Râul Doamnei

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Râul Doamnei is a minor left tributary of the Argeş River (the two rivers meet just north of Piteşti). It is 98 kilometers in length and frequently dries up in summer, owing to the works upstream that have redirected part of its water supply toward a reservoir serving the hydroelectric plant on the Argeş.

Râul Doamnei flows through a hilly region, forming narrow strips of fertile plain on both of its banks.

[edit] Origin of the name

According to legend, the first wife of Wallachian Prince Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Ţepeş) - her name is not recorded - died during the 1462 siege of Poienari Castle by an Ottoman army led by Vlad's half-brother Radu cel Frumos (Radu the Fair).

A former servant of Vlad, held as a prisoner and servant to the Turks but still loyal to the Prince, having seen the shadow of Vlad's wife behind a window and shot an arrow in that direction, with a message informing that the Turkish army was going to attack the castle the next morning. Upon reading the message, Vlad's wife flung herself off the castle's tower and into the stream below the castle, preferring death to Turkish captivity. The stream was then named Râul Doamnei (the Lady's River) in recollection of the event.

[edit] Naming conventions

Râul is Romanian for "The river". As such, it may form part of the Romanian names given in full for virtually all rivers. However, since Doamnei is the genitive of Doamnă ("A lady"), Râul is part of the name itself in this case.