IAI

Also known as the "city of great love stories", "city of new beginnings", city of the seven hills,
"cultural center of Moldavia", "an open air museum", Iai is recognized since the 19th century as being
the centre of the national spirit.
Every corner of Iai evokes a personality, a unique event, a legend, a part of a myth, every stone talks
about the past .
Iasi is the most important political, economic and cultural centre of the province of Moldavia as well as
one of the oldest cities in Romania. Located in the northeastern part of the country, Iasi was for many
centuries the crossing point of the most important commercial routes linking Poland, Hungary, Russia
and Constantinople.
Iasi is the second city in the country taking into account the number of residents, but also in cultural,
historical and academic terms
The second largest university centre in Romania
The city was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1564 to 1859, then of the United
Principalities from 1859 to 1862, and the capital of Romania from 1916 to 1918.

Iasi - historical reference points

Archaeological diggings certify the existence of human settlements on the today's territory of Iasi since
Paleolithic.
1408 - the first documentary attestation of the city
1565 - during the second reign of Alexandru Lapusneanu, Iasi became the capital of Moldavia, being at
that time an important economical, political and cultural centre.
5th of January 1859 - colonel Al. I. Cuza becomes the Prince of Moldavia
After the union of the Romanian Principalities on 24th of January 1859, Iasi functioned as the capital of
Moldavia until the administrative union in 1862.
1860 - Al. I. Cuza founds at Iasi the first university in Romania
11th of November 1916 during World War I, the Royal Court, the Parliament and the Romanian
Government withdrew from Bucharest to Iasi.
 What you should know about Iasi ?

It all started at Iasi :

The first Romanian university
The National Theatre Vasile Alecsandri is the First National Theatre in Romania
The First Monument in the Romanian Principalities
The First Printed Work on the Romanian Territory, the Missal
The First Botanical Garden in the Romanian Principalities (Iasi, 1856)
The First Natural History Museum in the Romanian Principalities (Iasi, 1834)
The First Romanian Literary Memorial Museum, Ion Creangas Cottage
The First Jewish Theatre in Romania and in the World
The First Romanian Medical School, University-like, The Surgery School
The Great Synagogue, the First Jewish Praying House, in Romania (Iasi, 1659-1670).
George Emil Palade, the First Romanian Laureate of the Nobel Prize (Iasi, 1912 - U.S.A., 2008)
The First Romanian Woman, Owner of the Title of a University Professor
The First Romanian Surgeon Woman
The First Romanian she-lawyer
The first Romanian Electricity Laboratory (Iasi, 1910)
The first 3D hologram in a Romanian Memorial Museum (Iasi, February, 2012)

In the last years , Iasi is pride to find out that has :

The second most beautiful theatre in the world, as a result of a top realised by BBC
The most beautiful library from 25 most famous libraries in the world , a top realized by
boredpanda.com
The largest private investment ever made in north-eastern Romania PALAS complex, a lifestyle
center concept
Landmarks / Symbols of the city

Palace of Culture (Palatul Culturii)

This remarkable construction (1906-1925), built in flamboyant
neogothic style, stands partly on the ruins of a medieval royal
court mentioned in documents dating from 1434.
In aprile 2016, after 8 years of reconstruction, the Palace was
reopened to the visitors.
Today, the 365-room palace houses four of the city's museums:
the Moldavian History Museum, the Ethnographic Museum,
theMuseum of Art and the Museum of Science and
Technology

