Râul Doamnei
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| Râul Doamnei | |
|---|---|
| Countries | Romania |
| Counties | Argeş County |
| Length | 98 km (61 mi) |
| Source | |
| - location | Făgăraş Mountains, Junction of headwaters Valea Rea and Zârna |
| Mouth | Argeş |
| - location | Piteşti |
| Major tributaries | |
| - left | Zârna, Văsălatu, Izvorul Surlei, Murgu, Jangu, Izvorul Mioarelor, Izvorul Groşilor, Slatina, Păcurarul, Râul Târgului, Făgetu, Valea Mare |
| - right | Valea Rea, Drăghina Mare, Cernatu, Valea lui Roman, Miceşti, Budeasa |
Râul Doamnei is a left tributary of the Argeş River (the two rivers meet just north of Piteşti). It is formed at the junction of headwaters Valea Rea and Zârna River. It is 98 kilometers in length and frequently dries up in summer, owing to the works upstream that have redirected part of its water supply toward a reservoir serving the hydroelectric plant on the Argeş.
Râul Doamnei flows through a hilly region, forming narrow strips of fertile plain on both of its banks.
Contents |
[edit] Origin of the name
According to legend, a wife or concubine[1] of Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş) - her name is not recorded - died during the 1462 siege of Poenari Castle by an Ottoman army led by Vlad's half-brother Radu cel Frumos (Radu the Fair).
A former servant of Vlad, held as a prisoner and servant to the Turks but still loyal to the Prince, having seen the shadow of Vlad's wife behind a window and shot an arrow in that direction, with a message informing that the Turkish army was going to attack the castle the next morning. Upon reading the message, Vlad's wife flung herself off the castle's tower and into the stream below the castle, preferring death to Turkish captivity. The stream was then named Râul Doamnei (the Lady's River, also known as the Princess's River) in recollection of the event. Actually Poenari Castle is not located on the banks of the Râul Doamnei, but on the banks of the Argeş River
A fictionalised version of these events is depicted in the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula, although in the film, the river the princess throws herself into is the Argeş itself.
[edit] Naming conventions
Râul is Romanian for "The river". As such, it may form part of the Romanian names given in full for virtually all rivers. However, since Doamnei is the genitive of Doamnă ("A lady"), Râul is part of the name itself in this case.
[edit] Ecology
The ecosystem of the river was affected by the building of the reservoir. Before its building, Romanichthys valsanicola, an endemic fish species, used to populate this river. Currently this species, listed as critically endangered, is only found along a 1 km stretch of the Vâlsan river.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Florescu, Radu R.; McNally, Raymond T. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times.
- ^ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Romanichthys valsanicola. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR A1ace+2ce, B1+2abcde v2.3)
[edit] References
- Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti
- Institutul de Meteorologie şi Hidrologie - Rîurile României - Bucureşti 1971
- Trasee turistice - judeţul Argeş [1]
[edit] Maps
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