Between free passage and

restriction. Roads and bridges

in the towns of Wallachia and
Moldavia (16th-18th century)
Laurenţiu Rădvan

Key words: street, bridge, wood, topography.

Roads, along with towns, stand among the oldest human creations. They may be
considered in conjunction with each other, since roads appeared only when large
communities of tradesmen and manufacturers felt that communication required
routes that were better made and more reliable. Therefore, roads are not a product of
the Middle Ages, and they held little priority during that period; however, they did
not lose their significance on medieval man, since they were used to carry produce
and goods, as well as troops. The condition of these roads was not one of the major
concerns of the time, so they were left to nature’s devices, or, rather, to the devices
of divine providence.
Although located on the outskirts of Christian Europe, the Romanian Principalities of
Moldavia and Wallachia were crossed by major roads, used by tradesmen and armies.
Since roads mediated transport of all kinds, they were a key factor that enabled the
Romanian area to engage in international trade1. Throughout the Middle Ages, and
up to the first part of the 19th century, two major routes cut across the two principali-

1 On roads in the Romanian area, see Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria românilor [History of the Romanians],
II, ed. by Dinu C. Giurescu, Bucureşti: All 2000, p. 387-389, and Sergiu Iosipescu, “Drumuri comerciale în
Europa centrală şi sud-estică şi însemnătatea lor politică (secolele XIV-XV) [Trade roads in Central and
South-East Europe and their political significance (14th-16th centuries)]”, in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie şi
Arheologie Iaşi, 19 (1982), p. 265-284. Laurenţiu Rădvan has recently discussed Wallachian roads, Oraşele
din Ţara Românească până la sfârşitul secolului al XVI-lea [Towns in Wallachia until the end of the 16th
century], Iaşi: Universităţii Al. I. Cuza 2004, p. 160-169, and Marius Chelcu approached those located in
Moldavia, “Drumuri şi oraşe în Moldova secolelor XVI-XVIII. Câteva observaţii [Roads and towns in Mol-
davia, 16th-18th centuries. Several considerations]”, in Laurenţiu Rădvan (ed.), Civilizaţia urbană din spaţiul
103
 ties: the road that linked Central Europe to Constantinople extended into Wallachia
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

across an alternate route. It started off in Buda, branched into Oradea and Braşov
(Transylvania), crossed the Carpathians into Wallachia, ran through Câmpulung and
Târgovişte, and reached the Danube at Brăila or Giurgiu, via Bucharest, following
its course South, towards Bulgarian territory. Moldavia was crossed by a road which
started in Poland and passed through Lvov. Initially, this road followed the path of
the Nistru, but the emergence of Tatar settlements in Crimea, coupled with the ris-
ing power of the Moldavian princes, led to it being detoured through the capitals of
the latter: Suceava and Iaşi. These two major roads were interconnected. There was
also a connecting road between Moldavia and Transylvania, which linked Suceava
to Braşov, crossing the Carpathians through the Oituz pass. A road on the Siret river
valley, through Bacău, linked Moldavia and Wallachia. The larger roads spread across
a network of minor routes, which linked towns located at the junction of these roads,
but always following rivers.
As everywhere, geographical location determined certain features of urban settle-
ments. The layout of the place and the arrangement of the communications network
were always bound by geography. In Moldavia and Wallachia, towns are present in all
geographical areas. Historical circumstance and modes of emergence led to submon-
tane or hilly regions being preferred over plains for the development of urban cent-
ers. The Ottoman threat was of no small consequence in the spread of towns, since
settlements in open country were more exposed to Ottoman attacks. But although
submontane or hilly regions were given preference, slopes were avoided when it came
to construction work, with terraces towering above river valleys being used instead.
The towns of Iaşi and Bucharest, the main seats of the Moldavian and Wallachian
princes, were located on such terraces, which rose above the valleys of the nearby
Bahlui and Dâmboviţa rivers. It was not until the 18th century that population growth
pushed larger towns towards the edges of the terraces, and urban planning turned
towards nearby hills, and even valleys in flood-prone areas.
Two other features of Moldavian and Wallachian towns will further our insight into
the outline of roads: the absence of defensive walls and the apparently unplanned
distribution of buildings and plots in the built-up areas. The local communities lacked
the economic and the political potential, as well as the required cohesion, to undertake
the construction of defensive structures. This situation was also enhanced by the
centralization policies led by the princes, their attitude towards the economy, and by
the heterogeneous demographic and social make-up of the Romanian Principalities.

