View source for Motru

{{other uses}}
{{Infobox Romanian subdivision
|type               = municipality
|county             = Gorj
|subdivisions       = 
|image_flag         =
|image_shield       = ROU Motru COA.png
|image_skyline      = Motru.jpg
|image_caption      = View over the city from Motru Hills
|image_map          = Motru jud Gorj.png
|map_caption        = Location in Gorj County
|leader_name        = Costel-Cosmin Morega<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rezultatevot.ro/elections/114/results?division=locality&countyId=9449&localityId=9636 |title=Results of the 2024 local elections |website=rezultatevot.ro |access-date=20 August 2024 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|leader_party       = PSD
|leader_term        = 2024&ndash;2028
|coordinates        = {{coord|44|48|13|N|22|58|15|E|region:RO|display=inline,title}}
|elevation          = 185
|elevation_min      = 
|elevation_max      = 
|area_total         = 50.09
|area_footnotes     = 
|population_as_of   = 
|population_total   = auto
|population_footnotes = 
|postal_code        = 215200
|area_code          = (+40) 02 53
|website            = {{URL|http://www.primariamotru.ro/}}
}}

'''Motru''' ({{IPA|ro|ˈmotru}}) is a [[municipiu|city]] in [[Romania]], [[Gorj County]]. It is situated on the river [[Motru (river)|Motru]] and its tributary, the river [[Ploștina (river)|Ploștina]], in western [[Oltenia]]. The county capital [[Târgu Jiu]] is located about {{cvt|35|km}} northeast. The city administers eight villages: Dealu Pomilor, Horăști, Însurăței, Leurda, Lupoița, Ploștina, Roșiuța, and Râpa.

== History ==
{{Historical populations
|source = Census data
|1977 |15998
|1992 |26626
|2002 |25860
|2011 |18142
|2021 |15950
}}

The region has been inhabited since at least the time of the [[Roman Empire]], attested by the discovery of some silver coins from the era of [[Emperor Septimius Severus]] (193&ndash;211) in Leurda in 1964.<ref name="istoric"/>

The [[Dacia]]n town [[Amutria]] is also mentioned in ancient sources like [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geographia]] (c. 150 AD) and [[Tabula Peutingeriana]] (2nd century AD), and potentially placed here.{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=96}} The name is homonymous with the ancient name of the Motru River.{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=96}} After the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] conquest of [[Dacia]], Amutria was part of an important road network, between [[Drobeta (castra)|Drubetis]] and [[Pelendava]]. A settlement and a Roman [[castrum]] were discovered in archeological digs near the village of Valea Perilor in the [[Cătunele]] commune, close to the road between Motru and [[Baia de Aramă]]. The [[Roman road]] connecting to Drobeta on the Motru valley was also identified in Cătunele.<ref>{{cite web|last=Calotoiu|first=Gheorghe|title=Castrul şi aşezarea civilă romană de la Cătunele|url=http://www.verticalonline.ro/castrul-%C8%99i-a%C8%99ezarea-civila-romana-de-la-catunele|date=4 August 2010|language=ro|work=verticalonline.ro}}</ref>

The oldest documented settlement in the territory of the present-day city is Ploștina (mentioned as ''Ploștină'' in the [[chrysobull]]s granted to [[Tismana]] in 1385 and 1444). Until 1863, the village belonged to the estate of the Tismana monastery with the monks collecting the [[tithe]] from the land. From 1863 on, the estate was administered by the state. For three years, the estate was also leased to [[Tudor Vladimirescu]], and the inhabitants of this area participated in the [[Wallachian uprising of 1821|uprising of 1821]] as well.<ref name="istoric"/>

Two villages incorporated into the present-day city, Roșiuța and Lupoița, were inhabited by free farmers who owned their own plots of land.<ref name="istoric"/>

=== Present ===
The present city of Motru was established by an administrative decision on 24 May 1966 on the territory of the former Ploștina commune. Seven other villages became part of the new city. The reason behind the decision was the development of several coal deposits. Motru was declared a [[municipiu]] in 2000. Mining is the city's main industry; agriculture and livestock are also important, especially in its attached villages.<ref name="istoric">{{cite web|url=https://primariamotru.ro/municipiul-motru/istoric/|title=Istoric|language=ro|website=primariamotru.ro|access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref>

In 1981, Motru was the site of riots from miners who were working in the mines of the city. The riots, which took place between 17 and 19 October of that year, were triggered by poor work conditions, tight control of legislative organizations and the general exhaustion of the miners, further exacerbated by a decree that limited consumption of bread only to the dwellers of the city. During the riots, [[Emil Bobu]] visited the city, where he was attacked by angry crowds with potatoes; when he returned to [[Bucharest]], he ordered the army to intervene in the city after 2 days of protests from the local populace. At the time, the inexpensive Motru bread attracted many workers and farmers into the city, who carried the bread loafs in sacks and arrived in the town by local trains known as "trains of hunger". Nowadays the bread factory is in ruins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/targu-jiu/care-fost-adevaratul-tren-foamei-provine-porecla-primita-1_59c3d99f5ab6550cb865665b/index.html|title = Care a fost adevăratul tren al foamei și de unde provine porecla primită|lang=ro|newspaper=[[Adevărul]]|first=Alin|last=Ion|date=September 22, 2017|access-date=December 24, 2023}}</ref>

== Demography ==
According to the [[2021 Romanian census|2021 census]], Motru had a population of 15,950 of which 13,626 [[Romanians]], 14 [[Hungarians in Romania|Hungarians]], 107 [[Romani people in Romania|Roma]], 4 [[Italians in Romania|Italians]], and 7 of other ethnicity. In [[2011 Romanian census|2011]], the population was 18,142, including 17,988 Romanians, 38 Hungarians, 83 Roma, and 3 [[Germans of Romania|Germans]].

== Transportation ==
Motru is the terminus of a railway line that branches off the [[Căile Ferate Române|CFR]] [[Căile Ferate Române Line 900|main line Bucharest–Craiova–Lugoj]] at [[Strehaia]], which was put into operation in 1962. In addition, there are bus connections with the county seat of Târgu Jiu. Motru is on the [[Roads in Romania|National Road]] {{ill|DN67|ro}} from [[Drobeta-Turnu Severin]] to [[Râmnicu Vâlcea]].

==Natives==
* [[Gabriel Cruceru]] (born 1989), footballer 
* [[Dorel Mutică]] (born 1973), footballer

==Gallery==
{{Gallery
|File:Biserica de lemn din Horasti.jpg|Wooden church in Horăști
|File:RO GJ Biserica de lemn din Leurda (1).jpg|Wooden church in Leurda
|File:RO GJ Biserica Adormirea Maicii Domnului din Lupoita (1).jpg|Church of the Dormition in Lupoița
|File:RO GJ Rosiuta.jpg|Church in Roșiuța
}}

==See also==
*[[Motru Coal Mine]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book
|last       = Schütte
|first      = Gudmund
|authorlink = Gudmund Schütte
|title      = Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe: a reconstruction of the prototypes
|url        = https://archive.org/details/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich
|year       = 1917
|publisher  = [[H. Hagerup]]
|location   = Copenhagen
}}
{{Gorj County}}

[[Category:Populated places in Gorj County]]
[[Category:Localities in Oltenia]]
[[Category:Cities in Romania]]
[[Category:Mining communities in Romania]]
[[Category:Monotowns in Romania]]
[[Category:Planned communities in Romania]]
[[Category:Socialist planned cities]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1966]]
[[Category:1966 establishments in Romania]]