Description : Hârșova (also spelled Hîrșova; Romanian pronunciation: ; Bulgarian: Хърсово, Harsovo) is a town located on the right bank of the Danube, in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The place has probably been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic . Archaeological finds also date from the Iron and Bronze Ages . In the last century BC Greeks settled in the region. The Romans conquered the area in the 1st century AD . Because of its strategically important location on a Danube crossing, they built Carsium Castle on a hill above the river . After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Carsium became part of the Eastern Roman Empire . In the 7th century the Bulgarians invadedon; 300 years later, the Byzantines returned and restored the fortifications on the Danube, including Carsium. In the 11th century they lost the Dobruja again to the Bulgarians before the region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1410 . The Turks took over the fortifications and expanded them. As a result, the city experienced an upswing. After the Russo-Ottoman War (1828–1829) , the Russians destroyed the fortress and large parts of the city. Hârșova lost its importance and came to Romania as a result of the Berlin Congress in 1878. After the Second World War there was a modest settlement of industrial companies. In the last years of communist rule, some of the old monuments fell into disrepair or were destroyed.
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