Iași

Iaşi is a city in the northeastern part of Romania. It is the second largest city in Romania as of the year 2007. Iaşi used to be the capital of Moldavia.

Iași Jassy Iassy
County Seat
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
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
Iași Location of Iași within Romania (in red)
Coordinates: 47°09′25″N 27°35′25″E
Country	Romania
County	Iași
Status	Municipality
Settled	Before 14th century
First official record	1408
Government
• Mayor	Mihai Chirica (Independent)
Area
• County Seat	93.9 km2 (36.3 sq mi)
• Metro	808 km2 (312 sq mi)
Elevation	60 m (200 ft)
Population  (2011 census)
• County Seat	290,422
• Estimate  (2016)	362,142
• Density	3,092/km2 (8,010/sq mi)
• Metro	474,035
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	700xxx
Area code	+40 x32
Car Plates	IS
Climate	Dfb
Website	www.primaria-iasi.ro

History

Golia Monastery

Alexandru Lăpuşneanu changed the capital of Moldavia from Suceava to Iaşi in 1564. One of the first churches to be built in Moldavia was built by the Greek adventurer Prince Ioan Iacob Heraclid.

The Tatars burned the city down in 1513. The Ottoman Empire also burned the city down in 1538 and people from the Imperial Russian army did so again in 1686. The plague spread throughout the city in 1734.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1787 was stopped when the Peace of Iaşi happened. Alexander Ypsilanti and the Filiki Eteria came into the city and took it in 1822.

Iaşi was the capital of Moldavia from 1568 to 1859. When World War I happened, Iaşi became the capital of Romania. This happened when the Central Powers took Bucharest on 6 December 1916. Bucharest became the capital again when Imperial Germany was defeated.

Geography

Iaşi can be found on the Bahlui River, which is a tributary of the Jijia. Forests and uplands are very common. These woods and hills include the monasteries of Cetăţuia, Frumoasa, and Galata. People have thought that Iaşi was built on seven hills (Cetăţuia, Galata, Copou-Aurora, Bucium-Păun, Şorogari, Repedea and Breazu in Romanian).

Population

The population of Iaşi has changed a bit over the years:

• 1859: 50,000
• 1900: 78,000
• 1930: 102,872
• 1948: 96,075
• 1966: 161,023
• 1977: 265,002
• 1992: 344,425
• 2002: 320,888
• 2004: 317,812 (Since July 4, 2004, the second-biggest city)
• 2006: 306,000 (the third-biggest city)
• 2007 (July 1st): 315,214 (second biggest city)

Sister cities

The following are the sister cities of Iaşi:

• Chişinău, Moldova.
• Assiut, Egypt.
• Atlanta, United States.
• Filacciano, Italy.
• Forano, Italy.
• Ilioupoli, Greece.
• Isfahan, Iran.
• Jericho, Palestine.
• Ramleh, Israel.
• Kozani, Greece.
• Monterrey, Mexico.
• Morlupo, Italy.
• Nazzano, Italy.
• Padua, Italy.
• Peristeri, Greece.
• Poitiers, France.
• Rhodes, Greece.
• Quebec City, Canada.
• Sant'Oreste, Italy.
• Torrita Tiberina, Italy.
• Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
• Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
• Xi'an, China.

Other websites

• Iasi City Hall website
• (in Romanian) Official site of the Iaşi police inspectorate Archived 2011-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Events in Iaşi Archived 2010-12-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Iasi Map Archived 2014-05-02 at the Wayback Machine