Dragoslavele | |
|---|---|
 The Mateiaș Mausoleum | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location in Argeș County | |
  Dragoslavele Location in Romania | |
| Coordinates:45°21′N25°10′E / 45.350°N 25.167°E /45.350; 25.167 | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Argeș |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2024–2028) | Ion Băcioiu (PNL) |
Area | 11.973 km2 (4.623 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 657 m (2,156 ft) |
| Population (2021-12-01)[1] | 2,474 |
| • Density | 206.6/km2 (535.2/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 117375 |
| Area code | +(40) 248 |
| Vehicle reg. | AG |
| Website | www |
Dragoslavele is acommune in the northern part ofArgeș County,Muntenia,Romania, located by the former border betweenWallachia andTransylvania, on the Wallachian side. It is a relatively important location forboarding house tourism. The commune is composed of two villages, Dragoslavele and Valea Hotarului.
The commune lies at the bottom of theSouthern Carpathians' slopes, at one end of theRucăr-Bran Pass (the narrow valley separating thePiatra Craiului andBucegi mountains), on the banks of theDâmbovița River.
Dragoslavele is located 18 km (11 mi) fromCâmpulung and 73 km (45 mi) from the county seat,Pitești. To the north and northeast it borders the communes ofRucăr andDâmbovicioara, to the south with the commune ofStoenești, and to the west with the commune ofValea Mare-Pravăț. It is crossed by thenational roadDN73, which connects Pitești toBrașov. At Dragoslavele, the county road DJ725 branches off from the national road, leading south to the commune ofStoenești, where it ends inDN72A [ro].
From theMiddle Ages until 1916, Dragoslavele was an importantborder crossing point betweenWallachia andTransylvania.
In a commercial privilege confirming the relations withBrașov, on 20 January 1368,Vladislav I, Lord of Wallachia, also known as "Vlaicu Vodă", mentioned that merchants paid "customs at Câmpulung, or near". In 1413,Mircea the Elder renewed the old customs and fairs from Câmpulung and mentioned "the customs from Dâmbovița". The name is mentioned in documents from the Brașov archive, and in a document from 1451, whereVladislav II referred to Dragoslavele and Rucăr. In 1510, Vladvoivode wrote about the "carpenters" from Dragoslavele. The historianNicolae Iorga located Posada in the Dragoslavele-Bran area and estimated thatCharles Robert's troops passed through there in 1330. This is also whereKing Sigismund came in 1395; after "giving a deed near the village called Câmpulung", he was beaten in battle, according to the same historian, by the troops of Vlad-Vodă.
Documents from the 17th century show that the people of Dragoslavele were in charge of guarding the border, had properties outside the village boundaries, and were exempted from taxes through princely charters. Around 1641–1642, new residents came from theHațeg area, called "rudari", meaninggoldsmiths. The term "rudar" comes from the Slavic word "ruda", or (golden) rock.
Also in the 17th century, VintilăVornicul enslaved the inhabitants of the settlement but, through the intercession ofMatei Basarab, they redeemed themselves with 3,000 gold coins. The stone cross in the center of the village, a cross from 1642, consecrates this event, and in 1647 the samevoivode mentioned on 10 April "the royal customs from Rucăr and Dragoslavele", the latter having 12 more villages under its command "untilCotenești,Nucșoara,Slănic,Albești,Lerești, and Nămăiești".
At the end of the 19th century, the commune was part of the Dâmbovițan area ofMuscel County and consisted only of the village of residence, with 1,104 inhabitants. Two churches and a school functioned in the commune.[2] The Socec yearbook from 1925 records it in the same area, with 1,864 inhabitants in the villages of Dragoslavele and Valea Caselor and in the hamlets ofFundata and Lunca Gârții.[3]
DuringWorld War I, in October 1916, the area between Dragoslavele andMateiaș was the scene ofa particularly violent battle betweenRomanian Army andGerman Army forces (seeRomania during World War I).
DuringWorld War II, Dragoslavele was aplace of refuge for thePolish MarshalEdward Rydz-Śmigły, at that timeCommander-in-chief andGeneral Inspector of the Armed Forces, considered "the second man in the state after the President". On 7 September 1939, along with most of the government, he leftWarsaw under attack fromNazi Germany, and ten days later, whenSoviet forces attacked Poland from the east, realizing that the fight against the two aggressors is impossible, Śmigły-Rydzordered the Polish troops to retreat to Romania, avoiding the fight with theRed Army. Having managed to avoid capture by German or Soviet troops, Śmigły-Rydz crossed into Romania on 18 September 1939, along with the government, the Polish treasury and the remnants of the army. During his exile in Romania, Rydz-Śmigły was officially interned in the summer villa of the PatriarchMiron Cristea in Dragoslavele, by one of his friends, the former RomanianPrime MinisterArmand Călinescu, but he remained free. TheMarshal of Poland was accommodated in the patriarchal villa in Dragoslavele until 10 December 1940, when he fled, clandestinely crossed the borders withHungary andSlovakia, returning to Poland.
In 1950, the commune was transferred to the Muscel district of Argeș region. In 1968, it moved toArgeș County.[4][5]
According to thecensus carried out in 2011, the population of Dragoslavele commune amounted to 2,613 inhabitants, increasing compared to the previous census in 2002, when 2,549 of inhabitants were registered.[6] The majority of the inhabitants wereRomanians (76.12%), with a minority ofRoma (21.24%); for 2.64% of the population, the ethnicity was unknown.[7] At the2021 census, Dragoslavele had a population of 2,474; of those, 66.37% were Romanians and 23.32% Roma.[8]
