represented by sites such as Frachthi Cave. Other sites are Theopetra Cave and Sesklo in Thessaly that represent the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic as well as the early Neolithic period. Yet southern and coastal sites in Greece , which contained materials from the Mesolithic, are less known. Activities began to be concentrated around individual sites where people displayed personal and group identities using various decorations: wearing ornaments and painting their bodies with ochre and hematite. As regards personal identity D. Bailey writes, “Flint-cutting tools as well as time and effort needed to produce such tools testify to

4992-628: The population at 177,485. The 1930 census found that 88.0% of residents were Romanians, 3.0% Jews , 2.5% Hungarians , 2.2% Roma , 1.4% Germans , 0.6% Greeks and 0.3% each Russians , Bulgarians , Armenians and, grouped together, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . The population of Pitești grew between the 1830s and the 1990s, with the most sustained period of growth occurring after the 1950s, when industrial development created jobs and attracted residents from nearby settlements. The population peaked at an estimated 187,000 in 1997, then stagnated until 2001, and has gradually decreased since that time. The drop

5070-619: The sites were close to seashores (It is evident that the current sea level is 100 m higher, and a number of sites were covered by water.) means that the Mesolithic Southeastern Europe could be referred to as the Epipalaeolithic Southeastern Europe, which might describe better its gradual changes and poorly defined development. The relative climatic stability in Southeastern Europe, compared to northern and western Europe, enabled continuous settlement in Southeastern Europe. Southeastern Europe therefore may have effectively functioned as an ice-age refuge from which much of Europe, especially eastern Europe,

5148-456: The transition was gradual. The Palaeolithic period, literally the “ Old Stone Age ”, is an ancient cultural level of human development characterized by the use of unpolished chipped stone tools. The transition from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic is directly related to the development of behavioural modernity by hominids around 40,000 years BP. To denote the great significance and degree of change, this dramatic shift from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic

5226-532: The village and urban area coexisted within the same boundaries. Although princely quarters have not been uncovered, among the rulers to issue documents from Pitești were Basarab Țepeluș cel Tânăr (1477–1481), Neagoe Basarab (1512–1521), Vlad Înecatul (1530–1532), Vlad Vintilă de la Slatina (1532–1535), Michael the Brave (1593–1601), Simion Movilă (1601–1602), Matei Basarab (1632–1654) and Constantin Șerban (1654–1658). In addition, Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688–1714), who owned large sections of vineyard in

5304-572: The volumes were bequeathed by historian George Ionescu-Gion immediately following his death in 1904. His donation included over a thousand books in Romanian, French and Italian. The library moved into its current headquarters in the city center in 2003. Each year during springtime, Pitești is host to a festival and fair known as Simfonia lalelelor (the "Tulip Symphony"). Tulips were introduced locally in 1972–1973, when around 3,000 bulbs brought from Arad and Oradea were planted in its central area, along with other flowers. Pitești consequently acquired

5382-440: The whole Eastern Mediterranean. Radu %C8%98erban Radu Șerban (? – 23 March 1620) was a Wallachian nobleman who reigned as the principality's voivode during two periods from 1602 to 1610 and during 1611. A supposed descendant of Neagoe Basarab , he attained high office during the reign of Michael the Brave . After ascending the throne, he continued the policy of independence of Wallachia first put forth by Michael

5460-485: The world, dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC, was discovered at the site. The gold piece dating from 4,500 BC, recently founded in Durankulak , near Varna is another important example. " Kurganization " of the eastern Southeastern Europe (and the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture adjacent to the north) during the Eneolithic is associated with an early expansion of Indo-Europeans . Neolithic settlements are also spotted in modern day Greece, trading routes that are based in

5538-408: Was an important location for events relating to the last stage of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and the first stages of the Greek War of Independence : it was here that, in late spring 1821, the Wallachian rebel leader Tudor Vladimirescu settled after retreating from Bucharest . His departure raised suspicion from his Eterist allies that he was planning to abandon the common cause. Vladimirescu

5616-730: Was built in 1914–1916. Since 1948, the local acting ensemble has performed both in other Romanian cities and abroad, including in Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. The city houses two universities: the state-run University of Pitești and the private Constantin Brâncoveanu University (founded 1991, with branches in Brăila and Râmnicu Vâlcea ). There are 17 secondary education institutions, including two main high schools—the Ion Brătianu National College (founded 1866) and

5694-590: Was built sometime in the 3rd century AD in the vicinity of present-day Pitești (part of a protection system for Roman Dacia and Moesia ). During the Age of Migrations , the Pitești area was, according to historian Constantin C. Giurescu , the site of trading between Vlachs and Slavs , which, in his opinion, was the origin of Târgul din Deal ("The Market on the Hill"), a separate locality. The first recorded mention of Pitești itself

5772-613: Was captured in the nearby locality of Băilești and executed soon after, on orders from Alexander Ypsilantis . The city was developed further after the 1859 unification of the Danubian Principalities and the 1881 creation of the Romanian Kingdom . Around that time, and down to the late interwar, the city became a National Liberal center, largely due to the Brătianu family of politicians residing in nearby Ștefănești . Their manor, Florica , housed most major reunions of

5850-478: Was carried out by the Securitate secret police and overseen by Alexandru Nicolschi ; its goal was to psychologically destroy the capacity for outside attachment and outside loyalty, creating the brainwashed New Man prototype of Leninism . The program was canceled after some five years. At a trial held in 1953–1954, twenty-two inmate-participants were sentenced, with sixteen being condemned to death for their role in

5928-479: Was during Brâncoveanu's rule that the city was home to Stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino , who was exchanging letters with English statesman William, Baron Paget . A tower and other princely houses, built by Brâncoveanu outside the town, gradually deteriorated over the 18th and 19th centuries (the last standing structure was lost in the 20th century). In 1689, Habsburg troops led by Louis William of Baden occupied

6006-503: Was on May 20, 1386, when Wallachian Prince Mircea I granted a gristmill in the area to Cozia Monastery . Pitești was subsequently one of the temporary residences of Wallachian Princes. Due to its positioning on the junction of major European routes (and its proximity to the Saxon markets in Hermannstadt , Transylvania ), the city originally developed as an important commercial center. By

6084-515: Was re-populated. Southeastern Europe was the site of major Neolithic cultures, including Butmir , Vinča , Varna , Karanovo , Hamangia and Sesklo. The Vinča culture was an early culture of Southeastern Europe (between the 6th and the 3rd millennium BC), stretching around the course of the Danube in Serbia, Croatia , northern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria , and

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