românesc în secolele XVI-XVIII. Studii şi documente [Urban civilization in the Romanian Area between the
16th and the 18th Centuries. Studies and Documents], Iaşi: Universităţii Al. I. Cuza 2006, p. 145-170.
104
The incursions of foreign armies or of those commanded by numerous contenders
for the throne, who were never in short supply, often took their toll on urban centers.
Strongholds were not erected near Wallachian towns, strongholds where townspeo-
ple could have sought refuge in times of need. The situation was slightly different
in Moldavia, where several strongholds served this purpose up to the 17th century
(Suceava, Hotin2, Soroca, Neamţ). Strongholds and fortresses brought cohesion to
other areas of Europe; their counterparts in this region were the courts of princes,
located in towns.
The medieval towns of Wallachia and Moldavia display a seemingly random internal
structure3. This may be explained by the way they developed, and by the way they grew
over time. They were not the product of carefully thought-out design, so spontaneous
development and gradual expansion left their mark on the urban landscape. The fact
that most towns in Wallachia were former villages is also relevant, since the original
settlements spread out to incorporate nearby territory. Except for large towns, such
as Târgovişte, Bucharest or Iaşi, the residential area (the “core” of the settlement)
was not very large, since geographical location influenced the distribution of space.
However, a large number of houses had no second storey, and each was surrounded
by an enclosure. This is why towns seemed to occupy vast tracts of land in the eye
of the visiting foreigner, although the population was sparse by comparison with W.
Europe: the population of small towns reached 1000 inhabitants, and that of major
towns, 10000. This situation was about to change in the 18th century, but only for
capital towns like Iaşi and Bucharest, where these figures would range between 30000
to 40000 inhabitants4. The demographic potential of towns, and their extent, were out
of balance with each other, and this fact bore negatively on civil engineering works;
streets best illustrate this, since they could not be entirely paved; also, no advanced
water supply networks or sewerage systems were possible.
Where internal outline, design and course of development were concerned, towns
rose as commercial suburbs around the seats of local rulers. Most of these seats (the
„courts” of princes) were located on the outskirts, as seen in Wallachia in the towns
of Bucharest, Curtea de Argeş and Târgovişte, and in Moldavia in Iaşi and Suceava.

2 In 1712, the stronghold of Hotin fell under Ottoman control.

3 General studies on town outlines in Moldavia and Wallachia in Constantin C. Giurescu, Târguri sau orase
şi cetăţi moldovene din secolul al X-lea până la mijlocul secolului al XVI-lea [Trade towns or small towns and
strongholds in Moldavia from the 10th century to mid 16th century], second edition, Bucuresti: Enciclopedică
1997, p. 99-107, and Laurenţiu Rădvan, Oraşele din Ţara Românească, p. 314-333.
4 Figures vary, with some authors claiming that the population of the two towns was probably larger (Dan
Bădărău, Ioan Caproşu, Iaşii vechilor zidiri până la 1821 [The Iaşi of ancient edifice until 1821[Ancient
buildings in Iasi up to 1821]], Iaşi: Junimea 1974, p. 280-281; Constantin C. Giurescu, Târguri sau oraşe, p.
218-219).
105
 Archeological excavations have recently revealed the fact that these courts also held
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

military significance, since they were reinforced with stockades or walls of moderate
thickness and had large moats surrounding them5. Later on, between the 17th and the
18th centuries, as the strategic importance of courts decreased, defensive walls would
only serve as boundaries from the rest of the settlement. Moats fell into disuse, and
were filled with various materials, or were turned into streets and served to support
residential buildings (towards the end of the 18th century). The houses of noble-
men (boyars), ever-more numerous from the 16th century onwards, were not erected
around the marketplace, but near the residence of the prince 6. This was a natural
choice, considering that this group tended to edge close to the locus of power; rulers
were themselves interested in having loyal noblemen around them.
Research on the outlines of medieval urban centers, hindered by modern urban devel-
opments, has shown that the evolution of the central area of towns focused on another
element, the marketplace, the place where trade was performed. Although they bore
the same name in the Principalities, that of târg, we may distinguish between two
types of trading posts:
1. the first one is referred to as a market in Central and West-European towns, an area
where trade was constant. Recent research, which relied on the earliest known outlines,
claims that some towns in the Principalities also had an area structured as a central
market or a shopping precinct, characterized by an intensive use of land, portioned
into narrow parcels, with buildings creating a continuous run of facades, which were
inhabited by merchants and craftsmen7. This area would radiate from one or several

