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Iași

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This article is about a major city in Romania. For other uses, see Iasi (disambiguation) and Jassy.
Iași
City
From top left: Palace of Culture, Vasile Alecsandri Statue in front of the National Theatre, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Golia Tower, Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Botanical Garden
From top left: Palace of Culture, Vasile Alecsandri Statue in front of the National Theatre, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Golia Tower, Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Botanical Garden
Coat of arms of Iași
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
The Cultural Capital of Romania, The City of Great Loves, The City of the Famous Destinies, The City of Great Ideas, The City of the Three Unions, The City on Seven Hills[1][2][3][4]
Country Romania
CountyTemplate:RO-IS
StatusMunicipality
Settledbefore 14th century
First official record1408
Government
 • Acting MayorMihai Chirica (PSD)
Area
 • City93.9 km2 (36.3 sq mi)
 • Metro
808 km2 (312 sq mi)
Elevation
60 m (200 ft)
Population
 (2011 census[5])
 • City290,422
 • Density3,092/km2 (8,010/sq mi)
 • Metro
382,484
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code
700xxx
Area code+40 x32
Car PlatesIS
Websitewww.primaria-iasi.ro

Iași ([jaʃʲ] ⓘ; also referred to as Jassy or Iassy)[6][7] is the largest city in eastern Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life. 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.

Known as The Cultural Capital of Romania, Iași is a symbol in Romanian history. The historian Nicolae Iorga said "There should be no Romanian who does not know of it".[8] Still referred to as The Moldavian Capital, Iași is the main economic and business centre of the Moldavian region of Romania.[9]

As of 2011, the city proper has a population of 290,422, making it the fourth most populous in Romania. According to Eurostat, with 382,484 residents, Iași has the second most populous functional urban area in Romania,[10] whereas more than 500,000 people live within its peri-urban area.[5][11] Home to the oldest Romanian university and to the first engineering school, Iași is one of the most important education and research centres of the country, and accommodates over 60,000 students in 5 public universities.[12][13] The social and cultural life revolves around the Vasile Alecsandri National Theater (the oldest in Romania), the Moldova State Philharmonic, the Opera House, the Tătărași Athenaeum, a famous Botanical Garden (the oldest and largest in Romania), the Central University Library (the oldest in Romania), the high quality cultural centres and festivals, an array of museums, memorial houses, religious and historical monuments.

Etymology and names

The city is historically referred to as:

An 1871 Romanian telegraph stamp using the historic name of Jassy.

Scholars have different theories on the origin of the name "Iași".[14] Some argue that the name originates with the Sarmatian tribe Iazyges (of Iranian origin; possibly connected to the Yaz culture of Eastern Iran), one mentioned by Ovid as Template:Lang-la.[15]

A now lost inscription on a Roman milestone[16] found near Osijek, Croatia by Matija Petar Katančić in the 18th century, mentions the existence of a Jassiorum municipium,[17] or Municipium Dacorum-Iassiorum from other sources.[18]

Other explanations show that the name originated from the Iranian Alanic tribe of Jassi, having same origin with Yazyges tribes Jassic people. The Prut river was called as Alanus fluvius and the city as Forum Philistinorum.[19][20][21] From this population derived the plural of town name, "Iașii".

Another historian wrote that the Iasians lived among the Cumans and that they left the Caucasus after the first Mongolian campaign in the West, settling temporarily near the Prut. He asserts that the ethnic name of Jasz which is given to Iasians by Hungarians has been erroneously identified with Jazyges; also he shows that the word jasz is a Slavic loan word.[22] The Hungarian name of the city (Jászvásár) literally means "Jassic Market"; the antiquated Romanian name, Târgul Ieșilor (and the once-favoured Iașii), may indicate the same meaning.

History

See also: Timeline of Iași
Coat of arms of the Principality of Moldavia at Cetățuia Monastery

Ancient times

Archaeological investigations attest to the presence of human communities on the present territory of the city and around it as far back as the prehistoric age.[18] Later settlements included those of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, a late Neolithic archaeological culture.

