| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,523,222,050 visitors served. |
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Bucharest |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
|
Bucharest (b `kərĕst, by `–), Rom. Bucureşti, city (1990 pop. 2,394,284), capital and largest city of Romania, SE Romania, in Walachia, on the Dîmboviţa River, a tributary of the Danube. It is Romania's chief industrial and communications center. Agricultural machinery, automotive equipment, and buses are the main manufactures. The city, probably founded in the late 14th cent., was first known as Cetatea Dambovitei [Dambovita citadel] and was a military fortress and commercial center astride the trade routes to Constantinople. It became (1459) a residence of the Walachian princes and changed its name (15th cent.) to Bucharest. In 1698 the city became the capital of Walachia under Constantine Brancovan; after the union (1859) of Walachia and Moldavia it was made (1861) the capital of Romania. The Treaty of Bucharest (1913) stripped Bulgaria of its conquests in the Second Balkan War (see Balkan Wars Balkan Wars, 1912–13, two short wars, fought for the possession of the European territories of the Ottoman Empire. The outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War for the possession of Tripoli (1911) encouraged the Balkan states to increase their territory at Turkish..... Click the link for more information. ). During World War I, Bucharest was occupied (1916–18) by the Central Powers. After Romania's surrender to the Allies (Aug., 1944) in World War II, German planes severely bombed the city; Soviet troops entered on Aug. 31, by which time a coalition of leftist parties had seized power. Bucharest served as headquarters of the Cominform from 1948 to 1956. Today it is a modern city, with parks, libraries, museums, and theaters, and is the seat of the patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Landmarks include the Metropolitan Church (1649), the 17th-century St. George Church, the Radu Voda (1649) and Stavropoleos (1724–30) churches, and the Athenaeum, devoted to art and music. Among the city's educational institutions are the old university (founded 1864), the new university (1935), an engineering college, and several academies and scientific institutes. During the 1980s, Romanian President Nicolae Ceauçescu attempted to transform Bucharest into a model socialist-planned city. He ordered the demolition of much of the Old City to make way for massive new state buildings, such as the Museum of Romanian History, in which his body was to be entombed. To provide the city with a river, he had the Dimboviţa River rechanneled through S Bucharest. BucharestRomanian BucurestiCity (pop., 1997: 2,057,512), capital of Romania. Excavations have revealed evidence of prehistoric settlement. The site gained importance when the rulers of Walachia moved there in the 14th century. Vlad III built a fortress there in the 15th century to ward off invading Turks; they eventually took it and made it their Ottoman Walachian capital in 1659. In the 19th century civic unrest helped force the union of Walachia and Moldavia, and Bucharest became the capital of the new Romanian state in 1862. Occupied by the Soviet army after World War II, it came under communist control. During the 1980s it was the scene of political demonstrations against the government of Nicolae Ceausescu that resulted in his overthrow and execution. Bucharest the capital of Romania, in the southeast. Pop.: 1 764 000 (2005 est.) |
|
| Encyclopedia browser | ? | ? Full browser | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caphtor CAPI capillarity capillary capital capital gains tax capital levy capital of Romania capital punishment capital stock capitalism capitation Capito, Wolfgang Fabricius Capitol Capitol Reef National Park |
| ||||
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|