Craiova, the economic and cultural centre of Oltenia, the residence of Dolj County, has its origins as a human settlement since prehistory, 4,000 years ago. The first recorded name of the settlement on the banks of the Jiu River was Pelendava, whose origin was sought either in the name of the Geto-Dacian tribe who settled here (pelii, dava = city in Geto-dacian language), or in “peled” – which means wet (related to settling in the meadow of Jiu River) and the suffix “dava” – which means fortress, settlement, locality. Another theory claims that the Pelendava toponym would be a corrupted form: (A) pelen-dava or (A) polon-dava, of Apollo, a form related to the sun worship.
The current name of the city of Craiova is related to a legend from the Middle Ages, a troubled period in the history of the places, when on these lands were spreaded across different populations. The origin of the current name of the city is the subject of much controversy and floats in the legend; the only thing that can be said with certainty is that the name comes from the Slavonic “kral” (king, ruler). According to some historians, the name would come from the Ruer Ioniță Caloian, the younger brother of Petru and Asan, who for a period becomes emperor of the Vlaho-Bulgarian empire. According to the Greek chronicles of Nicetas Choniates Akominatos, he is forced to take refuge, for a period, north of the Danube, where he becomes “ruler over some Wallachians from his people”. The theory that Craiova becomes the capital of the new formation he founded is supported by some local legends related to Craiovița lake and the ruler’s drowned girl. Some ethnographers also argue that the popular dance “Călușul” or “Caloianul” would have its origins during this period.
Recent geological researches on the east side of Lake Craiovița, on the occasion of the execution of some constructions, seem to confirm a series of local legends about Nedeia Crăiască. They claim that, around 1300, most probably between 1300 – 1350, the waters of the Jiu River would have flowed, causing a flood of proportions that would have seriously affected the locality.
For a long, long time, in these places lived a rich and powerful man, a Ruler. The Ruler Iov. Although he was rich and had a large and beautiful castle, he was unhappy because he had no children. Towards his old age, his wife gave him a daughter. He was so happy that he forgot to give the three Fates what tradition required. Two of the Fates did not get upset, but the third one was angry and threw a terrible curse: the castle of Ruler Iov to be destroyed when his daughter would leave the castle. Throughout history, Craiova, like most cities, has been surrounded by an aura of legend, dense and mysterious: the legend of the former pool of Bănia, but also the so-called “decaying” of Craiova, as chroniclers of ancient times called it, continues to surround the city today.
Legends, those that still roam the popular imagination, give a new dimension to the past, giving it colour and charm. The mysterious story of Craioviţa pool, nowadays dried up, has always delighted, sometimes being an inspiration for some poets, including Macedonski. In the past, the variant of the legend has been quite widespread. It was known by Hașdeu, processed by Lucilla Chițu and versified by Macedonski under the title of “Rondel of the Young Lady”:
Rondel of the Young Lady
Coming out of Craiovița pool,
Where Craiovisin was a ruler,
A flame, see floating the Young Lady
More silver than a lily.
Under the moon her hair trembles,
In the soul she bears a torment,
Floating on the Craiovița pool,
Where Craiovisin was a ruler.
She lived her life in a sigh,
Not ever kissing anyone,
But then the prude remained
From the Christian century age,
Floating on the Craioviţa pool.
The legend of Craiovita is attributed exclusively to “the talented and so aggried poet Lucilla Chițu, a branch of a vigorous Craiova strain”, as mentioned in the work of Alexandru Mitru, “Craiova, in legends and stories”.
Legend says that, at the birth of the daughter of Ioan Caloianu, voivode and ruler of Craiovița County, the parents neglected the obligation to give the honours to the Fates. They took revenge by deciding that the girl will only live as long as she doesn’t leave her room where she was born. But as the recklessness to pass the threshold, the city will sink and the girl, along with all the inhabitants, will perish in the depths. Once, a handsome young emperor fell in love with the girl spotted by chance, at the window, but condemned by the Fate to stay until death in her golden dungeon. He picks and throw towards her the most beautiful flower bouquet. The young lady received it, bringing it to her lips and kissing it, in a sign that she shares his love. But he cannot have a wife because of the curse. The father, the voivode, denies him. But the young emperor was not discouraged. He gained on his side one of the palace’s maids. With her help, he tries to kidnap her, but, as they walked over the threshold of the room, a terrible wail began. Heaven untied its “strings”. Jiul spilled out of the river bed. The earth swirled and the city slowly began to sink. All people’s attempts to save themselves in some way led to no result. Surrounded waters flood homes, drown people and other living beings, covering the church towers. The noises were extinguished in the bulbs and the boiling heat of the waves. For a few moments, says the legend, the young emperor’s silver scarf and the white dress of his lover were seen in the dark depths, but they soon also got lost.
Another version of the legend
The most beautiful version of the legend, however, belongs to Lucille Chitu, and was published in the newspaper Voice of Transylvania on 2 April 1900. An adaptation of the legend is shown in the lines below:
Children, do not approach the standing water! Three or four kilometres from Craiova, it is located to the west, on a plain bordered on the horizon by a chain of hills that the distance makes them look like a steamy blue, the Craioviţa lake. Almost entirely covered by aquatic vegetation, at first sight this lake is confused with the neighbouring field, and only small water holes can be seen here, on which surface of the reeds incline their long and thin stems. Fish and swarms of moskitoes and other blue and green insects play crazy spinning, while at the edge of the lake the frogs serve as sweet music.
