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Location:
Wallachia was situated north of the Danube, south of the Carpathian Mountains and right of the Oltenia province(the Olt River).
Hystory:
Beginning with the tenth century, Byzantine, Slavic and Hungarian sources, and later - Occidental sources - mention the existence of statal entities peopled by Romanians under a leader known as kneaz or voyevod - at first in Transylvania and Dobrogea (Dobrudja), then in the twelfth-thirteenth century in the territories east and south of the Carpathian Mountains. A specific characteristic of Romanian history in the Middle Ages, until the Modern Period, is that they lived in three adjacent, but autonomous principalities - Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania.
In the fourteenth century, along with the decline of the neighboring empires (Poles, Hungarians, Tatars), several feudal states formed in the south and the east of the Carpathian Mountains - Wallachia under Basarab I (around 1360) and Moldavia under Bogdan I (around 1359).
In the second half of the fourteenth century, a new threat appeared - the Ottoman Empire. After having first gained a foothold in Europe in 1354, the Ottoman Turks reached the south bank of the Danube in 1396.
Alone or allied with the neighbouring Christian countries, rather than in alliance with the other two Romanian principalities, voyevods Mircea cel Batran (1386-1418) and Vlad Tepes (1456-1462) of Wallachia and Stefan cel Mare (1457-1504), voyevod of Moldavia and Iancu de Hunedoara, prince of Transylvania fought many defensive battles against the Ottomans, preventing them from expanding into Central Europe.
As the whole Balkan Peninsula became Turkish territory, and following the fall of Constantinople to Mehmed II in 1453, the Romanian principalities had to accept the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire for more than three centuries - though there were a few attempts to regain independence: (Mihai Viteazu in 1600 managed to unite for a short period of time all the three principalities).
The tribute paid to the Turks allowed Wallachia (and Moldavia too) to maintain its own statal entity, its own politics and its own military and administrative structures.
In 1714 the capital city was moved from Targoviste to Bucharest. In the 18th century the country started being ruled by foreign rulers the Fanariots, coming from Fanar, a district of Istanbul. They were rich Greeks, who "bought" the throne from the Sultan and were appointed to rule Wallachia.
The Fanariot age lasted till 1821. In 1859 the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were unified under the Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. In 1864 Charles von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became ruling prince. Following the 1877/78 Independents war Prince Charles became a King, and country-the Kingdom of Romania.
Touristic sights:
The visitor can admire various landscapes: the Danube Waterside Meadow, depressions, high hills and mountains: Fagaras - the highest mountains in Romania - Parang, Retezat, Godeanu and its karsts phenomena.
Many glacial and saline lakes in the hills offer to the tourists the possibility to practice nautical sports, to fish and hunt, to have a good rest or to heal diseases and affections. The rich thermal and mineral waters enabled the development of spas in the Subcarpathians (Slanic Prahova, Pucioasa, Telega, Sarata Monteoru).
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is a real museum-garden and hosts many historical and architectural monuments. Nearby Bucharest you can visit palaces and monasteries, such as Snagov, Caldarusani, Mogosoaia, Cernica, Pustnicul.
The villages in Muntenia preserve an extraordinary genuine architecture - wooden or stone households - especially in the mountain areas.
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