Galaţi
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Categories: Cities on the Danube | Galaţi | Cities of Romania served by tramway systems | Municipalities of Romania
Galaţi (/ga'laʦʲ/, Turkish: Kalas; Polish: Gałacz) is a city in eastern Romania, the capital city of Galaţi County on the banks of the Danube, very close to Brăila forming with it the Cantemir metropolitan area. In 2006, according to the official Romanian census, the city had a population of 295,000 people, making it Romania's 7th largest city.
NameThe name of the city appears to have derived from Cuman galat, which was borrowed from Arabic qal'at (fortress). There have been other etymologies suggested, such as Serbian galac, but the galat root also appears in nearby toponyms, some of which show clearly a Cuman origin, for example Gălăţui Lake, which has the typical Cuman -ui suffix for "water". A derivation from Galatia (Gaul), suggesting a Celtic origin, is possible, but unlikely. HistoryThe first mention of the city dates from 1445. In 1789, during the Russo-Turkish War, Galaţi was burnt down by the forces of Russian general Mikhail Kamensky. Image:Galatzi 1826.jpg
Galaţi 1826
A peasant revolt occurred in and around the city in 1907, being crushed with assistance from the Romanian Army. Tourist sightsImage:Galati cathedral.jpg
Eastern Orthodox Cathedral of St. George in Galati.
Galaţi has a fine 20th century-1906 Eastern Orthodox cathedral - St. George (Sfântu Gheorghe), and another particularly striking fortified church (that of St. Mary - Sf. Precista) on the banks of the Danube, which was built in 1647 (legend has it that a tunnel was dug from the church and under the river). Other features of the city include a botanical garden, several museums, a television tower opened to the public and offering full view of the city, the newly-restored Galaţi Opera House, and a a sculpture park lining a promenade of several kilometres along the banks of the Danube. EducationGalaţi has a university, the Dunarea de Jos University Galaţi, founded in 1951 as a Naval and Mechanical Engineering Institute and given university status in 1974, by the merging of the Polytechnical Institute (the successor of the initial Institute) with the College of Education (founded in 1959), as well as a host of other educational and cultural institutions. Among these, the Vasile Alecsandri and Mihail Kogălniceanu National Colleges—rank as the first pre-university level educational institutions in Galaţi and the country. EconomyThe city has the largest iron and steel plant in Romania the Mittal Steel Galaţi, state-owned until 2001. It is still commonly referred to under the old name Sidex. Also, the country's largest shipyard is found here, profiting from the good access Galaţi has to the Black Sea through the Danube and the short distance between its facilities and the Mittal Plant.. The Euromall Group is now investing in Galati by building a 30,000 Sq. M commercial center in the city which will enhance the economy of the city. Sister cities
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