5 For Wallachia, see Gh. I. Cantacuzino, Sp. Cristocea, “Principalele rezultate ale cercetărilor arheologice
la ansamblul fostei curţi domneşti din Câmpulung din anii 1975-1977 [The main findings of archeological
research at the ancient princely court site of Câmpulung, 1975-1977]”, in Studii şi cercetări. Câmpulung-
Muscel, 1981, p. 24-25 (for the town of Câmpulung); Nicolae Constantinescu, “Cercetări arheologice de la
curtea domnească din Târgovişte [Archeological research in the princely court of Târgovişte]”, in Documente
recent descoperite şi informaţii arheologice, Bucureşti 1987, p. 71-78 (for the town of Târgovişte); Panait I.
Panait, “Evoluţia perimetrului Curţii Vechi în lumina descoperirilor arheologice (sec. XVI-XVIII) [The
evolution of the Old Court inner area in the light of archeological findings (16th-18th centuries)]”, in Bucureşti.
Materiale de istorie şi muzeografie, 8 (1971), p. 83-88 (for the town of [Bucureşti][use English form here]).
For Moldavia, see Mircea D. Matei, Civilizaţie urbană medievală românească. Contribuţii (Suceava până
la mijlocul secolului al XVI-lea) [Medieval Romanian urban civilization. Contributions (Suceava until mid
16th century)], Bucureşti: Academiei 1989, passim (for the town of Suceava); Alexandru Artimon, Civilizaţie
urbană medievală din secolele XIV-XVI (Bacău, Tg. Trotuş, Adjud) [Medieval urban civilization, 14th-16th
centuries], Iaşi: Documentis 1998, passim (for the towns of Bacău, Târgul Trotuş and Adjud).
6 There were also, however, noble residences on the outskirts of towns, among the houses of townspeople.
7 For the town of Piteşti, see Eugenia Greceanu, Ansamblul urban medieval Piteşti [The Medieval urban site
of Piteşti], Bucureşti: Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a României 1982, p. 64; for Câmpulung, Iaşi and Suceava, see
Teodor Octavian Gheorghiu, Radu Radoslav, “Spaţiul central al oraşului medieval românesc extracarpatic din
secolele XIV-XVI, spaţiu al coeziunii sociale. Elemente pentru un studiu comparatist european [The central
area of the Romanian medieval town outside the Carpathian Area in the 14 th-16th centuries, an area of social
106
nuclei, which towered over the central marketplace. The latter’s design was influenced
by the geographical layout of the town (linear or quadrangular), inspired by the model
of Central European towns which the Saxons and the Hungarians brought south of
the Carpathians. Between the 17th and the 18th centuries, the central marketplace
was divided and populated with various buildings, which nowadays hinder an exact
reconstruction of the townscape. The background for this phenomenon was the advent
of Oriental elements in the economy, a decrease in autonomy for towns, but also the
rising demand for plots of land in the central area.
2. the second type of area where trade occurred were the weekly or monthly markets,
which were held in other, usually more marginal places in town, in order to facilitate
the access of peasants and merchants (this is also how the phrase “the outside fair” was
coined8). The rest of the inhabitable town core was made up of different districts, with
each of them centering on a church. The central marketplace area and the suburbs
were also inhabited, but the dwelling pattern and the way the land was used made
the difference. Whereas the land in the central area, and especially patches of land
facing the streets, was used exhaustively, the neighborhoods had ample space for an
enclosure, a vineyard, a garden or an orchard. Houses that were not adjacent to the
main street were connected to it by small pathways of their own9.

The first material evidence on town streets dates back to the 14th century. As eve-
rywhere, their role was that of ensuring easy access between various parts of the
settlement, between the residence of the prince and the rest of the town, between
the central market and the markets held in the suburbs, as well as between town dis-
tricts. Available data on these streets does not come mainly from official records, but
from the descriptions laid down by various travelers en route through the Romanian
lands. They are complemented by the findings revealed at archeological sites and by
accidental discoveries.

