Moinești (; hu, Mojnest) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

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 P ...

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 ...

, with a population of 21,787 . Its name is derived from the

Romanian-language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in t ...

word ''moină'', which means "

fallow Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycl ...

" or "light rain". Moinești once had a large

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community; in Jewish contexts the name is often given as ''Mojnescht'' or "Monesht". The city administers one village, Găzărie.

History

First mentioned in 1467, the locality was listed among the

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 ...

n villages on the ''Bawer map'' of 1783. A ''

târg A târg was a medieval Romanian periodic fair or a market town. Originally established on the places where periodic fairs were held, some of them (but not all) became permanent settlements, as craftsmen built their workshops near the place where th ...

'' was first attested in this location in 1832; it had 188 houses and 588 inhabitants. In 1921, Moinești was designated a ''comună urbană'' ("urban commune"), with its own coat of arms and local administration, but a step short of being considered a city. It became a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in 2002. The 2011 census counted 20,855 inhabitants.

Economy

The area around Moinești is rich in natural resources such as

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. Between the years 1950s and 1980s Moinești experienced a steady economic growth thanks to the large petroleum extracting industry. After 1990, however, following the nationwide industry

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

Moinești's economy changed dramatically, at some points reaching level of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

of over 20%.

Dada monument

In 1996, honoring

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, the founder of

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...

who was born in Moinești, a monument was built on the side of the road that enters the town. It was created from concrete and steel by the German-Romanian sculptor Ingo Glass in the true

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

spirit and it is 25 meters long, 2.6 meters wide and 10 meters high and it weighs 120 tons.

Tourism

Tourist attractions in Moinești include: Băi Park (with healing mineral waters), Pine Tree Park, Ghindaru Hill (where archaeologists discovered artefacts of the pre-

Cucuteni culture Cucuteni () is a commune in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania, with a population of 1,446 as of 2002. The commune is composed of four villages: Băiceni, Bărbătești, Cucuteni, and Săcărești. It is located from the city of Iași and ...

, over 5,000 years old), the Dada Monument (dedicated to Tristan Tzara), Cetățuia (Dacian fortified city archaeologically certified), and the Jewish Cemetery (where the oldest tombstone with recognisable text dates back to 1692).

People

* Alexandru Barna, footballer * Robert Căruță, footballer * Hedi Enghelberg, writer *

Lăcrămioara Filip Lăcrămioara Filip (-Moldovan) (born 4 April 1973 Romania)Vasile Gherasim, politician * Alexandru Margină, footballer * Nestor Rateș, journalist, Head of Romanian Desk of Radio Free Europe 1989, 1994–2002 *

Moses Rosen Moses Rosen (known in Hebrew as David Moshe Rosen, ) (July 23, 1912 – May 6, 1994) was Chief Rabbi (Rav Kolel) of Romanian Jewry between 1948–1994 and president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania between 1964–1994. He led th ...

, Chief

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

of Romania from 1948 to 1994 * Moshe David Shuv, born Moșe David Iancovici, early Zionist and founder of

Rosh Pinna Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...

, writer and founder of

References

Populated places in Bacău County Localities in Western Moldavia Jewish communities in Romania Cities in Romania {{Jewish-hist-stub