Zimnicea
Zimnicea () is a town in Teleorman County, Romania (in the historic region of Muntenia), a port on the Danube opposite the Bulgarian city of Svishtov. Geography. Zimnicea is situated on the left bank of the Danube river. It is the southernmost place in Romania and a harbour on the Danube river. The distance between the Zimnicea and Bucharest is , and the distance to Alexandria (capital of Teleorman County) is about . Zimnicea is served around the clock by the Svishtov-Zimnicea ferry – a regularly scheduled Roll-on/roll-off ferry across the Danube between Zimnicea and Svishtov, Bulgaria. The ferry  shortens the road path to and from Turkey to Central and Western Europe by when compared to the traditional route over the Danube Bridge at Ruse-Giurgiu and allows a time gain of nearly 4 hours thus avoiding the traffic in and around the city of Bucharest. History. Zimnicea developed near a Geto-Dacian fortress (about west of town centre). Traditional agriculture, fishing, iron processing, carpentry, pottery, tissue exchange of products were the occupations of the people throughout the town's existence. The natives of Zimnicea sold grain, cattle, sheep, fish, butter, salt, honey, wax, timber and bought cloth, oriental  fabric, carpets and spices. In 1838, the settlement Zimnicea was passed in the fairs, with the general population census of that year 551 families and 3,046 inhabitants. In the years 1837-1839 Zimnicea became the capital of Teleorman County. Near Zimnicea there are ruins of several ancient fortresses and fortifications from the 4th to the 1st century BC. The oldest are believed by some scholars to have been built to defend the town from Alexander the Great's general, Lysimachus. The name of the town was first mentioned in 1385 in the travel logs of Christian pilgrims on their way  home from their trip to Jerusalem. The Byzantines called it "Demnitzikos" and later on "Dzimnikes" or "Dzimnikos". The town flourished as a trade post on the trade routes that linked Central Europe to the Balkans. In 1835, it had 531 households, being the twelfth largest market town in Wallachia. For a short time in 1837 to 1838, it was the capital of Teleorman County, but due to internal dissent between the landowners and merchants, it was replaced by Alexandria. During the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878), it was the headquarters of the Russians troops fighting in Bulgaria against the Ottoman  Empire. During World War I, German Empire troops crossed the Danube in the Zimnicea sector, effectively bringing down the Romanian front in Muntenia. During the 1977 Romanian earthquake there were allegedly not many buildings destroyed by the earthquake itself. Most of the destruction is said to have actually been done after the natural disaster by bulldozer, being ordered by local authorities, in order to receive financial allowances from the central government to create a new town from scratch on a new design. In the next period, a new town hall, the House of Culture, a new hospital (with Austrian funding ), a new high school (with funds allocated by the Swiss government), and numerous blocks of flats were built, but many other projects remained abandoned after the fall of the communist regime, amid declining local industry, and by a subsequent decline in population. Politics. The mayor of Zimnicea Municipality is Petre Pârvu, he is in his second mandate and is chosen from the list of the coalition "For Zimnicea" that includes PNL, PD-L, PC and PSD. Economics. During the communist era, Zimnicea underwent forced industrialization, and the new industries suffered a strong decline after the fall of the communist regime . Education and culture. In Zimnicea there are 5 kindergartens, 4 elementary schools with primary and secondary education and one high school. The high school has 15 classrooms, a gym and a school workshop. Classes are attended by 511 students, with two shifts and evening school hours. Zimnicea High School has a library with 20,578 volumes and a science laboratory equipped with 30 computers. School No.1, "Miron Radu Paraschivescu" has 15 classrooms, including 3 laboratories (physics, chemistry, biology), 5 cabinets teachers (mathematics, geography, design, religion, Romanian), a gym, a workshop school and a library. The three elementary schools are: "Miron Radu  Paraschivescu" Primary and Secondary School, School no. 2 and School no.3 Culture. Zimnicea does not have any artistic events held occasionally or permanently. The budget allocated for cultural activities is insufficient for a cultural life. Cultural institutions operating in Zimnicea are: the cultural centre and the town library. The city library was founded in 1952 and after December 1989 received the name of a local poet, Miron Radu Paraschivescu. Tourism. The "Dunărica" children camp has a capacity of 200 accommodation places, with a football field and a tennis court, a kayak-canoe base and a cafeteria with 250 places. "Zimtub  SA" Zimnicea Hotel has a capacity of 48 rooms, a restaurant with 100 seats and a nightclub with 80 seats. The amusement and recreation base "Disko - Hope" is situated on the Danube riverside and has a beach with, as well as an outdoor dancing club with a capacity of 1,200 places; There is also an amusement base at the beach from Cheson. International relations. Twin towns – Sister cities. Zimnicea is twinned with: