Country Romania Status Town Local time Saturday 3:36 PM | County Călăraşi County Time zone EET (UTC+2) Population 6,217 (2002) | |
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Weather 15°C, Wind W at 21 km/h, 44% Humidity | ||
Fundulea is an agricultural town in the Călăraşi County, Romania. It is on the Bărăgan Plain, approximately 30 km east of the capital Bucharest, in the historical region of Wallachia. It has a population of 6,217. The A2 freeway and Mostiştea River pass through its vicinity. Two villages are administered by the town: Alexandru Ioan Cuza and Gostilele.
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Map of Fundulea 915200, Romania
Historically, Fundulea's outskirts housed a military base maintained by the Romanian Army. The town is home to an agricultural institute, the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Romanian: Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare Agricolă, INCDA). A reservoir known as Lake Fundulea, fed by water from the Mostiştea, is a popular spot for sport fishing.
History
During the 19th century, the village of Fundulea housed the Sionu estate of writer Gheorghe Sion, which, through the 1923 marriage of his daughter Marica, became the property of eccentric novelist, poet, and heraldist Mateiu Caragiale. Caragiale intended to turn it into a private domain, and reportedly flew an ensign he had created for himself.
The INCDA was created in 1962, during the Communist period, through the merger between the Research Institute for Maize Cultivation (Institutul de Cercetări pentru Cultura Porumbului) and the Field Cultivation Department (Departamentul Culturilor de Câmp) of the Romanian Agronomic Institute.
Fundulea is also the birthplace of novelist Mircea Nedelciu (1950-1999), in whose honor a local primary school was named in 2002.