Iași ( , , ; also known by other

alternative names Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in

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

and the seat of

Iași County Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a co ...

. Located in the historical region of

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 Centra ...

, it has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life. The city was the capital of the

Principality of 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 ...

from 1564 to 1859, then of the

United Principalities The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Principatele Unite ale Moldovei și Țării Românești), commonly called United Principalities, was the personal union of the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia, ...

from 1859 to 1862, and the capital of

from 1916 to 1918. Known as the Cultural Capital of Romania, Iași is a symbol of Romanian history. Historian

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

stated that "there should be no Romanian who does not know of it". Still referred to as "The Moldavian Capital", Iași is the main economic and business centre of Romania's Moldavian region. In December 2018, Iași was officially declared the Historical Capital of Romania. At the

2011 census Eleven or 11 may refer to: * 11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

, the city-proper had a population of 290,422 (making it the fourth most populous in Romania at the time). Counting 500,668 residents as of 2018, the Iași

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

is the second most populous in Romania after

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

, whereas more than 500,000 people live within its peri-urban area. Home to the oldest Romanian university and to the first engineering school, Iași is one of the most important education and research centres of the country, accommodating over 60,000 students in five public universities.Metropolitan Area Iași
The social and cultural life revolves around the Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre (the oldest in Romania), the Moldova State Philharmonic, the

Opera House An opera house is a theater (structure), theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a Stage (theatre), stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venu ...

, the

Iași Athenaeum Iași National Athenaeum ( ro, Ateneul Național din Iași), also known as ''Tătărași Athenaeum'', is a public cultural institution in Iași, Romania. It was founded on 25 April 1920, as ''Tătărași Popular Athenaeum'', under the management ...

, the

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

(the oldest and largest in Romania), the

Central University Library Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(the oldest in Romania), the cultural centres and festivals, an array of museums, memorial houses, religious and historical monuments. The city is also known as the site of the largest Romanian pilgrimage which takes place every year, in October.

Etymology and names

Romania 2L 1871 telegraph stamp used Jassy

Scholars have different theories on the origin of the name "Iași". Some argue that the name originates with the

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th ...

tribe

Iazyges The Iazyges (), singular Ἰάζυξ. were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between ...

(of Iranian origin), one mentioned by

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the ...

as la, "Ipse vides onerata ferox ut ducata Iasyx/ Per media Histri plaustra bubulcus aquas" and "Iazyges et Colchi Metereaque turba Getaque/ Danubii mediis vix prohibentur aquis". A now lost inscription on a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

milestone found near

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, Croatia by

Matija Petar Katančić Matija Petar Katančić ( la, Mathias Petrus Katancsich; 1750–1825) was a Croatian writer, professor of aesthetics and archaeology, lexicographer, and numismatist. Biography As a bootmaker's son from Valpovo, he received his initial education ...

in the 18th century, mentions the existence of a Jassiorum municipium, or ''Municipium Dacorum-Iassiorum'' from other sources.Orașul Iași: monografie istorică și socială
Other explanations show that the name originated from the Iranian

Alanic Alanic is a sports and List of fitness wear brands, fitness clothing brand headquartered in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, California, USA. Alanic corporate offices are located at 1/49 Lemana lane, Sydney, Australia. It has been ...

tribe of Jassi, having the same origin with the Yazyges tribes

Jassic people The Jász (''Latin'': Jazones) are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group who have lived in Hungary since the 13th century. They live mostly in a region known as ''Jászság'', which comprises the north-western part of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county. ...

. In medieval times the Prut river was known as ''Alanus fluvius'' and the city as ''Forum Philistinorum''. From this population derived the plural of the town name, "Iașii". Another historian wrote that the Iasians lived among the

Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...

and that they left the Caucasus after the first Mongolian campaign in the West, settling temporarily near the Prut. He asserts that the ethnic name of Jasz which is given to the Iasians by the Hungarians has been erroneously identified with the Jazyges; also he shows that the word ''jasz'' is a Slavic loan word. The Hungarian name of the city (''Jászvásár'') literally means "Jassic Market"; the antiquated Romanian name, ''Târgul Ieșilor'' (and the once-favoured ''Iașii''), and the German ''Jassenmarkt'', may indicate the same meaning.

History

Ancient times

Archaeological investigations attest to the presence of human communities on the present territory of the city and around it as far back as the prehistoric age. Later settlements included those of the

Cucuteni–Trypillia culture The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, also known as the Tripolye culture, is a Neolithic–Chalcolithic archaeological culture ( 5500 to 2750 BCE) of Eastern Europe. It extended from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions, cen ...

