Iaşi: Literature, Monasteries and Urban History

Literature, princely history, sacred art and botanical collections come together in Iaşi. The Bojdeuca was opened in Iași on 15 April 1918 as Romania’s first literary memorial museum. Ion Creangă lived in the Bojdeuca from July 1872 until his death on 31 December 1889.

Other places at the same destination level are Pașcani, Hârtoape, Alexandru Cel Bun, Valea Adâncă, Miclăușeni, Roşcani, Valea Lupului and Tomeşti.

Culture and History

The Muzeul Mihai Eminescu comprises three rooms: two on the ground floor and one on the upper floor. Its book collection includes editions of Eminescu’s works ranging from the first edition in 1884 to more recent editions, as well as monographic studies, critical analyses and translations of his poems.

The Casa Dosoftei currently displays a liturgical book printed in 1508 by the Serbian hieromonk Macarie. Today’s Palatul Culturii was created by rebuilding the princely palace of Moldavia between 1906 and 1925 on the site of the former princely court of Iași, documented from 1434. On the hour, the carillon in the clock tower of the Palatul Culturii plays “Hora Unirii”.

The exterior façade of the Sfinții Trei Ierarhi Monastery is carved in stone and divided into 30 different horizontal decorative bands. The pronaos contains burial niches for the family of Vasile Lupu and for the princes Dimitrie Cantemir and Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The Sfinții Trei Ierarhi Monastery was built by Prince Vasile Lupu between 1637 and 1639.

Today, the Golia Monastery houses a small ethnographic museum in an old house where Ion Creangă lived. The bell tower of Golia Monastery has 120 steps; its terrace offers a panorama of Iași.

For museums with designated rooms and historical collections, it is advisable to check the current opening hours before visiting. Events with a fixed date are easier to plan if the dates are checked before the trip. For carillons with fixed playing times, it can also be helpful to check the current times.

Religion and Pilgrimage

The Muzeul Mitropolitan was established in 2016 in the basement of the Catedrala Mitropolitană. It offers seven thematic rooms: the Sala Sinaxar, the Sala Ofranda, the Sala Ctitorilor, the Sala Ekklesia, the labyrinthine passage known as the Calea Crucii, the Sala Istoria Duhovnicească a Moldovei and the Sala Baptisteriu.

The Feast of Saint Paraskeva on 14 October is associated with the city days of Iași; a large Orthodox pilgrimage takes place then.

Nature and Botany

The Teiul lui Eminescu is more than 460 years old. The Parcul Copou is the oldest park in Iași and in Moldavia and has five entrances.

The traditional annual exhibitions at the Grădina Botanică “Anastasie Fătu”, featuring scientific collections of cultivated plants, are of particular interest to tourists from Romania and abroad.

For the higher-level travel overview: Iasi.