There is archaeological evidence of human settlements in the area of Iași dating from the 6th to 7th centuries (Curtea Domnească) and 7th to 10th centuries; these settlements contained rectangular houses with semicircular ovens.[23] Also a lot of vessels (9th-11th centuries) found in Iaşi had a cross, showing that inhabitants were Christians.[24]

Early development

The name of the city is first found in a document from 1408. This is a grant of certain commercial privileges by the Moldavian Prince Alexander to the Polish merchants of Lvov. However, as buildings older than 1408 still exist, e.g. the Armenian Church believed to be originally built in 1395, it is certain that the city existed before its first mentioning.

Capital of Moldavia

Around 1564, Prince Alexandru Lăpușneanu moved the Moldavian capital from Suceava to Iași. Between 1561 and 1563, a school and a Lutheran church were founded by the Greek adventurer Prince, Ioan Iacob Heraclid.

Trei Ierarhi Monastery (1639)
Iași in the 1700s
Princely Court of Moldavia

In 1640, Vasile Lupu established the first school in which the mother-tongue replaced Greek, and set up a printing press in the Byzantine Trei Ierarhi Monastery (Monastery of the Three Hierarchs; built 1635–39). In 1643, the first volume ever printed in Moldavia was issued in Iași.

The city was burned down by the Tatars in 1513, by the Ottomans in 1538, and by Imperial Russian troops in 1686. In 1734, it was hit by the plague.

Through the Peace of Iași, the sixth Russo-Turkish War was brought to a close in 1792. A Greek revolutionary maneuver and occupation under Alexander Ypsilanti (Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης) and the Filiki Eteria (Φιλική Εταιρία) (1821, at the beginning of the Greek War of Independence) led to the storming of the city by the Turks in 1822. In 1844 there was a severe conflagration.

Mid–19th to 20th century

Al. Lăpușneanu Street
Union Square

Between 1564 and 1859, the city was the capital of Moldavia; then, between 1859 and 1862, both Iași and Bucharest were de facto capitals of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1862, when the union of the two principalities was recognized under the name of Romania, the national capital was established in Bucharest. For the loss caused to the city in 1861 by the removal of the seat of government to Bucharest the constituent assembly voted 148,150 lei to be paid in ten annual instalments, but no payment was ever made.[citation needed]

During World War I, Iași was the capital of a severely reduced Romania for two years, following the Central Powers' occupation of Bucharest on 6 December 1916. The capital was returned to Bucharest after the defeat of Imperial Germany and its allies in November 1918. In November–December 1918 Iași hosted the Jassy Conference.

Jewish community

See also: History of the Jews in Romania

Iași also figures prominently in Jewish history, with the first documented presence of Sephardi Jews from the late 16th century. The oldest tomb inscription in the local cemetery probably dates to 1610.[25] By the mid-19th century, owing to widespread Russian Jewish and Galician Jewish immigration into Moldavia, the city was at least one-third Jewish.

Great Synagogue (1671)

In 1855, Iași was the home of the first-ever Yiddish-language newspaper, Korot Haitim, and, in 1876, the site of what was arguably the first-ever professional Yiddish theater performance, established by Avraham Goldfaden. The words of HaTikvah, the national anthem of Israel, were written in Iași by Naftali Herz Imber. Jewish musicians in Iași played an important role as preservers of Yiddish folklore, as performers and composers.

According to the 1930 census, with a population of 34,662 (some 34%) out of the total of 102,872, Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Iași. There were over 127 synagogues. After World War II, in 1947, there were about 38,000 Jews living in Iași. Because of massive emigration to Israel, in 1975 there were about 3,000 Jews living in Iași and four synagogues were active.[25]

Currently, Iași has a dwindling Jewish population of ca. 300 to 600 members and two working synagogues, one of which, the 1671 Great Synagogue, is the oldest surviving synagogue in Romania.[26]

World War II

Main article: Iași pogrom

During the war, while the full scale of the Holocaust remained generally unknown to the Allied Powers, the Iași pogrom stood as one of the known examples of Axis brutality toward the Jews.

The pogrom lasted from 29 June to 6 July 1941, and over 13,266 people,[27] or one third of the Jewish population, were massacred in the pogrom itself or in its aftermath, and many were deported.