, a late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

archaeological culture. There is archaeological evidence of human settlements in the area of Iași dating from the 6th to 7th centuries (Curtea Domnească) and 7th to 10th centuries; these settlements contained rectangular houses with semicircular ovens. Also, many of the vessels (9th–11th centuries) found in Iași had a cross, potentially indicating that the inhabitants were Christians.

Early development

In 1396, Iași is mentioned by the German crusader

Johann Schiltberger Johann (Hans) Schiltberger (1380) was a German traveller and writer. He was born of a noble family, probably at Hollern near Lohhof halfway between Munich and Freising. Travels Schiltberger joined the suite of Lienhart Richartinger in 1394, a ...

(a participant in the Battle of Nicopolis). The name of the city is first found in an official document in 1408. This is a grant of certain commercial privileges by the Moldavian

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

to the Polish merchants of

Lvov Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. However, as buildings older than 1408 still exist, e.g. the Armenian Church believed to be originally built in 1395, it is certain that the city existed before its first surviving written mention.

Capital of Moldavia

Around 1564, Prince

Alexandru Lăpușneanu Alexandru IV Lăpușneanu (1499 – 5 May 1568) was Ruler of Moldavia between September 1552 and 18 November 1561 and then between October 1564 and 5 May 1568. His wife and consort was Doamna Ruxanda Lăpușneanu, the daughter of Peter IV Rare� ...

moved the Moldavian capital from

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 and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

to Iași. Between 1561 and 1563, a school and a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

church were founded by the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

adventurer Prince,

Ioan Iacob Heraclid Iacob Heraclid (or Eraclid; el, Ἰάκωβος Ἡρακλείδης; 1527 – November 5, 1563), born Basilicò and also known as Iacobus Heraclides, Heraclid Despotul, or Despot Vodă ("Despot the Voivode"), was a Greek Maltese soldier, adv ...

In 1640,

Vasile Lupu Lupu Coci, known as Vasile Lupu (; 1595–1661), was a Voivode of Moldavia of Albanian origin between 1634 and 1653. Lupu had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to hold it for twenty years. Va ...

established the first school in which the Romanian language replaced Greek, and set up a printing press in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

Trei Ierarhi Monastery Mănăstirea Trei Ierarhi (Monastery of the Three Hierarchs) is a seventeenth-century monastery located in Iași, Romania. The monastery is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments and included on the tentative list of UNESCO World ...

(''Monastery of the

Three Hierarchs The Three Hierarchs ( grc, Οἱ Τρεῖς Ἱεράρχαι; ell, Οι Τρεις Ιεράρχες) of Eastern Christianity refers to Basil the Great (also known as Basil of Caesarea), Gregory the Theologian (also known as Gregory of Nazian ...

''; built 1635–39). Between 15 September – 27 October 1642, the city hosted the

Synod of Iași The Synod of Jassy or Synod of Iași (also referred to as the Council of Jassy or the Council of Iași), was convened in Iași in Moldavia (present-day Romania) between 15 September and 27 October 1642 by the List of Ecumenical Patriarchs of Const ...

(also referred to as the Synod of Jassy). In 1643, the first volume ever printed in

was published in Iași. The city was often burned down and looted by the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

(in 1513, 1574, 1577, 1593), by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1538, the Cossacks and Tartars (1650), or the Poles (1620, 1686). In 1734, it was hit by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. The city was also affected by famine (1575, 1724, 1739–1740), or large local fires (1725, 1735, 1753, 1766, 1785), propagated by many buildings that were built on wooden structures. It was through the

Treaty of Jassy The Treaty of Jassy, signed at Jassy (''Iași'') in Moldavia (presently in Romania), was a pact between the Russian and Ottoman Empires ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92 and confirming Russia's increasing dominance in the Black Sea. ...

that the sixth

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...

was brought to a close in 1792. A Greek revolutionary manoeuvre and occupation under

Alexander Ypsilanti Alexandros Ypsilantis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης, Aléxandros Ypsilántis, ; ro, Alexandru Ipsilanti; russian: Александр Константинович Ипсиланти, Aleksandr Konstantinovich Ipsilanti; 12 Dece ...

(Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης) and the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''retr ...

(Φιλική Εταιρία) (1821, at the beginning of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted ...

) led to the storming of the city by the Turks in 1822. In 1844 a severe fire affected much of the city.

