Petrosani

Understand

Petroşani is located in the Jiu Valley, which is the entrance to the Retezat National Park and provides access to the Vâlcan, Parâng and Retezat mountains.The city of Petroşani was founded in the 17th century around 1640. In 1720, an Austrian cartographer mentions that the entire Jiu Valley was intensly populated and settlements could be seen from one end to the other.During the 1818 census, Petroşani had 233 inhabitants, while the entire Valley counted 2550. During this time, the main activity of the people was shepherding and no urban settlement had appeared yet.Around 1840 coal surface mining began in Petrosani, Vulcan and Petrila.The population encountered a massive increase only in the XXth century during the communist regime, as many workers were brought in from other parts of the country.