Main articles: First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive and Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944)

In May 1944, the Iași area became the scene of ferocious fighting between Romanian-German forces and the advancing Soviet Red Army and the city was partially destroyed. The German Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland won a defensive victory at the Battle of Târgul Frumos, near Iași, which was the object of several NATO studies during the Cold War. By 20 August, Iași had been taken by Soviet forces.[28]

Postwar era

Iași experienced a major wave of industrialization, in 1955-1975.[29] During this period of time, it received numerous migrants from rural regions, and the urban area expanded.[30] The socialist period saw a growth of 235% in population and 69% in area in Iași; however, the urban planning was sometimes arbitrary and followed by dysfunctions.[31]

By 1989, Iași had become highly industrialized, with 108,000 employees (representing 47% of the total workforce) active in 46 large state-owned enterprises, in various industries: chemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgical, heavy equipment, electronics, textile, food, energy, building materials, furniture.[32][33]

Geography

Topography

See also: Seven hills of Iași
Panoramic view of the Copou Hill

Located in the North-East of Romania, between the Iași Ridge (Template:Lang-ro) (the northern-most hill formation of the Bârlad Plateau) and the Jijia Plain, Iași used to be the crossroads place of the commercial routes that passed through Moldavia coming from Kingdom of Poland, Habsburg Monarchy, Tsardom of Russia and Constantinople.

The city lies on the Bahlui River, a tributary of the Jijia (tributary of the Prut). The surrounding country is one of uplands and woods, featuring monasteries and parks. Iași itself stands amid vineyards and gardens, partly on hills, partly in the in-between valley.

It is a common belief that Iași is built on seven hills (Template:Lang-ro): Cetățuia, Galata, Copou-Aurora, Bucium-Păun, Șorogari, Repedea and Breazu, thus triggering comparisons with Rome.

Climate

Climate data for Iași, Romania
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1) 		22.5
(72.5) 		27.0
(80.6) 		31.8
(89.2) 		36.4
(97.5) 		38.0
(100.4) 		40.1
(104.2) 		41.3
(106.3) 		38.0
(100.4) 		33.9
(93.0) 		29.0
(84.2) 		19.5
(67.1) 		41.3
(106.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −0.1
(31.8) 		2.1
(35.8) 		8.1
(46.6) 		16.5
(61.7) 		22.4
(72.3) 		25.3
(77.5) 		26.8
(80.2) 		26.6
(79.9) 		22.7
(72.9) 		16.1
(61.0) 		8.4
(47.1) 		2.7
(36.9) 		14.8
(58.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.7
(25.3) 		−1.8
(28.8) 		3.0
(37.4) 		10.3
(50.5) 		16.1
(61.0) 		19.2
(66.6) 		20.5
(68.9) 		19.9
(67.8) 		15.9
(60.6) 		10.0
(50.0) 		4.3
(39.7) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		9.4
(48.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −6.9
(19.6) 		−4.8
(23.4) 		−0.8
(30.6) 		5.2
(41.4) 		10.4
(50.7) 		13.7
(56.7) 		15.0
(59.0) 		14.3
(57.7) 		10.7
(51.3) 		5.5
(41.9) 		1.1
(34.0) 		−3.4
(25.9) 		5.0
(41.0)
Record low °C (°F) −30.6
(−23.1) 		−36.3
(−33.3) 		−22.7
(−8.9) 		−9.4
(15.1) 		−3.0
(26.6) 		3.5
(38.3) 		6.3
(43.3) 		4.6
(40.3) 		−3.5
(25.7) 		−9.6
(14.7) 		−21.1
(−6.0) 		−29.5
(−21.1) 		−36.3
(−33.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 32
(1.3) 		31
(1.2) 		31
(1.2) 		53
(2.1) 		63
(2.5) 		101
(4.0) 		83
(3.3) 		56
(2.2) 		48
(1.9) 		25
(1.0) 		35
(1.4) 		31
(1.2) 		589
(23.2)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 11.3
(4.4) 		14.3
(5.6) 		11.9
(4.7) 		6.9
(2.7) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.7
(0.3) 		10.4
(4.1) 		6.3
(2.5) 		61.8
(24.3)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6 6 6 8 8 9 9 5 5 5 6 7 80
Mean monthly sunshine hours 69.1 77.6 127.6 170.1 234.9 254.7 272.8 270.1 208.0 155.8 73.0 57.3 1,971
Source 1: NOAA[34]
Source 2: Romanian National Statistic Institute (extremes 1901-2000)[35]

Iași has a humid, continental-type climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfb" — summer wetter than winter, European subtype) with four distinct seasons. Summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) while winters are cold and windy with moderate snowfall and temperatures at night sometimes dropping below −15 °C (5 °F). Average monthly precipitation ranges from about 25 mm (1.0 in) in October to 100 mm (3.9 in)in June.


