Piatra Șoimului is a commune in

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

Western Moldavia Western Moldavia (, ''Moldova de Apus'', or , also known as Moldavia, is the core historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1878, the P ...

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

. It is composed of four villages: Luminiș, Negulești, Piatra Șoimului, and Poieni.

Geography

The commune is located in the south-central part of the county, in the foothills of the

Tarcău Mountains The Tarcău Mountains (, ) are a mountain range, part of the Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians of the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The range is located between the latitudes 46°25′ and 46°57′ N and between the longitudes 25°52′ and 26°28 ...

. It is situated west of the town of Roznov and south of the county seat,

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; ; ) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its very privileged location in the Divisions of the Carpathians, Eastern Carpathian mountains, it is con ...

. The river Calul flows through the villages of Poieni and Piatra Șoimului, while the river Iapa flows through Negulești and Luminiș; both rivers discharge into the

Bistrița (; , archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , ) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of 78,877 inhabitants as of 2021 and administers s ...

in Chintinici. There is a legend that links the names of the two rivers, ''Calul'' (the Horse) and ''Iapa'' (the Mare), to the studs of

Stephen the Great Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was List of rulers of Moldavia, Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II of Moldavia, Bogdan II, who was murdered in ...

. Traveling upstream along the river Calul, through the village of Poieni, one reaches the rock that gives the name of the commune, ''Piatra Șoimului'' (Falcon's Rock).

History

At the end of the 19th century, the commune was called Calu-Iapa and was part of Piatra-Muntele plasa of Neamț County. It consisted of the villages of Calu, Dumbrava Roșie de Jos, Iapa, and Săvinești, with a total of 2,955 inhabitants. At the time, there were twelve water mills, a sawmill, three churches, and a school in the commune. The 1925 Socec Yearbook records the dissolution of the commune and the transfer of its villages to the administration of a neighboring commune, Mastacănu (present-day

Borlești Borlești is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Borlești, Nechit, Mastacăn, Ruseni, and Șovoaia. Natives * Ștefan Vârgolici Ștefan G. Vârgolici (October 13, 1843–) was a Moldavi ...

). The commune was re-established in 1931 under the name of Calu, with the villages of Calu, Iapa, and Negulești. In 1950, Calu commune was assigned to the Buhuși

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

, and after 1964, to the Piatra Neamț raion of

Bacău Region Bacău Region (Regiunea Bacău) was one of the newly established (in 1950) administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Romania, copied after the Soviet style of territorial organisation. History The capital of the region was Bacău, and ...

. In 1964, the name of the commune and the village of residence was changed to Piatra Șoimului, and the village of Iapa was renamed Luminiș. In 1968, the commune of Piatra Șoimului returned to the re-established Neamț County.

References

Communes in Neamț County Localities in Western Moldavia {{Neamţ-geo-stub