In the evening, when the colour of the twilight becomes more and more uncertain, when the coolness descends with the shadow and the silence, this painting takes on a melancholy appearance. The water hole, touched by the rays of the moon, resembles the pieces of a broken mirror. The trees, which a damp wind makes them shake, resemble black ghosts. Flocks of crows sit on the faded branches, taking out lugubrious croaks. Afterwards, any noise ceases and the genius of loneliness takes over his empire. Then, the late passer-by winces, recalling the legend of Craiova.
Once upon a time, very much, a city called Craiova settled in the place where today is the silent lake, a big city, with high houses, an old fortress, whose high towers were bathed by the Jiu River.
Children, do not approach the standing water!
A happy people lived in this fortress. A powerful voivode governed it. Every day the bells of the beautiful churches called Christians to the church, the shops of the merchant slums were full of everything one could imagine more beautiful, the people were always tired and the boyars did not gather at the Diwan without trials.
The good voivode had a girl who had wonderful beauty stories, although no one had seen her, except for her father and the nanny who had raised her since she was a child. When she was born, her parents forgot to organize a feast for the Fates, and, to punish them for this offense, the three Fates sisters linked the fate of the princess to the fate of the city, saying that once she would cross the threshold of the room in which she was born, Craiovița together with all the inhabitants of the city will disappear. This is how the poor little girl, becoming a big girl, was dying of annoyance within the four walls of her room.
One day, a young emperor, ally of the voivode, asked the beautiful princess for marriage. It was April. Red-necked birds chirped in the shrubs and small violets smiled in the shade of green groves. The sun was shining brightly and the waves of Jiu River sang a merry song. The beautiful young lady saw her pretender through the opening of the door. Riding a Bugeac horse, with a rich saddle, the young emperor advanced in the middle of a brilliant escort. His cloak was embroidered with gold thread and pearls, a long white wedge fluttered in his silver cap.
Unable to resist her curiosity, the lady opened the window to see him better. At that moment, the young emperor raised his head and the princess on whom he cast his eyes was so fond of her, for he stopped suddenly, and after saluting deeply, threw a handful of flowers, which he had in his hand. Very moved, the lady closed the window, but took the bouquet, which she carried quickly to her mouth, blushing, while the young emperor climbed the steps leading to the voivode’s house.
But no!… His joy was to be short-lived, for the good voivode made it known to him at once that his daughter was sentenced to life imprisonment, and if he tried to cross the threshold of his room, Craiovita together with all the inhabitants of the city would disappear, as the old offended Fates had decided. the old haters offended. However, the young emperor was not discouraged. He pretended to be in good agreement with his ally, but secretly won a woman from the palace and came to communicate with the princess, while the faithful nanny was sleeping.
It was decided that on the night of Good Friday, at the time when the voivode and his people will be at the church, the young lady should come downstairs to meet the young emperor and run together outside the city. But that night was going to be fatal. Under the starry sky, the sound of the bells sounded in the fresh air, and their harmony seemed to raise the prayers of the prostrated Christians in the church to heaven.
While the nanny, awakened from her sleep, was desperately clutching her hands in the room, the knight’s arms were catching the young lady, placing her in front of the Bugeac horse. The high-heeled animal took it at an angry gallop. But hardly they passed the palace yard and a great wind broke. The cataracts of the sky were opening, Jiu came out of his bed, the earth shook, while the city slowly sank. The water rose, rose always, reached above the houses and soon above the towers. As the bells still muffled their long mourning sounds with the mourning of the dying, everything was gone, the young emperor’s white robe and the white dress of the young lady floated alone, before they were taken into the abyss.
… Children, do not approach the standing water!
The elders from the neighbouring villages tell that story even today, during the Great Friday service, the children, in the innocence of their age, hear the sound of the bells of the drowned churches beating in the depths of the pool that from that moment bears the name of Craiovița. The truth is, the story ended by Lucilla Chițu ends, that the children are still sleeping at this time, so we cannot be sure of what was said.
Truths behind the legends
A grain of truth must exist throughout this story, still told by grandparents to their grandchildren. An attempt to unlock the mystery, beyond the coordinates of the legend, tries Alexandru Mitru in “Craiova, in legends and stories”. “The main building material of Craiova was the wood. The forests were thick and occupied huge areas, sometimes stretching from the shore of Jiu River to the coasts of the mountains. “Our Craiova”, wrote the researcher A. Vincenz in 1926, “could not be three hundred years ago but a city built entirely of wood, because the wood is within reach of anyone …”. Or, the wood, it is known, does not keep the same evidence to the descendants as the stone. Craiovița, if it existed and we believe it existed, must have been made of wood. Her name, before the catastrophe that collapsed it, more than likely through an earthquake, because the city of Craiova and its surroundings were in an area quite prone to such phenomena, there must have been another. Only that name, with time forgotten, preserving only the drama, the memory of drowning. Later, after the settlement acquired the name of Craiova, the forests, ponds and meadows at its gate, ruled by the same feudal or another, adorned with the mystery and poetry of the legend, were named Craiova”. The records attest, however, that today’s Bania was an area tried by natural phenomena. For example, “a researcher from the beginning of the century found that in many churches only the turrets were renovated, these were actually collapsed after earthquakes and then reconstructed. As it was well stated, if BP Hasdeu’s urging were to be followed, to drill as deep as the bottom of the Craiovița lake, the surprises would not have been excluded“ it is mentioned in the work of Alexandru Mitru.
Bibliography:
• Mirela Marinescu, “Legends of Craiova”, 5 July 2008, https://www.gds.ro/Local/2008-07-05/Legendele+Craiovei/
• Gheorghe Manolea, “The legend of the city of Craiova”, 4 October 2014, https://gheorghe.manolea.ro/2014/11/16/04-10-2014-legenda-orasului-craiova/
• Alexandru Macedonski, “Rondel of the Young Lady”. The poem of the rondels, 1927