Mid–19th century to 20th century

Statuia lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iaşi3

Between 1564 and 1859, the city was the capital of Moldavia; then, between 1859 and 1862, both Iași and

were de facto capitals of the

of Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1862, when the union of the two principalities was recognised under the name of ''Romania'', the national capital was established in Bucharest. For the loss caused to the city in 1861 by the removal of the seat of government to Bucharest the

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...

voted 148,150 lei to be paid in ten annual instalments, but no payment was ever made. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Iași was the capital of a much reduced Romania for two years, following the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

' occupation of Bucharest on 6 December 1916. The capital was returned to Bucharest after the defeat of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...

and its allies in November 1918. In November–December 1918 Iași hosted the

Iași Conference The Iași Conference, historically known as the Jassy Conference, was a gathering of anti-Bolshevik political figures that met in Iași, the temporary capital of Romania at the time from November 16 through December 6, 1918. The conference was org ...

Jewish community

Iași also figures prominently in

Jew 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""T ...

ish history, with the first documented presence of

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

from the late 16th century. The oldest tomb inscription in the local cemetery probably dates to 1610. By the mid-19th century, owing to widespread

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

and Galician Jewish

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

into Moldavia, the city was at least one-third Jewish, growing to 50% Jewish by 1899 according to the ''Great Geographic Dictionary of Romania'' cited by

JewishGen JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 as an international electronic resource for Jewish genealogy. In 2003, JewishGen became an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York Ci ...

. The Podu Roș Synagogue was built in Iași, circa 1810, by

Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt, popularly known as the Apter Rebbe or Apter Rov, was born in Żmigród, Poland in 1748 and died in Mezhbizh, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) in 1825. Rabbinical career A scion of famous rabbinic families, on both his ...

of Apta, but the synagogue became mostly

Misnagdic ''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misnag ...

not long thereafter. Sinagoga Mare Iasi Dec 2015

In 1855, Iași was the home of the first-ever Yiddish-language newspaper, ''Korot Haitim'', and, in 1876, the site of what was arguably the first-ever professional

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic ...

performance, established by

Avraham Goldfaden Abraham Goldfaden (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם גאָלדפֿאַדען; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Y ...

. The words of

HaTikvah Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return t ...

, the national anthem of Israel, were written in Iași by

Naftali Herz Imber Naftali Herz Imber ( he, , yi, ; December 27, 1856 – October 8, 1909) was a Jewish Hebrew-language poet, most notable for writing "Hatikvah", the poem that became the basis for the Israeli national anthem. Biography Naftali Herz Imber ...

. Jewish musicians in Iași played an important role as preservers of Yiddish folklore, as performers and composers. The first Zionist

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

newspaper in Romania, ''Emek Israel'', was published in Iași in 1882. Zionist sports clubs, student associations and discussion groups were established in the city, most of which later merged into the Organizația Sionistă. The Hachshara Farms in Iași were a type of training farms to prepare young people for resettlement in the Palestine region. According to the 1930 census, with a population of 34,662 (some 34% of the city's population), Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Iași. There were over 127 synagogues. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in 1947, there were about 38,000 Jews living in Iași. Because of massive emigration to Israel, in 1975 there were about 3,000 Jews living in Iași and four synagogues were active. Gesher edom shul

Currently, Iași has a dwindling Jewish population of ca. 300 to 600 members and two working synagogues, one of which, the 1671 Great Synagogue, is the oldest surviving synagogue in Romania and among the oldest synagogues still active in Europe. A 10-year restoration project funded by UNESCO, the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the local authorities of Iași restored it to its former glory, opening in time for

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each nigh ...

on 4 December 2018.

World War II

During the war, while the full scale of

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

remained generally unknown to the Allied Powers, the

Iași pogrom The Iași pogrom (, sometimes anglicized as Jassy) was a series of pogroms launched by governmental forces under Marshal Ion Antonescu in the Romanian city of Iași against its Jewish community, which lasted from 29 June to 6 July 1941. Accord ...

stood as one of the known examples of

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

brutality toward the Jews. The pogrom lasted from 29 June to 6 July 1941, and over 13,266 people,Jewishgen
br
The Iași Pogrom
at Radio Romania International

quotes 13,266 or 14,850 Jews killed. or one third of the Jewish population, were massacred in the pogrom itself or in its aftermath, and many were deported. Particularly brutal was the massacre of Jews who were forced on sealed trains in the brutal summer heat. Over half of the occupants perished in these trains, which were aimlessly driven throughout the countryside with no particular destination. In May 1944, the Iași area became the scene of ferocious fighting between Romanian-

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

forces and the advancing

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

and the city was partially destroyed. The German Panzergrenadier Division ''Großdeutschland'' won a defensive victory at the Battle of Târgu Frumos, near Iași, which was the object of several

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

studies during the Cold War. By 20 August, Iași had been taken by Soviet forces. Iași suffered heavy damage due to Soviet (June–July 1941, June 1944) and American (June 1944) airstrikes, respectively. The bombing of Soviet aviation and artillery on 20 August 1944, resulted in more than 5,000 civilian deaths and the destruction of two-thirds of the city.

