Photos taken by: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In the city area there was discovered a gold treasure dating from the late Bronze Age, including three bracelets, several rings and a necklace as well as a coin treasure including silver coins from Thassos island and Macedonia, having broadly circulated in the 2nd century B.C., a fact proving that there was here a Getae-Dacian settlement with major economic resources, capable of maintaining exchange relations. There was a Roman castrum in the area of Ciuperceni rural town.

Roman Byzantine fortress Turris was built in today’s area of Turnu Magurele; it had a circle-shaped defence tower dating from the 2nd-4th centuries and mentioned in the 6th century in one of the writings of Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea.

On the ruins of Turris fortress (abandoned in the 6th century), Romanian Prince Mircea the Elder (1386-1418) built a fortress during 1386-1393 that he named Turnu (meaning ‘tower’) or Nicopolul Mic (Little Nicopolis). Conquered by the Ottoman army led by Bayezid in 1394, the fortress was re-conquered by Mircea the Elder in 1395. It was occupied by the Turks in 1417, staying under their domination till 1829. Starting 1545, it became the center of Turkish garrison Turnu.

After the Peace of Adrianople (1829), the town was given back by the Turks to Wallachia and the fortress was deserted and torn down.

The town of Turnu Magurele was set up in 1836, by an edict passed by Wallachian Prince Alexandru Ghica (1834-1842). Later on, in 1860 it became an important customs point and commercial center, being located on the Danube bank, for the merchandise that entered and got out of Wallachia.

During the Independence War from 1877-1878, there were organized in Turnu Magurele large weapons depots and warehouses for the fodder needed for the battles and hospitals were arranged, with Turnu Magurele being one of the points of support for the military operations. The ship-bridge linking Turnu Magurele to Nicopolis was used to carry food and ammunition for the front, to send convoys of prisoners and wounded back to the country and for the return of the Romanian troops after their victory over the Ottoman army.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Turnu Magurele was the Teleorman county seat several times.

After Romania turned arms against Nazi Germany on August 23, 1944 and joined the United Nations coalition, several German barges were seized on the Danube at Turnu Magurele over August 23-31.

In the second half of the 20th century, the city industry was prevailingly chemical and fruit processing; the Chemical Fertilizers Plant began being built in 1962. On April 5, 1978 in the area of Turnu Magurele-Nicopolis (Bulgaria), the works began for building a hydro-power and navigation complex in cooperation with Bulgaria.

Turnu Magurele was declared a municipality on February 17, 1968. The city had 24,772 residents at the 2011 census.

The main monuments that can be admired in Turnu Magurele and the surrounding area include: the ruins of medieval fortress Turnu (the 14th century), located 4 kilometers South of the city; Saint Haralambios Orthodox Cathedral in central city, built on the site of an old little church during 1900-1902, by the plans of French architect Andre Lecomte de Nouy; The Independence Monument, a statue complex built to honour the 1877 Independence War heroes achieved by a group of architects from Bucharest in 1985; ”Dorobantul” monument made in 1907 by Italian sculptor Raffaello Romanelli, is also related to the Independence War and represents a local hero killed in the battle, dorobant (gendarme) Tudorica Nicolae; the monument to Mircea the Elder, a bronze work by Romanian sculptor Oscar Han in 1968; St Paraskeva Church dating from 1862.

Another cultural objective is the Municipal Museum located in an early 20th-century building, boasting special architecture and being part of the list of the heritage historical monuments, according to the City Hall website. The museum hosts archaeological objects mostly belonging to Turnu medieval fortress, as well as paintings by local artists, who donated them to the museum.AGERPRES