Accomodation: Motel Bucium (Get directions)

Iasi, the city of the Beginnings

Iasi city, documentary confirmed in 1408, was capital of Moldova between 1564 and 1859 and capital of Romania in 1926-1918. With a population +320.000 people and an area of 3.770 hectares, Iasi is the second city in Romania and the most important urban center in the north-east of Romania.

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The city houses more than 100 historical churches. One of the oldest is Royal Saint Nicholas (1491), dating from the reign of Stephen the Great and the largest is the Metropolitan Cathedral; perhaps the finest, however, is the 17th century old metropolitan church, Trei Ierarhi, an example of Byzantine art, erected in 1635–1639 by Vasile Lupu, and adorned with countless gilded carvings on its outer walls and twin towers. Other examples of beautiful churches and monasteries, some surrounded by big walls, are: Galata (1582), Saint Sava (1583), Hlincea (1587), Bârnova (1603), Barnovschi (1627), Golia (1650), Cetăţuia (1668), Frumoasa (1726), Saint Spiridon (1747), Old Metropolitan Cathedral (1761), Bărboi (1843 with 18th century bell tower), Bucium (1853).

Between the two world wars, in Iasi was built the Cultural Royal Foudation, which is hosting nowadays The Central University Library „Mihai Eminescu”, with about 3 million books, some of them very rare.
With its both cultural and historical attractions, Iasi is an economical, cultural and academic center of Moldova and it’s an important pole of interest for tourists, students, researchers and business people.

More information about Iasi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iasi

Romania

Romania is placed in the South-East of Central Europe, on low course of Danube, on the north of Balkan Pensinsula and at north-western shore of Black Sea.

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The official name of the country was adopted in 1862, after the reunion of the two main counties Moldova and Romania Country, in 1859.

Nowadays, Romania is a national state, independent and sovereign, indivisible and unitary. The form of government of Romania is a semi-presidential republic. Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population (with 21.5 million people) among the European Union member states.
Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the 6th largest city in the EU with 1.9 million people.
Romania joined NATO on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, of the OSCE and of the United Nations.

The official currency is LEU, with this approximate quotation: 1 EURO = 4.1 LEI

Tourism in Romania
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council Romania is the fourth fastest growing country in the world in terms of travel and tourism. During the last two years, Romania became a preffered destination for many foreing tourists, most of all coming form the UE states.

Romania still has some cities with a medieval atmosphere and very old castles. Tha Bran Castle, Peles Castle, Sighisoara, Suceava are just some sites to visit for the foreign visitors. The painted churches of Northern Moldavia are very known for their unicity and for their beauty.
During summer, the most popular attraction are the resorts from the Black Sea, also called the Romanian Riviera. The Danube delta is the best conserved delta in Europe. During winter, the skiing resorts along the Valea Prahovei and Poiana Brasov are very popular destination for holiday.
Rural tourism focused on folklore and traditions, has become an important alternative recently.

More information about Romania: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania

Some Romanian contributions to human civilisation development