Cityscape

Architecture

The neo-Gothic Palace of Culture, built on the old ruins of the mediaeval Princely Court and on the foundations of the former neoclassical Princely Palace of Moldavia
Grand Hotel Traian (Union Square), designed and built by Gustave Eiffel

Iaşi features historical monuments, 500-year-old churches and monasteries, contemporary architecture, many of them listed on the National Register of Historic Monuments. Notable architecture includes the Trei Ierarhi Monastery, part of the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Site, or the neo-Gothic Palace of Culture, built on the old ruins of the mediaeval Princely Court of Moldavia.

During World War II and the Communist era many historical buildings in the old city center (around Union Square area) were destroyed or demolished, and replaced by International style buildings and also a new mainly Mid-Century modern style Civic Centre was built around the Old Market Square (The Central Hall).[29]

The mid-1990s to early-2000s brought the first non-industrial glass curtain walled buildings (Romtelecom, Hotel Europa), while in 2012, in close proximity to the Palace of Culture, the Palas shopping mall and office complex was inaugurated.

Communist era's Central Hall Square
Cuza Palace, now the Union Museum
Dosoftei House

Other significant buildings include:

Religious buildings

Iași is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina, and of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Iași. The city and the surrounding area house more than 10 monasteries and 100 historical churches.[36] Among the oldest is Princely Saint Nicholas (1491), dating from the reign of Stephen the Great, and the Metropolitan Cathedral is the largest of its kind in Romania. The Trei Ierarhi Monastery, a unique monument, considered to be an architectural masterpiece,[37] was erected in 1635–1639 by Vasile Lupu, and adorned with gilded carvings on its outer walls and twin towers.

Other examples of historic churches and monasteries (some of them surrounded by defense walls and towers) include: Socola (1562), Galata (1582), Saint Sava (1583), Hlincea (1587), Aroneanu (1594), Bârnova (1603), Barnovschi (1627), Golia (1650), Cetățuia (1668), Frumoasa (1726), Saint Spiridon (1747), Old Metropolitan Cathedral (1761), Bărboi (1843 with 18th-century bell tower), Bucium (1853).[38]

Gardens, parks and natural landmarks

Ciric Park

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

Mihai Eminescu's statue and his Linden Tree in Copou Park

Begun in 1833, at the time when Iași 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 one of the first Romanian coordinated public parks. The oldest monument in Romania stands in the middle of the park, the Obelisk of Lions (1834), a 13.5 m (44.29 ft) tall obelisk, dedicated to the Law of Organic Rules, the first law on political, administrative and juridical organization in Romanian Principalities.[39]

Founded in 1856, the Botanical Garden of Iași, the first botanical garden in Romania, has an area of over 100 hectares, and more than 10,000 species of plants.

Iași Exhibition Park was opened in 1923 and built under the coordination of the architect N. Ghica Budești.

The Ciric Park, located in the north-eastern part of Iași is another complex which consists into the park and four lakes.

Eminescu's Linden Tree (Template:Lang-ro) is a 500 year old silver lime (Tilia tomentosa Moench) situated in the Copou Public Garden. Mihai Eminescu reportedly wrote some of his best works underneath this lime, rendering the tree one of Romania's most important natural monuments and a notable Iași landmark.[40] The Odd Poplers Alley, in Bucium neighborhood, is another spot where Mihai Eminescu sought inspiration (the poem "Down Where the Lonely Poplars Grow"). In 1973, the 15 white poplars still left (with the age ranges between 233 and 371 years) were declared natural monuments.

Iași County has 387 centuries-old trees, of which 224 were declared monument trees and 160 got the Romanian Academy's approval and are proposed for such a classification. Most of them are oak or linden trees. The oldest tree in the county is the 675-year-old hybrid lime tree located in the courtyard of Bârnova Monastery, in the vicinity of Iași. When the lime was about 57 years old and had about 14 cm (5.5 in) in diameter, Iași was mentioned as an urban settlement, during the reign of Prince Alexander the Good (1408).[41]

Cultural life

Pogor House, the Romanian Literature Museum

Major events in the political and cultural history of Moldavia are connected with the name of the city of Iași. The great scholars of the 17th century, Grigore Ureche, Miron Costin and later Ion Neculce, wrote most of their works in the city or not far from it and the famous scholar Dimitrie Cantemir known throughout all Europe also linked his name to the capital of Moldavia.

