Gângiova Township

Overview:

Gângiova Township is located in the western meadow of Jiu River, on Malu Mare terrace, which has absolute altitudes ranging from 65-90 meters and relative altitudes between 15-20 meters. The township, which covers an area of 5347 hectares, has a population of 2450 and consists of the following localities: Gângiova – the administrative core of the township and the village of Comoșteni. The county road DJ 57 connects the township with the rest of the localities in Dolj County. The nearest towns are Segarcea – 25 kilometres away – and Bechet – 22 kilometres away from the centre of the township.

Contact details:

Phone number: 0251-351505

e-mail: [email protected]

Brief history:

The first hearth of the inhabitants of these lands was the village of Radeştiţa, a name that means clearcut forest, cut forest. The village of Radeştiţa – the first hearth of the inhabitants of Gângiova – appears in documents in the second half of the 16th century, respectively during Mihai Viteazul, the accomplisher of the first political union of the three Romanian countries, calling himself, in 1600, “ruler of the Romanian Country, of Ardeal and the whole country of Moldavia”. From the analysis of this document, concerning the complaint of the peasants from Grecești, we learn that at that time (15th of May 1814), the village of Radeştiţa still existed. Seven years later, however, in the year of the Revolution from 1821 led by Tudor Vladimirescu, in a document from that year, the village of Gângiova first appears. Residents of the village of Gângiova suffered even more heavy pressures during the Austrian occupation of Oltenia from 1718 to 1739. On them, as on most villages in this part of Oltenia, a particularly oppressive tax regime was established.

Identification data:

The Town Hall of Gângiova is located on DJ 57, Str. Principală, No. 346, Gângiova township, Dolj County

Points of interest:

The Church of St. Dumitru Gângiova was built from wall at the expense and labour of the township in 1943, being built on the foundation of an older wooden church, which dates from 1845, and was later restored in 1858 and 1890. On the church’s porch was the following inscription: “This holy Church with the Assumption of Our Lady titular saint was made of the foundation in 1845 and was painted on 26th of October 1846 at the expense and labour of the village of Gângiova, and in 1847 the pulpit was built by the exhortation and fatigue of the whole village of Gângiova and painted with all the adornment in 17th of October 1890, and in 30th of August 1890, it was painted again at the expense of the parishioners of Gângiova and other neighbouring villages”.. The current Romanian-Brâncovenian church with Byzantine-style spires was built in 1943. Its construction was executed by the Italian craftsman Giovani Vermini according to the plans of the architect Develante, and the fresco painting was executed by the painter Ion Calopăreanu.

- The Old School was established in 1838 by the “Department of the Interior” of the Romanian Country, by the address of January 1838 to “The Board of Schools” and to “The Leadership of Counties”, by which it called for measures to be taken to establish “schools” in all villages, where the children of the inhabitants could have an education.

 - The Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Comoșteni was built in 1786 by the late patron Şerban Lăzărescu and his wife Ana.

Other information:

Personalities:

Cornel Boiangiu was born in Gângiova, Dolj County. In 1959, when he was a student, Cornel Boiangiu was arrested and sentenced to 21 years in prison for anti-communist attitude. After his release in 1964, Cornel Boiangiu studied medicine and became a psychiatrist.

Local events:

The St. Mary’s Fair is held every year on 15th of August.
Gângiova Township Day is held on 26th of October.

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