Brief History of Mehedinti
Testimonies of life in Mehedinti date back in 12000 B.C. but the most clear evidence of habitation in this area is dated around 7200 B.C. Abundant and continuous record of human occupation in open-air settlements from the late Mesolithic into the early Neolithic (7500-5500 B.C.) has been found by archeologists in the Iron Gates area, during more than forty years of investigations.
While early farming settlements are well represented in other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, Mesolithic sites are uncommon and there are few if any sites that were inhabited continuously from one period to the next. Therefore, the Iron Gates is arguably the only area of southeast Europe where the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic can be studied in detail. The most recent archeological investigations in the Iron Gates area, have been performed at Schela Cladovei, a western district of Drobeta Turnu Severin city. The archeological studies started at Schela Cladovei by a distinguished Romanian researcher, Vasile Boroneant, in 1965, were continued in 1991 as a joint Romanian - British research project, co-directed by V. Boroneant and C. Bonsall. Through their investigations here, we know today, that, 9000-10000 years ago, animals were domesticated and vegetables were grown at Schela Cladovei. Also, this was the oldest region in the area archeologically proved as being destroyed as a result of an armed conflict.
(V. Boroneant, Decouvertes, d'objets d'art epipaleolithique dans la zone des Portes de Fer du Danube, Revista Di Scienze Preistoriche, 1969, XXIV, 2, p. 283-298.)
The Iron Gates Museum in Drobeta Turnu Severin preserves testimonies of other settlements in the pre-historic region of Mehedinti which led to a flourishing Dacian settlement the conquering Romans found here in 101 AD when the first Dacian-Roman war started. Two bloody battles took place between 101-106 AD ordered or led by the Emperor Trajan.
The building of a stone bridge across the Danube by the Syrian architect Apollodorus of Damascus, enabled the Roman army to complete the conquering of Dacia led by the Dacian king, Decebalus. The ruins of one pillar of the bridge (Trajan's bridge) are still preserved today nearby Drobeta Turnu Severin (the other pillar is also visible on the other side of the Danube, in Serbia). A Roman camp (The Roman Camp of Drobeta) was also built to defend the northern end of the bridge. This was the first stone fortress built in Dacia. The foundations of the fortress (restored by Constantine the Great) can be seen today nearby the ruins of the Trajan's bridge. In 106 AD, the Dacian territory was turned into a Roman province. Archeological testimonies certify that Mehedinti was inhabited even after 271 AD (the year of Aurelian's Roman army withdrawal), by a Dacian-Roman population, the ancestors of the modern Romanian people. This is the reason the town of Drobeta is called by Romanians today, "the gate of our Latinity".
During the early Middle Ages, the Iron Gates region continued to be an important area of economic and major strategic interests. The 12th and the 13th centuries turned the Iron Gates area into a field of permanent fighting operations between Hungarian kings and Bulgarian tzars, between Hungarians and Byzantines and between all of them and the Romanian princes and voivodes. The ruins of the Severin fortress built in 13th century as an important part of the defensive system of the region are still visible today in Drobeta Turnu Severin.
During the Middle Ages and the early Modern period, this geographical area was part of Wallachia, one of the Romania 's three provinces at that time. By the middle of the 16th century, Wallachia, besides the other two of Romania's provinces: Moldavia and Transylvania, came under Otoman suzerainty but conserved fully internal autonomy and, until the 18th century, some external independence. As in most European countries, 1848 brought revolution to Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, announced by Tudor Vladimirescu and his Pandurs in the Wallachian uprising of 1821. The goals of the revolutionaries - complete independence for Moldavia and Wallachia, and national emancipation in Transylvania - remained unfulfilled, but were the basis of the subsequent evolutions. Also, the uprising helped the population of the three principalities recognize their unity of language and interests. Tudor Vladimirescu's house, "Cula lui Tudor" can be visited today in Cerneti village of Mehedinti (on the left bank of Topolnita).
In 1859, people in both Wallachia and Moldavia elected the same ruler - Alexandru Ioan Cuza - as prince (Romanian: Domnitor). Thus, Romania was created as a personal union, albeit a Romania that did not include Transylvania yet. In 1866, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania. It was Drobeta Turnu Severin, the place where Carol I set foot on Romanian land.
The modern town, Drobeta Turnu Severin made its appearance in 1833, as a commercial town and as a part of Mehedinti district.