Râmnicu Vâlcea, Vâlcea County, Romania

🇷🇴 Râmnicu Vâlcea is the capital city of Vâlcea County, Romania.

History The area has been inhabited since Dacian and Roman times, and was the site of a castrum (known as Buridava or Burridava, previously a Dacian town). A new fortress was built on the location during the Middle Ages. Râmnicu Vâlcea was first attested during the rule of Prince Mircea cel Bătrân, as "the princely town of Râmnic" (4 September 1388), and confirmed as the seat of a Vâlcea County during the same period (8 January 1392).

The town seal dates to 1505. Cetățuia, the actual fortress, served as the residence of Oltenian Bans and, from 1504, of the Orthodox bishops of the Râmnic Diocese; in 1529, Prince Radu of Afumați was killed in Cetățuia by a boyar conspiracy.

During the rules of Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu, it became an important cultural center. It was here where the first paper mill and printing press in Romania were built (see Anthim the Iberian). The town was heavily damaged during the Habsburg monarchy's takeover of Oltenia which lasted between 1718 and 1739, and its purpose was again reduced to that of a fortress.

During the Wallachian Revolution, on 29 July 1848, Deșteaptă-te, române! (the current national anthem of Romania), with lyrics written by Andrei Mureșanu and music composed by Anton Pann (whose memorial house lies in the centre of the town), was sung for the first time in Râmnicu Vâlcea.

Gheorghe Magheru gathered his military force in Râureni, now part of the town, in an attempt to face the anti-revolutionary forces of Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

In the 1980s, the town was completely rebuilt in a style combining socialist realism with local vernacular architecture (of Brâncovenesc style).

Geography Râmnicu Vâlcea is situated in the central-south area of Romania and is the county capital of Vâlcea County. Set at the foothills of the Southern Carpathians, the town is located at about 12 km (7.5 mi) from the Cozia Mountains and about 40 km (25 mi) from the Făgăraș and Lotrului Mountains. The southern limit of the city is formed by the Getic Plateau (Romanian: Platoul Getic) and the Olt River valley.

The E81 road (a road of European interest) and one of the main national railway routes cross the town.

Villages The city administers thirteen villages: Aranghel, Căzănești, Copăcelu, Dealu Malului, Fețeni, Goranu, Lespezi, Poenari, Priba, Râureni, Săliștea, Stolniceni, and Troian. Goranu, Fețeni, Lespezi, and Săliștea were a separate commune, Goranu, until 1996, when they were merged into the town.