Târgovişte

County	Dâmboviţa County
Status	County capital
Mayor	Iulian Furcoiu, Social Democratic Party, since 2000
Population 2002	89,429
Geographical coordinates	44°55′27″N, 25°27′24″E
Web site	http://www.pmtgv.ro/

Târgovişte (also spelled Tîrgovişte; IPA: [tɨr.ˈgo.viʃ.te]) 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".

Turnul Chindiei

Population

• 16th centuryy: 60,000
• 1900: 9,400
• 1977: 61,300
• 2002: 89,930

External links

• A presentation of the Medieval Princely Court of f 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