Odobeşti

Odobeşti is a town in Vrancea County, Romania. One village, Unirea, is administered by the town.

ODOBESTI – The City of Wine

Odobesti is the capital city of one of the biggest wine yards from Eastern Europe, on whose name are based the most famous wines from Odobesti, such as “Galbena de Odobesti”. Even nowadays, more than a third from the agricultural field of the locality, respectively 1.695 ha, is planted with vineyards. The fame of the wines from Odobesti was known from Vienna to Kiev, and the traders from this region, traders that were established in the northern part of the town, and even built a church, established the price of the wines from this corner of the continent. For several centuries, Odobesti was a cosmopolite town, where the Romanians, Armenians, Greeks and Jewish were living in harmony. The town preserves even in the present times Odobesti being one of the towns from Romania that have preserved the Jewish district, where can be found a beautiful synagogue. The historical fame of the town of Odobesti is connected also to the famous citadel of Kruceburg, erected by some famous knights from the Hills Odobesti, but especially the Catholic Bishopric, that functioned in the period 1227-1241 on the bank of Milcov River and that have as residence the mysterious Civitas de Mylco, which most of the Romanian historians places round the present locality. Due to its history and to the historic monuments that adorn the city, Odobesti has a great tourist’s potential, being placed in an area of confluence, between mountain and plain, but also between the two Roman principalities, Moldova and Tara Romaneasca. In the present the town has 8.106 inhabitants, of which 5.100 is active, and live in 2.640 farms, respectively 2.978 houses. The main event of the year is the Festival “The Autumn of Odobesti”, which takes place every year, on October 14th, after the vintage. The cultural life of Odobesti is reflected in the two cultural magazines that are published every month, and the cultural events take place at the House of Culture and the Town Library. As a famous vineyard cannot exist without a proper school, in 1901 it has been inaugurated the Elementary School for Viticulture, the present Agricultural High school, and in order to research and project the variety from Odobesti in the period 1935-1936 it has been created in the locality the Centre of Viticulture Research. We have a Club of the Vine Growers and a Gazette of the Vine Growers. In what concerns the economic activity of the town, after a rebound in the period 1989-2000, in the last years the basic economic activities have restarted and new ones have appeared. The unemployment has lowered and in Odobesti functions some tens important economic units. Some of the most important activities developed by these units are the wine processing, meat processing, forestry and the wood processing. Together with other classic activities for Odobesti, new ones have developed, such as metal joinery and carpentry, pastry, furniture for the office and others, textile industry and mineral water bottling and non-alcoholic drinks.