Potcoava - Olt is an old locality, being documented for nearly 600 years. There are several legends about the origin of its name, according to which the name would come from the former horseshoe-shaped configuration, or from the first inhabitant, an elderly man named Horseshoe. Another legend says that hundreds of years ago there were the most famous climbers in the area today, and another states that Prince Dan II Basarab in 1423 had in his army a captain with unusual powers that could bend a horseshoe with his hand. However, no matter where the name comes from, the settlement had a special period until 1965, when it was a mosque and then a district (founded on 1 January 1956). The settlement has developed in recent years due to oil and gas deposits. It was declared a city in 2004.