The first newspaper in Romanian language was published in 1829 in Iași and it is in Iași where, in 1867, appeared under literary society Junimea, the Convorbiri Literare review in which Ion Creangă’s Childhood Memories and the best poems by Mihai Eminescu were published. The reviews Contemporanul and Viața Românească appeared in 1871, respectively in 1906 with great contributions to promoting Romanian national cultural values.

Moldova State Philharmonic

Many great personalities of Romanian culture are connected to Iași: the chronicler Nicolae Milescu, the historians and politics men Mihail Kogălniceanu or Simion Bărnuțiu, the poets Vasile Alecsandri or George Topârceanu, the writers Mihail Sadoveanu, Alecu Russo, or Ionel Teodoreanu, the literary critic Titu Maiorescu, the historian A.D. Xenopol, the philosophers Vasile Conta or Petre Andrei, the sociologist Dimitrie Gusti, the geographer Emil Racoviță, the painter Octav Băncilă, only to name a few.

Theatres and orchestras

Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre and Iași Romanian National Opera
Luceafărul Theatre

The "Vasile Alecsandri" National Theatre, opened in 1840, is the first National Theatre in Romania. The building, designed according to the plans of the Viennese architects Hermann Helmer and Ferdinand Fellner, was raised between 1894 and 1896, and also hosts, starting 1956, the Iași Romanian National Opera.
Iași is also home to:

Museums

Ion Creangă Memorial House

Iași is home to many museums, memorial houses, art galleries.
First memorial museum from Romania opened in Iași in 1918, as the Ion Creangă Memorial House, and today the Iași Romanian Literature Museum owns thirteen memorial houses. The Mihai Eminescu Museum, situated in Copou Park, is dedicated to the great poet’s life and creation; other museums are dedicated to: Dosoftei, Mihail Kogălniceanu, Vasile Pogor, Nicolae Gane, Petru Poni, Mihai Codreanu, Mihail Sadoveanu, George Topîrceanu, Otilia Cazimir, Radu Cernătescu, Cezar Petrescu.

Mihai Codreanu Memorial House

The Theatre Museum, opened in 1976, at the celebration of 160 years since the first theatrical performance in Romanian, illustrates the development of the theatrical phenomenon since the beginning, important moments of the history of Iași National Theatre, the foundation, in 1840, of the Philharmonic-dramatic Conservatoire, prestigious figures that have contributed to the development of the Romanian theatre.

The Union Museum, includes original pieces and documents which belonged to prince Al. I. Cuza and his family.

The Natural History Museum, founded on 4 February 1834, is the first museum of this kind in Romania with over 300,000 items, the most valuable being the collections of insects, mollusk, amphibians, reptiles, birds, plants and minerals.

Four other museums are located in the Palace of Culture: with its roots dating back to 1860, the Iași Art Museum is the oldest of its kind in Romania,[42] and, with more than 8,700 works (many of them belonging to the universal patrimony), has the largest art collection in the country; the Moldavia's History Museum, offers more than 48,000 objects from various fields, archaeology, numismatics, decorative art, ancient books, documents; the Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia owns more than 13,000 objects depicting the Romanian advance through the ages; the Science and Technology Museum's collection has more than 11,200 objects in five distinct sections and one memorial house.[43]

French Institute in Iași

Foreign culture centres

Iași hosts six cultural centres: French, German, British, Latin American & Caribbean, Hellenic, and Arab.

Cultural events and festivals

Periferic is an international biennial of contemporary art organized in Iași, Romania by the Vector Association. Eight editions have taken place thus far.

FILIT (International Festival of Literature and Translation Iași) is an international yearly literature and translation festival organized in Iași, Romania by the Iaşi County Council through the Iaşi Museum of Romanian Literature. Three editions have taken place so far and the festival is recognized as one of the leading Central and Eastern European events of its kind.[44]

FIE (International Education Festival) is a yearly arts festival organized in Iași, Romania by the City Hall. Three editions have taken place thus far.

