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The county of Mehedinti is located in south-west Romania and stretches over 4,900 sq.km. The Danube, the largest river in Europe, runs along the 192 km long southern county line. The historical vestiges at Drobeta – Turnu Severin are telling proofs of the importance of this area along the centuries. Archaeological digs attest to human settlements in this expanse ever since the Palaeolithic (vestiges of a settlement dating back to the Palaeolithic have been unearthed and are still studied at Schela Cladovei). The first man-made dwellings, cemeteries, and the first proofs of stable farming activities in the European continent have been found in this area.  According to the census of January 1992, the county of Mehedinti has a population of over 330,000 – 67.8 inhabitants/sq.km. According to nationality, the population pattern has the following configuration: 98.3 per cent Romanians, 0.3 per cent Czechs, 0.2 per cent Germans, 0.2 per cent Serbs, 0.1 per cent Hungarians. Urban population accounts for 47.2 per cent of the total. The major urban localities in the county are: the municipality of Drobeta – Turnu Severin and the towns of Orsova, Vanju Mare, Strehaia and Baia de Arama. The county also has 59 communes and 344 villages. The municipality of Drobeta – Turnu Severin is the administrative seat of the Mehedinti county, with a population of about 120,000 inhabitants. The settlement knew economically thriving periods during the Roman period and the Middle Ages, standing out as a strategic urban and trade centre. A Geto-Dacian settlement existed on the location of present-day Severin that developed, after the Roman conquest, into one of the most important towns of the former empire. History-full vestiges – the Pillar of Trajan’s Bridge, the ruins of the Roman Camp of Drobeta, the Roman Baths, as well as all the other vestiges unearthed in the vast archaeological park included in the Portile de Fier Area Museum – write the history of the Roman colonisation in Dacia and of the early formation of the Romanian people. The Vodita Monastery (re-built), the oldest monastic settlement in the province of Oltenia built between 1370 and 1372 by Voivode Vlaicu Basarab prompted by the monk Nicodim, is to be found some 20 km away from Drobeta – Turnu Severin on the way to Vodita Valley.

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Geographical Outline

Man moulded the county scenery by building constructions of wide proportions. At Portile de Fier, at the former Cazanele Dunarii Straits – a real challenge to navigators –, the Danube waters were harnessed by the construction of two large dams connecting Romania to Yugoslavia. Another two huge storage lakes were built at Portile de Fier I and Portile de Fier II (236 sq.km and 67 sq.km, respectively) that add to the hydropower system. The Topolovita Cave, one of the longest in the country (over 11 km of already explored galleries on several levels with millions of years old stalactites and stalacmites), a natural monument protected by law, is located 31 km away from Drobeta – Turnu Severin).

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Touristic Information

The Mehedinti county, an old land bordered by the Danube River, is symbolically a place with all geographic and relief characteristics of Romania. The capital city is the municipality of Drobeta-Turnu Severin since 1841. Thanks to its temperate-continental climate, with warm winters and early springs, in the Mehedinti county the tourism is possible round the year. The forest with their rich and varied fauna as well as the hydrographic network rich in fish are interesting for sportive hunters and fishers. The tourists are impressed by the wonderful landscapes of the karstic relief and interesting geological structures. A reason to visit this county is its history and vestiges. Archaeologically, the man lived since the palaeolithic (Schela Cladovei). The Romans' arrival in the Balkan Peninsula, their wars with the Dacian Kingdom, the colonization of Dacia and the birth of the Romanian people are proved by important vestiges: the ruines of the Trajan's Bridge, Drobeta Roman camp, or Roman Thermae. In a large archaeological park which consists also in the ruines of a mediaeval defense works from the XIII-th century and a mediaeval church (the XIV-th century) of the Severin Metropolitan Seat, in Drobeta-Turnu Severin there is the "Portile de Fier" Museum (natural sciences, history, folk art, aquarium and art). Near by Simian, on the way from Craiova to Drobeta Turnu Severin, in the middle of the Danube River, there is the Simian Alt where the Turkish houses and a mosque from the XVII-th century were moved from the Ada Kaleh Island before it was flooded by the Portile de Fier man-made lake. At 6 km East from Drobeta-Turnu Severin there is Cerneti, a former capital city till 1833. The "Tudor's Fortress" is the memorial house of revolutionist Tudor Vladimirescu, a well-known hero of the Revolution from 1821. To the North 31 km far from Drobeta-Turnu Severin there is the mountain locality of Ciresu where there is the Topolnita Cave, one of the biggest and most interesting caves in Romania with its over 11 explored kilometers. At 25 km far from Drobeta-Turnu Severin there is the town of Orsova situated at the confluence of the Danube with the Cerna River, on the site of an antique fortress named Dierna. A port of the Danube, Orsova has a modem nautic base both for performers and for leisure, being the start point of the trips by boat on the Danube to the known wonderful zone of "Cazane". The Dealul Mosului where there is the Sf. Ana Monastery watches over the town and opens a magic view to the Cerna Bay and the Portile de Fier Dam. At 70 km North far from the capital city, the town of Baia de Arama (a former copper mine in Antiquity) is a junction to the Cerna Valley and to the natural bridge from Ponoarele (a huge vault 60 m long formed after the crumbling of a cave) and to the lilac forest with a surface of 20 ha where it is organized a traditional feast every May. To the East, there is the town of Strehaia, with the a ruines of the Princely Court (the XVII-th century) and the church built in 1645 under ruler Matei Basarab, on an older foundation whose origins are unknown. The "Portile de Fier" Hydro-power System determined the making of some large man-made lakes and regularizing the Danube River and improving the navigation for ships. Even a short introduction of this county has to mention the Bala Spa, known for it sulphurous waters and mud.

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Economy Profile

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