Giurgiu
[key], city, S Romania, in Walachia, on the Danube River opposite
Ruse, Bulgaria, with
which it is linked by a bridge. An important inland port, Giurgiu is
connected by two oil pipelines with Ploieşti. There are shipyards,
canneries, and other light industries. The city was founded (10th cent.) on
the site of a Roman settlement by Genoese merchants, who named it San
Giorgio. Conquered by the Turks in 1417, it played an important role in the
16th-century wars between Walachia and Turkey and in the later Russo-Turkish
Wars. Remains of the old town walls, the ruins of a medieval fortress, and
an old clock tower still stand.
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