underwent numerous
changes in landscape, including the completion of the A1 freeway, the first
road of its kind, during the 1960s, and the acceleration of industrialization
with a focus on the chemical and automotive industries. Around 1950, the
Piteşti area accommodated Greek refugees who supported ELAS during the Civil
War (part of the buildings raised for this purpose were later used to house
resettled peasants). Florica was nationalized in 1948, and was later partly
devastated by Romanian Communist Party activists (for a while during the 1970s,
it served as the residence of Communist politician Ion Dincă). The bust of Ion
Brătianu, standing in front of the Saint Nicholas Church, was removed and
melted, and the church itself was demolished in 1962
