The City of Iasi
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 28.08.2014, 14:39
Iasi is synonymous with history, art, science and innovation, having played a crucial role on Romania’s history. Anca Zota, coordinator of the Iasi tourist information center, will join us on a tour of the city.
Anca Zota: “There are many beautiful places worth visiting in Iasi. The city is the unofficial capital of the region of Moldavia and has a very long cultural tradition. As you may know Iasi is home to the first university ever built in Romania and also to the first national theater. The theater building and opera house have been recently renovated and redecorated and they are now ready to receive their first guests. The city’s botanical garden is also worth a visit. Iasi now boasts a new museum, that of the University of Iasi. There you can discover not only the history of the Iasi University but also interesting things about the old history of the city. The museum hosts, on a wide area, items of the Cucuteni culture. Access to the museum is free of charge and tourists can benefit from guided tours in the Romanian, English and French languages. Worth visiting in Iasi are also the classic hot spots: writer Ion Creanga’s shack, the Pogor House, the Union Museum, the Metropolitan Bishopric’s Cathedral, the Trei Ierarhi Monastery, the Cetatuia Monastery and so on.”
Nature lovers can visit the Copou park where they will discover the famous linden tree evoked by Romania’s national poet Mihai Eminescu in his poems. Iasi county also boasts a special area, Larga Jija, a small delta where tourists can admire the flora and fauna specific to the region of Moldavia. Tourists can also visit the Valea lui David nature reserve where landslides have led to the emergence of vegetation specific to a forest steppe area, which in Romania can be found in Dobrogea, in the southeast. The Prut floodplain is another place worth visiting by nature lovers.
The city of Iasi can be visited all along the year, but there are certain moments when special events are held in this city. Back at the microphone with details is Anca Zota, the coordinator of the tourist information center of Iasi.
Anca Zota: ”As soon as spring sets in, the number of events unfolding in Iasi increases. On the last Sunday of June, Iasi plays hosts to the traditional Cucuteni 5000 Folk Art Festival, held in the Copou park. There are also newer festivals, such as a science festival, held in early April, several film festivals and, at the end of May, the second edition of the International Education Festival. Worth mentioning is the FILIT Translation and Literature Festival, currently at its second edition, to be held in early autumn. In October, as part of the “Iasi Days”, a cultural event dedicated to celebrating the city, we’ll have film festival as well as several culinary events. The restaurants in Iasi can offer you, throughout the year, a wide variety of traditional dishes, as well as local wines. So we hope many of you will come to Iasi this year, to spend some time with us and discover the beauty of the city. “
Iasi does not have a pedestrian center of its own. There is only one pedestrian street in the city, yet tourists can take walks in the Copou park, where they can find many restaurants offering Romanian and foreign cuisine. There are also the beautiful streets behind the University of Medicine, where those interested in architecture can admire the old boyars’ houses. Some of these houses host original restaurants, where tourists can taste the mouth-watering Moldavian borsch or the Moldavian ‘tochitura’ – a mix of fried meats and traditional sausages — and, of course, the famous Moldavian pie. These are the main three dishes that could make up a full traditional menu. Those who want to smell the scent of the linden trees in Iasi, they should come over in the last ten days of May, or in early June.
