Oravița

Oravița
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Oravița
Country	Romania
County	Caraș-Severin County
Status	Town
Government
• Mayor	Dumitru Ursu (Social Democratic Party)
Area
• Total	162.64 km2 (62.80 sq mi)
Population  (2002)
• Total	15,265
• Density	90/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Climate	Cfb
Website	http://www.oravita.ro/

Oravița (Romanian pronunciation: [oˈravit͡sa]; Hungarian: Oravicabánya; German: Orawitz; Czech: Oravice; Serbo-Croatian: Oravica/Оравица) is a town in southwestern Romania, in Caraș-Severin County, with a population of 15,524 in 2000. Its theater is a fully functional scaled down version of the old Burgtheater in Vienna. Six villages are administered by the town: Agadici (Agadics; Agaditsch), Brădișoru de Jos (Majdán), Broșteni (Brostyán), Ciclova Montană (Csiklóbánya; Montan-Tschiklowa), Marila (Marillavölgy; Marillathal) and Răchitova (Rakitova).

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1930	9,585	—
1948	6,974	−27.2%
1956	8,175	+17.2%
1966	9,912	+21.2%
1977	14,987	+51.2%
1992	15,293	+2.0%
2002	15,222	−0.5%
2011	10,225	−32.8%
Source: Census data

Etymology

The name of the town is derived from the Slavic word orah(ov), meaning "(of) walnut" with suffix -ița.

Agadici village

The history of Agadici can be traced back to at least the 17th century, when records noted a population of "800 souls". Today, there are fewer than 200 people living in Agadici. Agadici is a word derived from Turkish: Aga meaning 'colonel' and dici meaning 'daughter'. Therefore, Agadici means "daughter of the colonel". The town was supposedly named after a colonel's daughter when the Ottoman Empire occupied the land that is now the Banat (see the Temeșvar Eyalet).

Anina–Oravița railway

View from Oravița–Anina mountain railway in 2010

The Anina–Oravița was the first mountain railway in today's Romania, opened in 1863, it is still in use today for touristic purposes, and it is one of the most beautiful railways in Europe due to very picturesque landscapes, viaducts and long tunnels.