cohesion. Essentials in a European comparative study]”, in Historia Urbana, 1 (1993) 2, p. 165-173; Teodor
Octavian Gheorghiu, “Centrele comerciale - spaţii ale genezei urbane medievale româneşti extracarpatice
[Trade centers - [areas][spaces] of Medieval Romanian urban [emergence][development/growth] outside the
Carpathians]”, in Analele Brăilei, new series, 1 (1993) 1, p. 375-376; for Târgovişte, Călători străini despre
ţările române [The accounts of foreign travelers in the Romanian Countries], IV, Bucureşti: Ştiinţifică 1972,
p. 318-321.
8 Pavel Chihaia, Din cetăţile de scaun ale Ţării Româneşti [On seats of government in Wallachia], Bucureşti:
Meridiane 1974, p. 376; Documenta Romaniae Historica, series B, XXV, Bucureşti: Academiei 1985, p. 67
(no. 50).
9 Documenta, B, VIII, p. 535 (no. 329).
107
 There are several street patterns specific to towns. In Bucharest, Iaşi or Craiova, in
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

towns located in open country or hill regions, a radial-concentric outline of streets

may be discerned; they started off from a nucleus, the residence of the prince or the
marketplace, and headed towards other towns. Streets inside these towns followed
an irregular, meandering pattern, depending on the local layout and the way houses
were arranged. Internal regulations set the width of the main streets to eight meters,
but, in the marketplace, this distance was much narrowed by booths placed in front
of the shops. The shape of these towns tended to evolve from a quadrangle to a cir-
cular or semicircular model10. In towns of the submontane areas (Câmpulung), the
linear pattern prevailed, with streets running along river valleys and without chang-
ing direction on account of intersecting town roads; these urban centers kept their
initial quadrangle shape. The boundaries of all towns had churches and monasteries
as landmarks. These were built on the outskirts of towns due to the lack of space in
the central area; the gradual growth of towns brought religious institutions inside
the core of the urban space.
The main term of reference for streets in the Romanian area is that of „uliţă”, a noun
which is derived from Old Slavonic and is in use everywhere in the Slavonic world
(nowadays, in Romania, used only in reference to streets in the rural environment).
At first, streets did not bear any name, and were identified by adjacent landmarks,
the churches11, the marketplace or the residence of the prince. From the 17th century
on, larger streets were assigned names, which endured over the next two centuries,
and which were neighborhood-specific. Where various ethnic communities had gath-
ered, the street was given the name of the community (The Hungarian Street, The
Armenian Street, The Russian Street, etc.). Other streets took on the name of local
crafts or trades (Potters’ Street, Tailors’ Street, Furriers’ Street, Goldsmiths’ Street,
as well as the Lipskan Street (for merchants carrying goods from Leipzig) or the
Gabrovian Street (for merchants with goods from Gabrovo)). The main street would
usually be called the “Uliţa Mare” (Main/High Street), as was the case with Bucharest,
Târgovişte, Piteşti and Iaşi12. This street would most often start off from the residence
of the prince and pass through the central marketplace, with shops, workshops and
taverns, but also houses of noblemen, crowding along it13.

10Târgovişte was similar, after the earth wall and the stronghold wall were erected by prince Matei
Basarab.
11 Documenta, B, VIII, p. 471 (no. 288).
12Documente privind istoria României [Documents on Romanian History], XVIth century, series B, V,
Bucureşti: Academiei 1952, p. 319 (no. 334).
13 Documente, XVIth century, B, V, p. 413, no. 427; Documenta, B, XXIII, p. 533, no. 346.
108
Minor streets were made of leveled earth, their condition was weather-dependant and
they were intended for pedestrian use. Main streets were covered in planks of wood,
hence their second name, that of “poduri”, a Romanian word used also to describe
bridges over courses of water. What’s more, from the 17th century on, the name of
“pod” comes to gradually replace the term „uliţă” where all planked streets are con-
cerned. Written records on the system of plank streets were kept from the latter half
of the 16th century in Wallachia (in Bucharest)14 and from the latter half of the next
century in Moldavia (in Iaşi)15. This engineering procedure was not restricted to the
Romanian area: it was used in Russia16, from where it was probably borrowed, as well
as in Transylvania17. It did not come into use in the 16th century, since archeological
research shows that, even in the 14th century, the main streets in the towns of the
Principalities had a similar wooden structure18.
Archeological sites and testimonials by foreign travelers point to two types of planked
streets. Some were intricate, and were made of oak beams (urşi) placed every three
meters across the street; other beams were bolted into these and were placed every
two meters along the street. The plankwalk was laid over these stringers, and it was
made of oak boards split in half19. In many cases, financial issues called for simpler
structures: eight-meter beams (the width of larger streets in towns) would be placed in
pairs along the road, and the plankwalk was set directly across them 20. As a rule, the
dimensions of beams used in this system varied from 20 to 50 centimeters21; historical

