ARGES

judet (county), southern Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above the settlement areas that are found in intermontane valleys. The county is drained eastward by the Arge s, Cotmeana, and Teleorman rivers. It was formerly included in feudal Walachia. Agricultural activities consist of vineyard and orchard cultivation and livestock raising. Pitesti (q.v.), an oil-processing centre, is the county capital. Manufactures of Pitesti and other towns in the county include machinery, textiles, and paper. Coal and lignite are mined north of Mihaiesti, and salt mines, located near Apa Sarata, were worked from the Roman occupation until the 12th century. A hydroelectric dam, measuring 541 feet (165 m) high and 1,007 feet (307 m) long impounds Lake Vidraru. Curtea de Arges town has a 16th-century church that, according to legend, contained the body of the church architect's wife inhumed in the walls. Cmpulung, a former Roman fortified settlement, has a 13th-century monastery; and Golesti town is known for a 17th-century manor that was owned by the Goleseu family. A 16th-century sandstone church and hermitage and the house of the poet George (or Gheorghe) Toprceanu (18861937) are found in Namaesti. Topoloveni town has a craft cooperative that makes traditional costumes and wood carvings. The 15th-century fortress of Poenari was constructed, overlooking the Arges River valley, by Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, a prince known for executing his enemies by impalement, who was the prototype for Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's novel (1897). The fortress has a stairway of 1,400 steps. An arboretum, a forestry experimental station, and a roe deer reserve are found in Mihaiesti; and ancient limestone quarries, designated a natural monument, are located near Albesti. The road between Pitesti and Cmpulung was a former Roman-Dacian route. Most of the county's railway lines and highways parallel river courses. Area 2,626 square miles (6,801 square km). Pop. (1992 prelim.) 680,600.