The Iași National Opera organizes the Romanian Gala of National Operas, with the third edition taking place in 2015.

A rock festival, Rock'n'Iași takes place in October. Gardner Jazz Festival is a local festival that started in 2014 and had its second edition in 2015.

Live music and various other artistic events (poetry nights, readings) are a habitual occurrence in the various bars and coffee shops the city has to offer.

Media

Main article: Media in Iași

Economy

Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Palas shopping mall and business center

Iași is an important economic centre in Romania. The local and regional economy relies on service sector institutions and establishments. The most important service sectors are related to education, health care, banking, research, culture, government and tourism.

The city is an important information technology sector centre, with the presence of several large multinational companies (Amazon, Oracle, Continental, Xerox, Capgemini) and many other local and foreign companies such as Bentley Systems, Bitdefender, Comodo, Endava, Ness, Pentalog, SCC or TiVo (to name a few),[45] as well as two universities which offer specific degree programs. Industry forecasts expect the Iași ITC workforce to grow from the current 7,000 (as of 2015) employees to more than 20,000, by 2030.[46]

An estimated workforce of more than 35,000 employees is active in Iași's industrial manufacturing sector,[47] particularly in automotive (Delphi, Lear, Tess Conex), pharmaceutical industry (Antibiotice Iași), metallurgical production (ArcelorMittal, Technosteel LBR), industrial equipment (Agmus, ASAM, Fortus), energy (E.ON Moldova Distribuție, Veolia Energie), textiles and clothing (Benetton, Iași Conf, Iașitex), home appliances (Tehnoton), building materials (Brikston, Build Corp), wine (Bucium), food (Compan, Panifcom, Zeelandia).[33][48]

With large shopping malls and commercial centres located in the area, Iași also has a well-developed retail business.

Largest employers

Top 10 Employers
Company Industry Employees
Sf. Spiridon University Hospital Health care 2,717
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University High education 2,263
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University High education 1,848
Delphi Diesel Systems Automotive industry 1,778
Xerox Business Services România IT services 1,510
Antibiotice Iaşi Pharmaceutical industry 1,465
University of Medicine and Pharmacy High Education 1,344
RATP Public transport 1,300
Continental Automotive Romania Automotive Engineering 1,230
St. Maria Clinic Children's Hospital Health care 1,200

Sources:[49][50][51][52][53][54]

Demographics

Historical population of Iași
Year Population %±
18th century ~30,000[55] —
1831 59,880[55] 99.6%
1859 65,745[55] 9.8%
1900 78,067[56] 18.7%
1912 census 75,229[57] −3.6%
1930 census 102,872 36.7%
1948 census 96,075 −6.6%
1956 census 112,977 17.6%
1966 census 161,023 42.5%
1977 census 265,002 64.5%
1992 census 344,425 29.9%
2002 census 320,888 −6.8%
2011 census 290,422 −9.5%
Roznovanu Palace, today Iași City Hall

As per 2011 census, 290,422 inhabitants live within the city limits,[5] making it the fourth most populous city in Romania, while Iași County, with its 772,348 inhabitants, is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest. Additionally there were 60,000 more residents (mostly students) and thousands of daily commuters.

According to the 2002 census, Iași was the second most populous Romanian city, and there were 109,357 housing units and 320,888 people living within the city proper. Of this population, 98.5% were ethnic Romanians, while 0.59% were ethnic Romani, 0.13% Jews, 0.13% Greeks, 0.13% Lipovans, 0.08% Hungarians, 0.05% Germans and 0.39% others.[58]

In terms of religion, 92.5% of the population were Christian Orthodox, 4.9% Roman Catholic, other religious groups 2.6%. There are currently almost 10,000 Roman Catholics living in Iași.[59] There is a debate between historians as to whether the Catholics are originally of Romanian or Hungarian descent.[60]

Iași Metropolitan Area has a population of 382,484 and includes the municipality of Iași and 13 other nearby communities.

Education

Al. I. Cuza University
Central University Library

The first institute of higher learning that functioned on the territory of Romania was Academia Vasiliană (1640) founded by Prince Vasile Lupu as a "higher school for Latin and Slavonic languages", followed by the Princely Academy in 1707.