14 Information dated 1574 and referring to Bucharest (Călători străini, II, p. 426).
15 Ioan Caproşu, Petronel Zahariuc (eds.), Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Iaşi [Documents regarding
the History of the town of Iaşi], I, Iaşi: Dosoftei 1999, p. 454, no. 392 (1653, Podul Vechi); in a 1646 act, a
residential house building plot was sold in Târgu Vechi, „păn-în în pod” (“to the bridge”), so streets were
definitely planked in Iaşi before the mid 17th century as well; other information in Călători străini, V, p. 596
(the Conrad Iacob Hiltebrandt account) and VII, p. 553 (the Cornelio Magni account).
16 Archeological research has revealed these types of streets in Novgorod (G.E. Dubrovin, O.A. Tarabardina,
“Excavations in Fedorovsky VI site in 1997”, in Archaeological Research Center Newsletter, 1997 [http://arc.
novgorod.ru/second.php3?menu=emain&content=article/eng/97-3.txt, 8.09.2006]).
17In Descrierea Transilvaniei [A Description of Transylvania] in 1566-1567, Giovani Andrea Gromo wrote
that in Mediaş, some streets were planked with wood (Călători străini, II, p. 350).
18 V. Neamţu, “Pieţele şi uliţele din oraşele medievale ale Moldovei [Marketplaces and streets in the Medieval
towns of Moldavia]”, in Historia Urbana, 7 (1999) 1-2, p. 116-119.
19 Mircea Rusu, Podurile de-a lungul timpului [Bridges over time], Bucureşti: Tehnică 1988, p. 37.
20Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria Bucureştilor [A History of Bucharest], Bucureşti: Sport-Turism 1979, p.
313-314.
21 In 1702, Edmund Chishull claimed that the length of the beams was of about ten yards – around 9 meters,
whereas their width was of about nine inches - around 22-23 cm (Călători străini, VIII, p. 199); further
details on the bridge system are provided by Paul I. Săndulescu, “Istoricul pavajelor bucureştene [A History
of Pavements in Bucharest]”, in Urbanismul, 13 (1936) 1-2, p. 49-73.
109
 evidence shows that marketplaces were also planked in wood22. Major streets were
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

lined with planks from one end of the town to the other, whereas smaller streets were
only partially covered in planks. Along with Bucharest23 and Iaşi24, planked streets
were also built in the Wallachian towns of Craiova and Ploieşti25.
Substantial information on the maintenance of these planked streets only comes from
the 18th century. The Great Agha, a town administration official for the prince, was
responsible for bridges (so-called “bridges”, namely the planked streets, and actual
bridges over watercourses), and organized a body of „bridge workers”, recruited from
neighboring villages. The bridge workers, who were a group made up of wood carvers,
lumberjacks, or stone workers, as well as common laborers, were led by the ceauşi, who
were under the supervision of the capitani (in Moldavia)26 or polcovnic (in Wallachia)27.
Charged with the maintenance of planked streets and bridges, the bridge workers were
also firemen, being the first called in to extinguish fires28. In Wallachia, it was only
in the late 18th century that a special institution for the administration of bridges
was created, the “office of bridges”, which was funded by levies imposed on goods
passing through the town29. In Moldavia, these fees were charged on the carriages that
circulated through town30. Since expenditures based on these fees were not efficient,
in 1764, fee collection would be left to important Greek merchants, who were to direct
planked street maintenance and who would be aided in their task by the Great Agha
and the bridge workers31. Documents from that time also mention civil duties, with