Post-World War II era

Iași experienced a major wave of industrialisation, in 1955–1989.General View-The historical and architectural Iași
During this period of time, it received numerous migrants from rural regions, and the urban area expanded. In the

communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

, Iași saw a growth of 235% in population and 69% in area. The local systematization plans of the old city started in 1960 and continued in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the larger national

systematization Systematization ( ro, Sistematizarea) in Romania was a program of urban planning carried out by the Romanian Communist Party under the leadership of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu was impressed by the ideological mobilization and mass adulation ...

program; however, the urban planning was sometimes arbitrary and followed by dysfunctions."The Spatial Evolution of Iași City: Tradition and Trends" by O. Stoleriu and C. Stoleriu By 1989, Iași had become highly industrialised, with 108,000 employees (representing 47% of the total workforce) active in 46 large state-owned enterprises, in various industries: machine building and heavy equipment, chemical, textile, pharmaceutical, metallurgical, electronics, food, energy, building materials, furniture.Studiu comparativ de caz despre industria ieșeană
After the end of communist rule and the transition to a free market economy, the private sector has grown steadily, while much of the old industry gradually decayed. Cemetery Gate2

Geography

Topography

Located in the North-East of Romania, at the contact between the

Jijia Plain Jijia Plain ( ro, Câmpia Jijiei) is a geographic area in northeast Romania, occupying most of Botoșani County and parts of Iași County. Despite the name, it is not a flatland, but a region dotted with hills, part of the Moldavian Plateau. In Rom ...

and the

Bârlad Plateau Bârlad Plateau ( ro, Podișului Bârladului) is a geographic area in eastern Romania. It is the south central part of the Moldavian Plateau. Although occasionally has heights over , it is generally sloped from north at to the south at . The riv ...

, Iași used to be the crossroads place of the historic trade routes that passed through Moldavia coming from the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

, Habsburg monarchy,

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

, and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. The city lies on the

Bahlui River The Bahlui is the largest river of the city of Iași, in eastern Romania. It is a right tributary of the river Jijia. Its name is derived from Cuman and it means "muddy river". The Bahlui has a length of 119 km and a catchment area of 1967&n ...

valley, a tributary of the Jijia River (tributary of the

Prut River The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

). The surrounding country is one of uplands and woods, featuring monasteries and parks. Iași itself stands amid vineyards and gardens, partly on hills, partly in the in-between valley. The central part of the city is located on the fluvial terrace of the Bahlui River (the so-called Palat Terrace). From this nucleus, the city evolved after the medieval times toward south and north on the Bahlui River floodplain and on the adjacent hills. The southern part of the city lies on the

Iași Ridge Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

( ro, Coasta Iașilor) (the northernmost hill of the Bârlad Plateau). Considering the present day extension of the administrative boundaries, the city territory has an altitudinal extension of , between the 34.5

m a.s.l. Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. T ...

(113.19 ft) in the Bahlui River floodplain, at the Holboca bridge, and 354.77 m a.s.l. (1,163.94 ft), at the edge of the Repedea Hill. It is a common belief that Iași is built on seven hills ( ro, coline): Breazu, Bucium, Cetățuia, Copou, Galata, Repedea and Șorogari, thus triggering comparisons with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, Iaşi falls within either a

warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'') if the isotherm is used or an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(''Cfb'') if the isotherm is used. Iași experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding while winters are cold and windy with moderate snowfall and temperatures at night sometimes dropping below . Average monthly precipitation ranges from about in October to in June.

Cityscape

Architecture

Iași features historical monuments, 500-year-old churches and monasteries, contemporary architecture, many of them listed on the National Register of Historic Monuments. Notable architecture includes the

, part of the

tentative list {{Short pages monitor Populated places in Iași County Localities in Western Moldavia Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Former capitals of Romania Jewish communities in Romania Holocaust locations in Romania Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage sites