Dâmboviţa River
From World travel guide
The Dâmboviţa River is a river in Romania. It starts at the junction of headwaters Valea Vladului and Boarcăşu, having its source in the Făgăraş Mountains, and flowing southward. It passes through Bucharest and flows into the Argeş River 258 kilometres from its source, near Budeşti, in Călăraşi County. Dâmboviţa County is named after the river.
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Dâmboviţa in Bucharest
For centuries, Dâmboviţa River was the main source of drinking water for the city of Bucharest. While there were a few dozen water wells, most of the water in Bucharest was distributed by water-carriers. <ref name="fanariot">Ionescu p. 28-29</ref>
Bucharest folkore mentions the waters of Dâmboviţa as "sweet", and even at the beginning of the 18th century, Anton Maria del Chiaro considered it "light and clean". However, toward the end of the century, as the population of Bucharest increased, the river ceased to be as clean, and hence the need of the aqueducts. The earliest aqueducts with public fountains (cişmele) were built during the rule of Prince Alexander Ypsilantis.<ref name="fanariot"/>
Many watermills were built on the Dâmboviţa, most of them owned by the prince, the monasteries or boyars.
Dâmboviţa used to have two tributaries in Bucharest:
- Dâmbovicioara, on the right bank, which probably flowed in what is the area where Sfiinţii Apostoli street is located.
- Bucureştioara, which rose from a pond located in what is now Grădina Icoanei
Additionally, there was a branch, Gârliţa, which formed an island, Ostrovu.
The Dâmboviţa often flooded Bucharest, especially the lower left bank, which was lower. After the great 1775 flood, Ypsilantis ordered a branch canal to be built, in order to prevent, or at least diminish the effects of such flooding; in 1813, Prince Jean Georges Caradja decided to clean up the river bed.<ref name="fanariot"/> The portion of the river flowing through the capital was channelled twice: in 1883 (to combat regular floods), and in the late 1970s, to aid in the replanning of the Central area and the construction of the Bucharest Metro.
Dâmboviţa has never been navigable, but there has been an unsuccessful attempt in 1902 to introduce boats on the river.<ref>Georgescu et al., p.392</ref>
Early in its history, Bucharest had few bridges over the Dâmboviţa, as the right bank was only sparsely populated. The estates of some boyars used to extend on both banks of the river and they had footbridges.<ref>Ionescu, p. 29-30</ref> Currently, there are about a dozen bridges over Dâmboviţa River in Bucharest.
Localities
The river flows through the following communes, towns and cities:
- Dragoslavele
- Malu cu Flori
- Cândeşti
- Vulcana-Băi
- Voineşti
- Măneşti
- Dragomireşti
- Lucieni
- Nucet
- Conteşti
- Lunguleţu
- Bucharest (city)
- Plătăreşti
- Vasilaţi
- Budeşti (town)
Gallery
 Sistematization of Dâmboviţa in Bucharest |
 Dâmboviţa in Bucharest, an aquarelle by Amedeo Preziosi |
 The Dâmboviţa in Bucharest |
 The Dâmboviţa watermills on the outskirts of Bucharest (1837), in the background: Dealul Spirii |
 Lock on the Dâmboviţa in Bucharest |
Notes
References
- Ştefan Ionescu, Bucureştii în vremea fanarioţilor, Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1974. p.28-30
- Florian Georgescu et al. Istoria Oraşului Bucureşti, Muzeul de Istorie a Oraşului Bucureşti, 1965.
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