Păltiniș is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neigbhouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the capital town ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) at Botoșani. De ...

Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the Pr ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is composed of four villages: Cuzlău, Horodiștea, Păltiniș and Slobozia. Horodiștea village is situated at 48º15'N, this is the northernmost point in Romania.

Sights

A small cluster of century-old

oak trees An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(dating approximately from the second half of the 15th century) is located in the neighboring forest of Teioasa, about 3km NW from Păltiniș. The original cluster was composed of four oak trees. The trees formed a rectangle with its corners roughly pointing at the main

cardinal points The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...

. Three of these oak trees were still standing as recently as 2005; the fourth was still standing in 1999, but was later removed; by then it had been severely damaged by disease. The trees are at least 30 meters (100 feet) tall. The trees are locally known as "Stejarii lui Ștefan cel Mare" (

Stephen the Great Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 ...

's Oak Trees). They roughly mark the halfway point on the route between

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central and Eastern E ...

(Stephen's seat) and the Hotin Fortress (

Khotyn Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of the h ...

, near

Kamyanets-Podilskyi Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

, Ukraine). Hotin was the strongest fort on the northern border of medieval

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

. Local lore states Stephen the Great stopped over at least once at this forest location; on one particular occasion four acorns were planted "at the corners of Stephen's table", from which acorns the trees ensued. An undated water well can be found nearby.
Stejari005

References

Communes in Botoșani County Localities in Western Moldavia Populated places on the Prut Extreme points of Romania {{Botoşani-geo-stub