Câmpina

Câmpina is a city in Prahova County, Romania, north of the county seat Ploiești, located on the main route between Wallachia and Transylvania. Its existence is first attested in a document of 1503. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia.

Geography
The city is located in the western part of Prahova County, 34 km northwest of the county seat, Ploiești. It is situated in a hilly region, at the southern end of the Prahova Valley, on the banks of the river Prahova, in between the rivers Câmpea and Doftana.

Câmpina is crossed by national road DN1, which links Bucharest, 100 km to the south, with the northwestern part of the country. The Câmpina railway station (opened in 1879) serves the CFR Main Line 300, which runs parallel to DN1, on the right bank of the Prahova.

History
Formerly a customs point on the trade route between Transylvania and Wallachia, the town developed at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century as an oil extraction and processing center. Between 1897 and 1898, Câmpina was the site of the largest oil refinery in Europe.

Notable residents

 * Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (1838–1907), philologist and writer
 * Eugen Jebeleanu (1911–1991), poet
 * Nicolae Grigorescu (1838–1907), painter
 * Henrik Kacser (1918–1995), biochemist and geneticist

Climate
Câmpina has a humid continental climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification).

Tourist attractions

 * Nicolae Grigorescu Memorial Museum
 * Iulia Hasdeu Castle
 * Biserica de la Han (de la brazi) (The Inn Church)
 * Geo Bogza Cultural Center
 * Casa Tineretului (The House of the Youth)
 * The House with Griffons (the actual city-hall), the first building with electric gates in Romania
 * The Hernea Chapel
 * The Saint Nicholas Parish
 * Fântâna cu Cireși (on the Muscel hill)
 * Muscel, Ciobu, and Pițigaia hills
 * Prahova and Doftana riverbanks
 * Near Paltinu Dam

Education
There are 5 high schools in Câmpina:
 * Nicolae Grigorescu National College
 * Constantin Istrati Technical High School
 * Forestier Technical College
 * Energetic Technologic High School
 * Technologic-Mechanic High School

There is also a Police Agents School in Câmpina (Școala de Agenți de Poliție "Vasile Lascăr"), one of the two police agent schools in the country. There are also two sanitary schools, Dr. Dinu Sanitary School and the Louis Pasteur Nursing and Pharma School.

Sport
The city is home to the 3rd-division football club FC Unirea Câmpina and to 4th-division football club FCM Câmpina, founded in 1936.