22 Călători străini, V, p. 216. Evliya Çelebi mentions bridges in 21 locations, but bridges over water are
probably included as well (Călători străini, VI, p. 715); see also Anton Maria del Chiaro, Călători străini,
VIII, p. 372.
23The streets were called Podul Domnesc, Podul Şerban-vodă, Podul Beilicului, Podul Mogoşoaiei, Podul
Calicilor, Podul de Pământ (Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria Bucureştilor, p. 314).
24 The streets were called Podul Vechi, Podul Meserciilor, Podul Domnesc, Podul Hagioaiei sau Podul de
Sus (Dan Bădărău, Ioan Caproşu, Iaşii, p. 294-295).
25 Paul Cernovodeanu (ed.), Istoria românilor [History of the Romanians], VI, Bucureşti: Enciclopedică
2002, p. 329.
26 Ioan Caproşu (ed.), Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Iaşi [Documents regarding the History of the
town of Iaşi], VII, Iaşi: Dosoftei 2005, p. 109-110, no. 127-128.
27Ileana Căzan, “Preocupări de modernizare a oraşului Bucureşti (1774-1829) [Modernization pursuits in
the town of Bucharest]”, in Bucureşti. Materiale de istorie şi muzeografie, 11 (1992), p. 128-129, 132.
28Ioan Caproşu (ed.), Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Iaşi, VII, p. 249, no. 221; p. 342-343, no.
266.
29 Ovid Sachelarie, Nicolae Stoicescu (eds.), Instituţii feudale din Ţarile Române. Dicţionar [Feudal insti-
tutions in the Romanian Principalities. A Dictionary], Bucureşti: Academiei 1988, p. 367; Constantin C.
Giurescu, Istoria Bucureştilor, p. 317; Dan Bădărău, Ioan Caproşu, Iaşii, p. 295, nota 195.
30 Paul Cernovodeanu (ed.), Istoria românilor, VI, p. 329, nota 1.
31 Ioan Caproşu (ed.), Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Iaşi [Documents regarding the History of the
town of Iaşi], VI, Iaşi: Dosoftei 2004, p. 537, no. 616.
110
each citizen being required to sweep the sidewalk of his shop twice a week and to
carry the garbage outside town limits32. Sources never mention punishments due in
case of disobedience, but it may be assumed that fines were a common practice.
Lumber delivery fell to inhabitants from mountain villages who benefited from several
tax deductions33. When the wood in major streets was replaced, older beams were used
to cover lesser streets. This led to most streets in large cities adopting this system.
Although this method of planking had been abandoned in other regions, in Moldavia
and Wallachia the main argument for keeping them until after 1800 was the condi-
tion of the soil; it was believed that soft soil was inappropriate for stone pavements,
since the pavement would sink into the ground. However, time would prove these
assumptions false34. It must be noted that these streets took their toll on public health.
Each planked street had a 0.5 – 0.8 meter wide drain beneath it (called a savac in
Wallachia)35, sometimes reinforced with brick, which was periodically blocked by the
domestic waste thrown away by town dwellers; the unprocessed refuse would fester
and form a hotbed of infection. During heavy rain, the layer of garbage would force
up the stringers in planked streets, affecting traffic and causing accidents36. Traffic
on these particular streets was fast and uncomplicated only when they were newly
built, but, since they were subject to rapid deterioration, they were a major source of
discomfort for travelers. Despite these shortcomings, the system continued. One of
the main reasons for its long-standing use was that the Romanian Principalities had
large resources of timber; it was only after 1824 that stone pavements appeared on
the main streets of Bucharest37.
Lumber was not the only material used in street engineering; excavations have re-
vealed that stone was also used to reinforce certain streets. We have historical evi-
dence pointing to the use of gravel in paving the marketplaces of certain towns in
Moldavia (Baia) and in certain streets of Suceava38. This type of material is most often
encountered in submontane towns, since it was readily available. However, in towns

32 Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Iaşi, VII, p. 249, no. 221; p. 342-343, no. 266.
33 Ileana Căzan, “Preocupări de modernizare”, p. 133.
34 Planked streets were in use in Iaşi until the mid 19th century (Dan Bădărău, Ioan Caproşu, Iaşii, p. 295).
35 Drains were supposed to be seventy inches deep and fifty inches wide (G. I. Ionescu-Gion, Istoria Bucures-
cilor [A History of Bucharest], Bucureşti: 1899, p. 358).
36 Dan Bădărău, Ioan Caproşu, Iaşii, p. 294.
37 G. I. Ionescu-Gion, Istoria Bucurescilor, p. 314; Florian Georgescu, Paul I. Cernovodeanu (eds.), Documente
privind istoria oraşului Bucureşti [Documents regarding the History of Bucharest], Bucureşti: Muzeul de
Istorie a Oraşului Bucureşti 1960, p. 272, no. 166.
38 Vasile Neamţu, “Pieţele şi uliţele”, p. 117-118.
111
 located on hills or plains, such as Iaşi and Bucharest, the capitals, wood construction
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

