Galaţi or
Galatz
[key], city , E Romania, on the lower Danube. It is a regional
administrative and economic center and a major inland port, home of the
Romanian Danube flotilla. Grain and timber are the chief exports. The city
is also an important rail junction and has a large iron and steel plant and
the nation's largest shipyard. Of medieval origin, Galaţi became an
international trading center in the 18th cent. and was a free port from 1834
to 1883. It was the seat (1856–1939) of the European Danube
Navigation Commission. In 1944, German troops devastated the town and killed
more than half the population. Galaţi is the see of an Orthodox
bishop and is a cultural center. An agricultural college and a technical
institute are in the city. The 17th-century Cathedral of St. George contains
the tomb of Ivan Mazeppa.
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