St. Paraschiva Metropolitan Cathedral

The Metropolitan Cathedral is the seat of the Romanian
Orthodox Archbishop of Iai and Metropolitan of Moldavia and
Bukovina, and the largest Orthodox church in Romania.
Its form was inspired by the late Italian Renaissance style (Trinit
dei Monti in particular), with Baroque elements dominating the
interior and exterior decorative features.
The Metropolitan Cathedral is listed in the National Register of
Historic Monuments
Gheorghe Tattarescu painted the icons and decorative elements in
a style that respected Orthodox norms but also showed a
Renaissance influence.
In 1889, the relics of Saint Paraschiva, patron saint of Moldavia,
were brought from Trei Ierarhi Monastery and continue to attract
crowds of pilgrims, particularly on her feast day (October 14)
National Theatre Vasile Alecsandri
It is the oldest national theatre and one of the most prestigious
theatrical institutions in Romania.
On the night of 17/18 February 1888, the theatre building was
destroyed by the fire.
The efforts to build the new theatre edifice culminated in 1894
when a contract was signed with the Viennese architects
Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, who designed several
theatres and palaces across Europe, including the theatres in:
Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Timioara and Chernivtsi (Romanian:
Cernui).
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (acronym: UAIC) is a
public university located in Iai, Romania.
Founded one year after the establishment of the Romanian state,
by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom
the former Academia Mihilean was converted to a university,
the University of Iai, as it was named at first, is the oldest
university of Romania, and one of its advanced research and
education institutions
The Hall of the University, known as The Hall of the Lost
Footsteps, served as a parliamentary debating chamber between
1917 and 1918 when, during the Great War, Iai was the capital
of Romania.
In 1967, the painter Sabin Blaa started creating a series of
strongly romanticized frescoes for the arcades.
Ion Creanga Memorial House
The First Romanian Literary Memorial Museum, Ion
Creangas Cottage was inaugurated on 15th of April 1918. In this
house, built in Iasi (Ticau suburb), the writer Ion Creanga lived,
from July 1872, up to his death, 31st of December 1889. Here he
met his friend, the writer Mihai Eminescu; in this house Ion
Creanga wrote his entire work: "Memories of my Boyhood
(Childhood Memories)", "Tales and Stories".
The museum represents, beyond its historical, literary, and
sentimental significance, a specific item of folk architecture of the
period and ethno-cultural area. Under the broad shingle roof, the
walls built in heavy beams covered with a clay layer, establishes a
single room with narrow windows and a lobby where you could
just spin. The low entry is sheltered from rain by a narrow porch,
and behind the house a wooden roof with one slope protect some
household items and agricultural tools with a certain ethnographic
value.

Traian Hotel
Built in neoclassical style in 1879 by an engineer, G. Fragneau,
who worked with G. Eiffel & Co. in Paris (yes, the Eiffel who
designed the Eiffel Tower), the hotel was one of the first in Europe
to be molded on a metal frame. Throughout the years, many
foreign diplomats and other personalities have stayed at the Traian.
The Church of the Three Hierarchs
Constructed 1637 1639,it is highlighted as a must-see in every
guidebook.
Nothing can prepare you, though, for its stunning ornate
decoration: the entire exterior of the church is covered in delicate
and intricate patterns sculpted into the stone and spread over 30
friezes. This "stone embroidery" is a mixture of western gothic,
Renaissance and Oriental motifs.
Legend has it that the exterior was covered in gold, silver and lapis
lazuli but centuries ago, when the Ottoman Empire tried to
conquer Moldavia, the invaders sat the church on fire and melted
all the gold.
The original interior paintings were completed by Russian artists
sent to Iasi by the Tsar. Original fragments of the frescoes are still
preserved in the nearby Gothic Hall museum
The interior boasts the tombs of a number of famous Romanians,
including the founder of this church, Vasile Lupu, Prince
Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and Prince Dimitrie Cantemir. In 1994, the
church reopened as a monastery.

Botanical Garden
Dating from 1856 and covering some 250 acres, Iasi's Botanical
Garden is the oldest and largest in Romania.
An educational and scientific laboratory, the garden houses a
precious and rich collection of trees and plants. It also offers
numerous shady lanes to explore, rose and orchid gardens, a
collection of tropical plants, cacti, carnivorous plants, natural
springs and a lake.

Eminescu's Linden Tree

It is a 500-year-old silver lime (Tilia tomentosa Moench) in
the Copou Public Garden, Iai, Romania.
Mihai Eminescu wrote some of his best works underneath this lime,
rendering the tree one of Romania's most important natural
monuments and a Iai landmark.