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Celebrations of the Iasi City

This October, the Iasi City Hall organizes a series of cultural events to celebrate the patron saint of Moldavia, St. Paraskeva.

Daniel Onea, 10.10.2013, 14:06

This October, the Iasi City Hall organizes a number of cultural, humanitarian, commercial and sports events in addition to the celebrations put together by the Bishopric of Moldavia and Bukovina to mark the day of St. Paraskeva, the patron saint of Moldavia.

Among them are the Promenade of Vintage Costumes, the annual Writers Union Awards of Iasi, the Rose of Moldavia Folklore Festival, free open air concerts, the Autumn Fair and Wine Celebration, sports competitions, and a superb fireworks show for everyone who visits Iasi on October 15. We invited two of the organizers to talk to us today: Victoria Epurean, a travel agent, and Sebastian Buraga, spokesperson for the Iasi municipality.

Victoria Epurean accompanies tourists every month on a free tour of the city: “In this period, the Center for Tourist Information organizes a contest, ‘Get to Know Iasi’, with support from students from Cuza University. We have a free tour on foot, every Wednesday, from 9 to 11, introducing the historical center of Iasi. It includes 20 sites and interesting stories about the city. We started with locals who thought they knew the city, but realized that they didn’t really know it when they took the tour. We also had foreign guests, people in town for both business and pleasure. They were impressed by our history, by our many churches. They loved the historical center, and the area around the Palace of Culture. Many of them went to the National Theater after restoration, and were amazed. We have a lot of monuments, such as the National Theater, the House of the Union, Pogor House, and the monasteries, both in town and outside it, which have to be visited.”

The Palace of Culture, which started being built in 1906, the Three Hierarchs Monastery, documented since 1635, the Metropolitan Bishopric, Golia Monastery, even Union Plaza, are sites that come highly recommended from Victoria Epurean. There are also fine museums, such as the Museum of the Union and Pogor House, where the Junimea literary society had its headquarters. The Days of Iasi events also include all kinds of exhibitions and interactive activities for young people. One of the special events is the Parade of Period Costumes.

Victoria Epurean: “This is an event held every year by tradition. It is based on the history of Iasi. Stephen the Great Boulevard used to be known as Noble Road, and that was the promenade for noble women. They want to revive that atmosphere, and bring back the period costume promenade. There are also events relating to the history of the city, such as the Jam Fair at Golia Monastery, where they have the best water in town. They have two street fountains there, and people get the water for making the best jam. This is an annual fair, competing for the most interesting jam, such as onion, rose petal, or even chili pepper jam. It’s worth checking out.”

Sebastian Buraga, spokesperson for the municipality of Iasi, told us about the long tradition of celebrations of the city: “For over 10 years now, Iasi has been the capital of Christian Orthodoxy in south eastern Europe, and the day celebrating Saint Paraskeva has become very important in the Romanian Orthodox space. This is the city with the biggest pilgrimage in Romania, with as many as 800,000 pilgrims visiting Iasi between October 7 and 15. Other significant events are the celebrations around the founding of the city. The idea came up first in the 1920s and ‘30s. They had important fairs in the city back then. They revived this month of Iasi together with the Bishopric of Moldavia and Bukovina, along with the celebration of Saint Paraskeva, and it was decided to celebrate the city’s days, too.”

Craftsmen gather around this time and hold demonstrations or mount exhibitions where you can buy the objects they make. They have pop and traditional music concerts every evening. There is also a military parade with torches, they have theater plays as part of the International Theater Festival, as well as poetry and photography evenings.

These are only some of the alternatives you have this month in Iasi, according to Sebastian Buraga, spokesperson for Iasi municipality, who offered us a rich selection for all tastes: “These are events referring to the secular side of the celebrations, as well as to the spiritual side. If you were a foreign tourist, it is probable that the first point of reference is spiritual. One should not omit the fact that the day of St. Paraskeva is a special event. From this point of view, this event is up to the level of the pilgrimages made by the Greek Catholics in France or Italy. Of the secular events, the first I would mention is the Wine Fair, a traditional event for everyone. It is similar to Oktoberfest, but with wine, not beer. The most important event we want to bring to the attention of public opinion is the Night of Personalities. This is dedicated to great personalities from Iasi. We introduce the most important people, who made a significant contribution nationally and internationally, with their activities from the previous year. I want to officially emphasize that we want to be the European Capital of Culture in 2021. As a result, we have to push forward the cultural and spiritual frontiers of Iasi. Alongside special organizations, the media and academics, we hope to achieve this goal in 2021.”

In the hope we have convinced you to visit Iasi during its days of celebration in October, stay tuned for more of our tourist destinations in the coming weeks.