Călărași (; ), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube.

The city is an industrial centre for lumber and paper, food processing, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production, and heavy industry, the last one represented by the Călărași steel works. The city is known colloquially as "Capșa provinciei" (the Capșa from the provinces).

History

The site of a medieval village, called Lichirești from the time of Michael the Brave. Călărași appeared for the first time in 1700 on a map drawn by Constantin Cantacuzino. It got its name after it was made by the Wallachian princes, in the 17th century, a station of "mounted couriers' service" on the route from Bucharest to Constantinople. The service was operated by horseback riders (the călărași). It expanded into a small town, and in 1834 became the surrounding county's capital.

Transportation

Călărași is connected by National Roads DN3, DN21, DN31, and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călărași, at Lehliu Gară (about NW), Dragalina (about N) and Fetești (about NE). The city lies on the seventh pan-European corridor of transport (the Danube river) and is next to the fourth pan-European transport corridor (Dresden–Constanța) at . The Călărași train station serves the CFR Line 802. The nearest major cities are: Bucharest , Constanța , and Varna .

Education

The city features seven middle schools and several high schools, including:

  • Barbu Știrbei National College
  • Mihai Eminescu Theoretical High School
  • Ștefan Bănulescu Technical High School
  • Danubius High School
  • Sandu Aldea Agricultural College
  • Călărași Economics College

Sports

The city is currently represented by Dunărea Călărași in the Romanian Liga III football league.

Natives

  • Ștefan Bănică Sr. (1933–1995), actor, singer
  • Daniel Bogdan (b. 1971), footballer
  • Mircea Ciumara (1943–2012), politician
  • Vladimir Constantinescu (1895–1965), general
  • Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919), first female doctor in Romania
  • Daniel Florea (b. 1972), politician
  • Petre V. Haneș (1879–1966), literary historian
  • (1911–2008), engineer, titular member of the Romanian Academy
  • Marius Mocanu (b. 1986), handballer
  • Barbu Nemțeanu (1887–1919), poet
  • Gabriel Popa (b. 1985), footballer
  • Dragoș Protopopescu (1892–1948), writer, poet
  • Gabriel Simion (b. 1998), footballer

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Călărași is twinned with:

{|class="wikitable"

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  • Rivery, France
  • Naples, Italy
  • Royal Palm Beach, Florida, USA
  • Hengyang, China

||

  • Zajecar, Serbia
  • Călărași, Moldova
  • Levy, Canada
  • Silistra, Bulgaria

|}

Climate

The climate is continental with a year average temperature of . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Călărași was on January 9, 1938, and the highest was on July 5, 2000.

Population

At the 2021 census, Călărași had a population 58,211. In 2011, it had a population of 65,181, with 95.05% of them declaring themselves as being Romanians and 3.59% Roma. The surrounding communes (Modelu, Ostrov, Roseți, Grădiștea, Cuza-Vodă, and Ștefan Vodă) together with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.

References

  • Kalarash/Călărași (pp. 358–361) at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation.

Further reading

  • Weiner, Miriam; Ukrainian State Archives (in cooperation with); Moldovan State Archives (in cooperation with) (1999). "Town Clips: Kalarash." Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories . Secaucus, NJ: Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation. p. 362-363. ISBY 978-0-96-565081-6. OCLC 607423469.