Location

Iasi - historical reference point

The second largest Romanian city, Iasi is the economic, cultural and academic centre of the Romanian region of Moldavia .

The city has the oldest Romanian university and accommodates an annual count of over 70,000 students in 5 public and 3 private universities. It is home to more than 50 churches and hosts 5 cultural centres: British, French, German, Latin American and Caribbean and Hellenic.

Cultural life gravitates around the National Theater (the oldest in Romania), the Opera House, the Iasi State Philarmonic, the Tatarasi Atheneum, a famous Botanical Garden (the oldest and largest in Romania), the Central University Library (the oldest in Romania), an array of museums and memorial houses, an independent theater and several student organizations.

In this section you can see a few of the landmarks the city of Iasi has, presented in a 360 degrees panoramic view.

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Education

The first Romanian High Education structure was established in the autumn of 1813, when engineer Gheorghe Asachi laid the foundations of a class of engineers, its activities taking place within the Greek Academy of Iasi.

Iasi is home to the oldest Romanian modern university (University of Iasi), opened by (and nowadays named after) king Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1860.

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University

"Al. I. Cuza" University in Iasi

A society of physicians and natural historians has existed in Iasi since the early part of the 19th century, and a number of periodicals are published. One of the oldest medical universities in Romania, founded in 1879, is in Iasi . It is now known as the "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Architecture

Iasi is an outstanding educational center, and preserves some beautiful pieces of architecture, such as the Trei Ierarhi Monastery and the neo-Gothic Palace of Culture.

Palace of Culture

Four museums are located in the Palace of Culture, one of the largest buildings of Romania . Construction was carried out between the years 1906?1925 on the old ruins of the Royal Court of Moldavia and it is designed in flamboyant neo-Gothic style. The palace counts 298 rooms and has a total room surface of about 36 000 m²

The Art Museum has the largest art collection in Romania, with more than 8,000 paintings, out of which 1,000 belong to the national and universal patrimony
The Moldavian History Museum offers more than 35,000 objects from various fields: archaeology, numismatics, decorative art, ancient books, documents
The Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia owns more than 11,000 objects depicting the Romanian advance through the ages
The Museum of Science and Technology offers many musical devices

Palace of Culture

Churches

Iasi (specifically the Metropolitan Cathedral) is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina.

The plan for this church was designed by the architects Johann Freywald and Bucher. The works took place first between 1833-1839 and then between 1880-1887, this time following the plans of the Romanian architect, Alexandru Orascu.

It was inaugurated on 23 April 1887, at this event also taking part King Carol I and Bishop Iosif Naniescu.

In 1889 the relics of Saint Paraschiva were brought from Three Hierarchs Church to the new cathedral.

Three Hierarchs Church

Other beautiful churches, some surrounded by big walls, are: Galata (1581), Golia, St. Sava, Barnovschi (17th century), Cetatuia (the end of the 17th century), Frumoasa (18th century), Barboi (19th century, with 18th century bell tower).

Gardens and parks

Iasi has a diverse array of public spaces, from city squares to public parks.

Begun in 1833 at the time when Iasi was the capital of Moldavia, by Prince Mihail Sturdza and under the plans of Gheorghe Asachi and Mihail Singurov, Copou Park was integrated into the city and marks now one of the first Romanian public parks.

Autumn in Copou Park

Cultural life

Iasi is home to many museums, memorial houses, art galleries. First Memorial House from Romania opened in Iasi in 1918 ("Ion Creanga" Memorial House) and today the Romanian Literature Museum owns twelve memorial houses.

The Central University Library "Mihai Eminescu"

The edifice was built between 1930-1934 by the architect Constantin Jotzu. Initially the building had to be the headquarters of the University Foundation Ferdinand I Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, King of Romania between 1914-1927.

The interior of the building is made by Carrara marble and Venetian mosaic and the exterior is adorned with Ionic columns.

The Central Univetrsity Library

National Theatre "Vasile Alecsandri"

It was built between 1894-1896 by the well-known Viennese architects, Fellner and Helmer.

In 1956 when they celebrated 140 years since the first performance in Romanian, the theatre in Iasi received the name of the great poet, playwright and man of culture Vasile Alecsandri (1821-1890).

Today, this architectural jewel houses also the Romanian Iasi Opera.

National Theatre

"Dosoftei" House

Dosoftei House is a building from the second half of the 17th century in which in 1679, the metropolitan bishop Dosoftei settled the second typography in Moldavia . With three facades, arched and right-angled windows, the edifice was restored between 1966-1969. Here the department of old literature of the Romanian Literature Museum was opened in 1970. Among the important pieces of the museum, we can count: a Slavonian manuscript from the 14th century (1350-1380), a Missal printed by Macarie in 1508 (the first Romanian printing), the oldest copies of the Moldavia?s Chronicles written by Grigore Ureche and Miron Costin, the Homily of the metropolitan bishop Varlaam (the first printing in Moldavia), the Psalter (1673) of the metropolitan bishop Dosoftei and a 1682 Gospel of the same bishop.

Dosoftei House

Transportation

Rail

Two train stations, Central Rail Station and Nicolina International Rail Station serve the city and are operated by Romanian Railways (CFR). Moldovan railway also serves these stations for travel into Moldova.

The Iasi Central Rail Station, located about 1.5 km to the city centre, provides direct rail connections to all the major Romanian cities and to Chisinau. The rail stations are very well connected to all the parts of the city by the trams, and buses of the local public transport company, RATP.

Central Railway Station

Air

Iasi is served by the Iasi International Airport (IAS) located 8 km east of the city centre. The airport has nonstop flights to and from Bucharest, Budapest, Timisoara and Vienna.

Iasi Airport Terminal

Road

Iasi is connected to European route E85/E583 with Bucharest through a four lane express road. It is also planned a East-West freeway connection Romanian Motorway A4 to Romanian Motorway A3 (also known as "Transylvania Motorway").

Public transport

RATP (the local public transport company) provides public transit within the Iasi city and operates an extensive network using 150 trams (electric trams began operating in Iasi in 1898) and 100 buses.