The first high education structure in Romanian language 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 Princely Academy.

After 1813, other moments marked the development of higher education in Romanian language, regarding both humanities and the technical science. In 1835, Academia Mihăileană founded by Prince Mihail Sturdza is considered first Romanian superior institute in the country.

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University

In 1860, three faculties part of the Academia Mihăileană formed the nucleus for the newly established University of Iași, the first Romanian university.

The Physicians and Naturalists Society, founded in Iași, has existed 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 Iași. It is now known as the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

In 1937, the two applied science sections of the University of Iași became departments of the newly created Gheorghe Asachi Polytechnic School. In the period before and after World War II, the later (renamed Polytechnic Institute in 1948) extended its domain of activity, especially in the field of engineering, and became adopted a Technical University in 1993.

Public universities include:

University of Medicine and Pharmacy

There are also some private higher education institutions including Petre Andrei University, the largest private university in the historical region of Moldavia.[61]

The Central University Library of Iași, where the chief records of Romanian history are preserved, is the oldest and the second largest in Romania.

Iași Science Festival is a week long festival organized every year in April (starting 2013) for high school and grade school students to get be able to observe and take part in scientific experiments and be given detailed tours of the scientific and technical universities and research labs in Iași. Over 200 experiments were performed and over 10,000 students took part in the 2014 edition, from throughout the Moldavia region.[62]

Health

Iași is home to at least 15 hospitals, including the St. Spiridon Hospital, the second largest and one of the oldest in Romania (1755),[63] St. Maria Clinic Children's Hospital, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Regional Oncology Institute, and Socola Psychiatric Institute (1905 - first psychiatric hospital in Romania).

Sports teams

In 2012, Iași was selected as one of the European Cities of Sport.[64]

Current teams

Panorama of Emil Alexandrescu Stadium, home to the CSM Studențesc
Sport League Club Founded Venue
Basketball Men's Divizia A Politehnica Iași Sala Polivalentă
Basketball Women's Divizia A Politehnica Național Iași Sala Polivalentă
Football Liga I CSM Studențesc Iași 2010 Emil Alexandrescu Stadium
Handball Women's Liga Națională Terom Iași Sala Polivalentă
Rugby SuperLiga Poli Agro Unirea Iași 1964 Agronomia Stadium
Volleyball Women's Divizia A2 ACS Penicilina Iași Sala Polivalentă

Former teams

Transport

Public transport

Iași's main public transportation system is operated by the RATP Iași. RATP operates an extensive network using 150 trams (electric trams began operating in Iași in 1900) and 150 buses. Some bus routes are operated under contract by Unistil, a private company. In 2014, RATP carried 50,358,000 passengers, an average of 140,000 passengers per day.[65]

Iași Airport

Air

Iași is served by the Iași International Airport (IAS) located 8 km (5.0 mi) east of the city centre. The airport offers direct domestic, European, and Middle Eastern scheduled or charter connections. After extensive modernization works, the number of connections and traffic volumes have seen a significant increase, and the airport became Romania's 4th largest, in 2015.[66]

Rail

Great Railway Station

Iași-Pașcani railway was opened on 1 June [O.S. 20 May] 1870, Iași-Ungheni on 1 August 1874 and Iași-Chișinău railway was opened on 1 June 1875 by the Russian Empire in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

Nowadays, three railway stations, Great Railway Station, Nicolina International Rail Station and Socola Rail Station serve the city and are operated by Romanian Railways (CFR). Moldovan railway also serves these stations for travel into Moldova.

The Great Railway Station, located about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the city centre, provides direct rail connections to all the major Romanian cities and to Chișinău. The rail stations are very well connected to all the parts of the city by the trams and buses of the local public transport companies.

Road

Iași is connected by European routes E583/E85 with Bucharest through a four lane road, by European route E58 with Central Europe and Chişinău in Moldova, and by DN National Roads with all major cities of Romania. A planned East–West freeway would connect the city to the A3 Transylvania Motorway.

The Iași Coach Station is used by several private transport companies to provide coach connections from Iași to a large number of locations from all over the country.

Monuments and history

Twin towns — Sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Iași is twinned with:

Consulates in Iași

Honorary Consulates:

People

Main article: List of people from Iași

References and sources

References
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Sources
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