prevailed, since the local riverbeds were not suitable for gravel mining.
Technical deficiencies and an underdeveloped economy restricted the construction
of fixed bridges on in-country or in-town roads. Deep water would be crossed by
ferry or boat, and fixed bridges only existed over more shallow water. The latter were
usually made of wood, with few of them involving brick or stonework. In towns, the
first information on bridges dates back to the 16th century, and they were built near
fords. In Wallachia, Bucharest saw five major bridges in operation, all of them erected
on pillars of wood: three across the Dâmboviţa, south of the town, and two over the
Colentina, to the north39. In Moldavia, two bridges stood near Iaşi: one over the Bahlui,
south of the town, and the other over the Şorogari, to the west. Smaller bridges existed
nearby, which were nevertheless carried away by swollen waters after heavy rain.
Inhabitants, be they citizens or members of other social groups, were not granted
unrestricted access to roads inside the country, since the prince kept a watchful eye
on the movement of his subjects. The reasons for this were mostly economic in nature,
namely, the levies on trade goods, but stern control also served to prevent peasants
fleeing from boyar estates, due to abusive taxation, a phenomenon that was on the
rise in the latter half of the 16th century. Inhabitants traveling on business or for other
purposes needed the assent of officials from the court or from the prince himself40.
As for strangers, the merchants from Transylvanian towns (Braşov and Sibiu, mainly)
and Poland (Lvov) traveled with privileges issued by the prince41, who provided them
with certificates of free passage42. The lack of such documents rendered road travel
almost impossible, and this state of affairs was left unchanged until the 19th century.
Other significant impediments for travelers were, on the one hand, bad roads, made of
earth (only in the Olt river valley was the ancient Roman road partially in use), and, on
the other, customs duties. Most customs posts were located inside towns. The place
where goods to be sold in the town were levied carried a Turkish name - carvasara,
a term which later fell out of use. Between the 16th and the 18th centuries, a stable
customs facility appeared near the central marketplace.

39In the late 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th, the three bridges across the Dâmboviţa were
Mihai-Vodă, Şerban-Vodă, and the bridge preceding Calea Rahovei, previously called Podul Calicilor (G.
Potra, Documente privitoare la istoria oraşului Bucureşti [Documents regarding the History of Bucharest],
Bucureşti: Academiei 1982, p. 457, no. 378).
40 Pavel Mircea Florea, Transporturile în Ţara Românească (secolul XIV-XIX) [Transportation in Wallachia
(16th-19th centuries)], Bucureşti: Academica 2002, p. 125-130.
41 Pavel Mircea Florea, Transporturile, p. 119.
42 Călători străini, III, p. 160; V, p. 269.
112
In the latter half of the 18th century, the princes of the Romanian Principalities,
Greeks coming from Phanar (a residential district in Istanbul), attempted to bring the
countries under their control up to the modern standards set forth by Enlightenment
principles. This endeavor also concerned certain reforms for communications routes
inside towns. For the first time ever, they attempted to align and to widen streets, by
taking down buildings which hindered traffic. They also requested that noblemen
observe a certain speed limit for their carriages, which often endangered the life of
pedestrians. The medieval mentality, which still prevailed in the Principalities, pre-
vented these measures from coming into effect. This was also demonstrated by the
fact that princes were forced to issue decrees time and again, requesting obedience
from citizens, but with limited results.
To conclude, it must be pointed out that the poor condition of roads was also due to
the way urban communities were organized. Up to the 17th century, towns enjoyed
a certain degree of autonomy, with the township electing a mayor (the judeţ) and a
counsel made up of 12 citizens (the pârgari). In largely self-governing towns, among
which we may include Câmpulung (Wallachia) and Baia (Moldavia), and which origi-
nally adopted the Saxon model from Transylvania, we might assume that internal
regulations specified that inhabitants were supposed to look after the streets where
their shops and houses were. From the 17th century on, the prince gradually extended
his authority and ousted elected public administration bodies, replacing them with his
own representatives. The responsibility of citizens for road maintenance decreases in
the 18th century43, and the so-called „bridge workers” appear instead. However, the tax
exemptions they benefited from were not incentive enough, since their half-executed
tasks took their toll on the condition of the streets. Contemporary documents show
that princes devoted their attention to town streets, and especially thoroughfares,
but their measures only had temporary effects. It was not until after 1821, when the
Ottomans allowed new rulers to be elected, that the winds of change swept through
the streets and bridges of towns. The first step was to replace wood with stone.

