Rucăr

For the village in Brașov County, see Viștea.
Rucăr
Commune
Location in Argeș County
Location in Argeș County
Rucăr is located in Romania
Rucăr
Rucăr
Location in Romania
Coordinates: 45°23′15″N 25°10′15″E / 45.38750°N 25.17083°E / 45.38750; 25.17083
CountryRomania
CountyArgeș
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2024) Ionel Dulamă (PSD)
Area
284.11 km2 (109.70 sq mi)
Elevation
687 m (2,254 ft)
Population
 (2021-12-01)[1]
5,259
 • Density19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zoneEET/EEST (UTC+2/+3)
Postal code
117630
Vehicle reg.AG
Websitewww.primariarucar.ro

Rucăr is a commune located in the north-eastern part of Argeș County, Romania, situated in the Carpathian Mountains. The commune is composed of two villages, Rucăr and Sătic, and its population as of 2021 was 5,259.[2] Historically important for its role as a border region between Wallachia and its neighboring countries, it is today popular with tourists from Bran Castle.

Etymology

In the earliest documents in which it is mentioned, Rucăr is referred to as Ruffa Arbor or Rot Bom, both meaning "red tree" in Latin and German, respectively.[a] Early Slavic and Romanian documents use the names Rukel, Rukal, or Rucal, translated as the same.[3] Historian Gheorghe Pârunță suggests that the area was named "after the copper leaves of the extensive beech forests that existed at that time."[3]

History

Human settlement in the area of Rucăr stretches at least as far back as the administration of Roman Dacia, given the presence of Roman forts in the region, such as the nearby Jidava Castra.[4] These existed as points along the Roman Empire's limes in the Danube region.[5] Ceramic remains found in Rucăr suggest settlement in the region even before the arrival of Roman administration.[6]

The earliest documented mention of Rucăr is in the decree issued by Louis I of Hungary on November 19, 1377, that authorized the construction of Bran Castle. The decree directs that Rucăr would be established as a location for the collection of tributes should the territory of Wallachia come under Hungarian control.[7]

Though the region was never adopted into Hungary, Rucăr remained an important locale through which trade, foreign travelers, and diplomats flowed, situated as it was near the border between Wallachia and Transylvania.[8] The schools established to train customs officers in Rucăr later helped to facilitate the adoption of the Romanian language in place of Old Church Slavonic during the 16th century.[9]

Stone cross of "la Roghina" in Rucăr (1614)

Rucăr saw several armies and voivodes pass through the region to engage with Wallachia's neighboring polities during its history. The area itself also sometimes became a ground for mountain battles during the Middle Ages, as Wallachian voivodes fought against the Kingdom of Hungary, the Second Bulgarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.[3] According to some documents, Vlad the Impaler took up residence in Rucăr from 1459 to 1460.[5]

In the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, the provisional government escaped to Rucăr in order to organize its resistance against Ottoman and Russian intervention.[3][9] Later, in the Battle of Dragoslavele during World War I, German forces passed through the town of Rucăr, destroying some 150 homes.[5]

Geography

The commune is located at the intersection of five relief units: the Iezer Mountains, the Făgăraș Mountains, the Piatra Craiului Mountains, the Leaota Mountains, and the Bran–Rucăr Pass. Its hydrology is dominated by the Dâmbovița River and its tributaries, which flow through the depressions created by the commune's varied terrain.[10] Rucar is located near the border of Brașov County, and national road DN73 – which links Brașov and Pitești – passes through Rucăr.

By the end of the 19th century, the commune was part of the Dâmbovița Plain of the historical Muscel County, which it shared with the village of Dâmbovicioara.[11] In 1931, Dâmbovicioara split from Rucăr to form its current commune, and in 1951 Rucăr became part of the Argeș Region.[12][13] In 1968, it joined the territory of the modern Argeș County, and with the transfer of the village of Podul Dâmboviței to Dâmbovicioara acquired its current administration.[14]

Notable people

Notes

  1. ^ Ruffa is the feminine form of the Latin rufus, meaning "red-headed."

References

  1. ^ "Populaţia rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021" (XLS). National Institute of Statistics.
  2. ^ Populaţia rezidentă pe sexe şi grupe de vârstă (RPL 2021) (Report). National Institute of Statistics. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Pârunță, Gheorghe (1996). Rucăr-Mușcel. Istoric, case memoriale, aminitri (in Romanian). Vol. 2. Bucharest: Vasile Cărlova Publishing.
  4. ^ "Lista Monumentelor Istorice – Argeș" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României (in Romanian). No. 113. Ministry of Culture. 15 February 2016. p. 104. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Tucă, Florian; Gheorghe, Cristache; Leonăchescu, Nicolae; Ionescu, Nicolae; Popescu, Vasilica; Tudor, Sevastian; Voinescu, Silvestru (2001). Județul Argeș: mileniul III, anul 1: mică enciclopedie (in Romanian). Bucharest: Sylvia Publishing. ISBN 973-8258-47-2.
  6. ^ "Date istorice – Monumente istorice". Rucăr City Hall (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  7. ^ "1377 noiembrie 19, Zvolen.". Documenta Romaniae Historica. Relaţii între Ţările Române, 1222–1456. D. Vol. 1. Bucharest: Romanian Academy. 1977. pp. 110–112.
  8. ^ Tudor, Vlad (30 June 2021). "Rucăr scurtă istorie a unei lungi vremi". Rucăr Town Hall. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  9. ^ a b Nicolae-Podișor, Gheorghe (2005). Monografia școlii generale Rucăr (suseni) – Argeș (in Romanian). Craiova: Sitech Publishing. ISBN 973-657-846-1.
  10. ^ Dumitrescu, Mihai (1998). Bazinul Râușorului Studiu geografic complex (Undergraduate thesis). Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Faculty of Geographic Tourism.
  11. ^ Lahovari, George Ioan (1902). "Rucărul". Marele Dicționar Geografic al Romîniei (PDF) (in Romanian). Vol. 5. Bucharest: J. V. Socecŭ. pp. 287–288.
  12. ^ "Tablou de regruparea comunelor rurale" (PDF). Monitorul Oficial al României (in Romanian). No. 161. 15 July 1931. pp. 265, 268.
  13. ^ "Legea nr. 3/1968 privind asigurarea conducerii locale de stat în unităţile administrativ-teritoriale pînă la alegerea consiliilor populare". Monitorul Oficial al României (in Romanian). No. 18. 17 February 1968. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Legea nr. 2/1968 privind organizarea administrativa a teritoriului Republicii Socialiste Romania". Monitorul Oficial al României (in Romanian). No. 163–165. 20 December 1968. Retrieved 25 July 2023.