Drobeta Turnu Severin Page 1 of 2 Location The city of Drobeta Turnu Severin (the county capital of the Mehedinti county) is situated in the west side of Oltenia, in southwest of the country. It is built on one of the terraces on the left bank of the river Danube, not far from the Danube's emergence from the Iron Gates Gorge. It has the centre on 22°33' east longitude and 44°38' north latitude, in the sub-carpatic depression of Topolnita. It is located on the number 70 European road, and is 353 km away from Bucharest, 210 km from Timisoara and 113 km from Craiova. History The town was an important military and political centre during Roman occupation. The harbours, commercial and strategic roads favoured the development of the city. It amounted to the rank of municipium by the emperor Hadrian in 124, then colonia, during Septimiu Sever (193 - 211 a.c.). In this period Drobeta was a prosperous town, ornamented with numerous monuments, partially uncovered by the archeological investigations. After the retreat of the Roman administration from Dacia, the city was preserved under the Roman occupation, as the bridge head in the north bank of the Danube (centuries IV-VI). Destroyed by Huns in the V-th century, the city was rebuilt by Iustinian (527-565). In the Middle Ages, the city changed its name to Turnu Severin, which signifies the tower or the north walled city (situated on the northern bank of the Danube), and became the political center of the Banat of Severin (XIII-th century). The city was claimed and possessed successively by the Magyar king and the Wallachia voivode, and was possessed by the Turkish in 1524. Once under Turkish occupation, the territory's administration moved to the west of Oltenia and was central in Cerneti. After the Danube was saved from the Turkish control (as a consequence of the Adrianopol peace deal in 1829), it was decided to build the present town, with a rigorous project (1836), then of the harbor (1858). The building of some industrial factories determined the redevelopment of the town. The town grew on multiple levels (economical, urban and social), and in 1972 received the name of Drobeta Turnu Severin. In 1992 the first documentary mention of the town, 1870 years earlier, was celebrated. Relief The area on which Drobeta Turnu Severin is situated is shaped like a stepped amphitheater descending from NNW to SSE, from the mountains to the plain. The city is a rectangular shape with the length disposed from east to west, on a slightly inclined plateau from north to south. At the highest point in the town, the altitude is 104 m, and the lowest point is situated near the railway station, where the altitude is 48.75 m above mean sea level. This plateau slightly inclined to the Danube allowing quick drainage of rain water, a good sewerage system and an ordered layout of the town, with wide streets intersecting at right angles. Severin is surrounded by hills, the most important being Balota Hill, on the east side, which is 368 m high. | 1 | 2 | Page 1 of 2