43 The townspeople still retain some obligations (G. I. Ionescu-Gion, Istoria Bucurescilor, p. 383).
113
 Bibliography of primary and secondary sources
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

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• Pavel Chihaia, Din cetăţile de scaun ale Ţării Româneşti [On seats of government
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Documente recent descoperite şi informaţii arheologice, Bucureşti 1987.
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mente [Urban civilization in the Romanian Area between the 16th and the 18th
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 • G. I. Ionescu-Gion, Istoria Bucurescilor [A History of Bucharest], Bucureşti: 1899.
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însemnătatea lor politică (secolele XIV-XV) [Trade roads in Central and South-East
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116
Résumé

Entre la libre circulation et la restriction. Routes et ponts dans les villes

de Valachie et de Moldavie (XVI-XVIIIe siècles)
Dans les villes de Valachie et de Moldavie, on rencontre plusieurs manières de disposer
les rues. Dans les centres urbains de plaine et de colline en général, on observe une
disposition radiaire et concentrique des rues, qui avaient comme point de départ un
noyau, constitué par la résidence du prince ou la place, et se dirigeaient vers d’autres
villes. Les rues situées à l’intérieur de ces villes avaient une trajectoire non-régulière,
sinueuse, en fonction de la configuration du terrain et de la manière dont les habita-
tions étaient disposées. La largeur des grandes rues était réglementée à huit mètres,
mais dans la place et à ses alentours, la rue était beaucoup restreinte à cause des
éventaires devant les boutiques. Dans les villes situées dans la zone de sous-montagne,
on observe une disposition linéaire, les rues suivaient la vallée d’une rivière et les
routes par lesquelles on quittait la ville ne déterminait pas leur trajectoire.
La principale dénomination qu’on donnait aux rues dans l’espace roumain était celle de
« uliţă » (ruelle), mot provenant de l’ancien slavon, utilisé partout dans le monde slave.
Si les ruelles étroites étaient en terre, influencées par les changement du temps, les rues
principales étaient couvertes par des poutres en bois, d’où leur seconde dénomination,
de « poduri » (ponts), qui, dans la langue roumaine, désigne également les ponts uti-
lisés pour traverser l’eau. Les fouilles archéologiques et les témoignages des voyageurs
étrangers mettent en évidence deux catégories de ponts bâtis pour couvrir de bois
les rues. La première catégorie était constituée de rues dont la structure était plus
complexe : on mettait de travers, de trois en trois mètres, des poutres (urşi - oursons)
en chêne, sur lesquelles on mettait, de long, d’autres poutres attachées aux premières
par de grands clous ; celles-ci étaient finalement couvertes par le plancher d’usure,
formé lui aussi de poutres fendues en deux. Pour des raisons financières, la deuxième
catégorie comprenait des ponts plus simples: les poutres étaient positionnées deux par
deux le long du chemin et l’on y mettait directement dessus, de travers, le plancher
d’usure. En général, les dimensions des poutres utilisées à un tel système variaient de
20 à 50 cm ; il y a des informations selon lesquelles les places aussi étaient couvertes
en bois. Les grandes rues étaient couvertes d’un bout à l’autre de la ville, tandis que
les plus petites (podişor - petit pont) n’étaient que partiellement en bois.
A part Bucarest et Iassy, on avait bâti des ponts en bois au XVIIIe siècle à Craiova et
à Ploieşti, des villes de Valachie. Sous chaque rue couverte de bois il y avait un fossé
(nommé savac en Valachie), plaqué de briques. Dans la saison des grandes pluies,
les fossés s’emplissaient d’ordures et les poutres, par conséquent, s’élavaient, ce qui

117
 affectait la bonne circulation et provoquait des accidents. La circulation sur ce type de
Between free passage and restriction. Roads and bridges in the towns of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th-18th century) | Laurenţiu Rădvan

rues était facile et rapide seulement au début, lorsque les poutres étaient neuves, mais
le temps détériorait assez rapidement les ponts, en causant des troubles aux passagers.
Malgré ces inconvénients, le système a résisté et l’une des raisons a été la richesse en
bois des Principautés Roumaines ; ce n’est qu’après 1824 qu’on a commencé à paver
de pierre les principales rues de Bucarest. Le mauvais état des rues a une explication
qui remonte à la manière dont les communautés urbaines étaient organisées. Jusqu’au
XVIIe siècle, les villes ont bénéficié d’un certain degré d’autonomie, la communauté
élisant un maire (judeţ) et un conseil formé de 12 citadins (pârgari). Depuis la fin de
ce siècle, le prince a élargi peu à peu son autorité, en éliminant les organes munici-
paux, qu’il a remplacés par ses propres représentants. La responsabilité des citadins
d’entretenir les rues diminue encore davantage au XVIIIe siècle, à la suite de la désig-
nation des « podari » (ouvriers des ponts), qui n’ont pas fait preuve d’efficacité.

118