Focșani

Focșani (fokˈʃanj; Fokshan) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population () of 66,719. Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of convergence for tectonic geologic faults, which raises the risk of earthquakes in the vicinity. Though Vrancea County is one of the most popular wine-producing regions in Romania, Odobești being just to the northwest, in Romania, Focșani itself is not considered a wine-producing center. The wine sold as Weisse von Fokshan in Germany and some other European countries is generally a Fetească Albă de Odobești wine, and practically a second-rated wine which does not comply to the European Union rules of naming the regions of origin of wines. The vicinity is rich in minerals such as iron, copper, coal, and petroleum. The city administers two villages, Mândrești-Moldova and Mândrești-Munteni. Focșani lies within the strategically important Focșani Gate. In the 19th century, the Focșani–Nămoloasa–Galați line was built to defend this area more properly. The territory of Vrancea County corresponds to the most seismically active zone of Romania. The earthquakes with the epicenter in Vrancea are caused by the movements of the nearby fault blocks. Devastating earthquakes measuring 7 to 8 on the Richter scale have been recorded in 1738, 1802, 1838, 1940, 1977 and 1986. As a town on the Moldavian-Wallachian border, Focșani developed into an important trade center halfway between the Russian Empire and the Balkans. A congress between Imperial Russian and Ottoman diplomats took place near the city in 1772. Near the town, the Ottomans suffered a severe defeat at the hands of the allied forces of the Habsburg monarchy under Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Imperial Russia under Alexander Suvorov in 1789 (see Battle of Focșani). In the 1850s (after the Crimean War), Focșani grew in importance as the center of activities in favor of the union between Wallachia and Moldavia (the Danubian Principalities), leading up to the double election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza in Iași and Bucharest in 1859.