Mehadia

Mehadia (Hungarian: Mehádia; German: Mehadia; Turkish: Mehadiye) is a small market town and commune in Caraş-Severin County, Romania. It lies on the European route E70, in the Cerna River valley. The town is located on the site of the ancient Roman colony Ad Mediam and was noted for its Hercules baths. It had a population of 2,492 in 1900, and of 4,474 in 2002. The commune is prone to major recurring flooding. The 1838 floods destroyed some 2000 houses in the valley and the 1841 floods in Mehadia were also devastating. It experienced major flooding more recently in May 2005.

The commune is composed of four villages: Globurău (Golbor), Mehadia, Plugova (Ekés) and Valea Bolvașnița (Bolvásvölgy).

Etymology

The Romanian historian, Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol, stated that the name of the town had been derived from the ancient Roman name Ad Mediam. Linguist Cicerone Poghirc proposed that the Romans had adopted a hypotethical (non-attested) native *Mehedia or *Mehadia form. Most linguists agree that the Romanians adopted the medieval Hungarian name of the town which was first recorded as Michald in 1323.