I General information {Alin}

-Iași is one of Romania’s major cities. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in north-
eastern Romania,it comes in 2nd in area and about 5th in population size. [Click] The city was
founded in 1316. That makes it over 700 years old! For a brief period of time, during World War
1, Iași became the capital of a much reduced Romania, as Bucharest was occupied by the
German army.
Nowadays it is a lively place, full of students and events. [Click]

II Sights {Teo}
-Our most emblematic sight, often used as the logo of Iași is the Palace of Culture, former
residence of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, one of Romania’s most notable rulers. Now the palace is a
staple tourist attraction, with its impressive four museums. No visit to Iași would be complete
without visiting it! [Click]

-Union Square, also known as the city’s old centre, is a beautiful trip down history lane. This
place is also related to Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who we mentioned earlier, as it gets its name from
the fact that after the regions of Moldavia and Wallachia were united, people danced a "hora"
there, a traditional romanian dance we will tell you all about in a moment. [Click]
{Ingrid}
-The "Anastasie Fătu" Botanical Garden is a beloved attraction, with its seasonal exhibitions of
tulips in the spring, roses in the summer and chrysanthemums in the autumn. There are also all
year round greenhouses with exotic plants and cacti. There is also a banana tree on display
which we are very proud of.
[Click]
{Vali}
-We in Iași really like our churches. Actually that is an understatement. There are some places
in the city where there are up to three churches in a 100m radius. Whether we really need that
many or not is debatable, but some of them look really pretty. [Click]

–First and foremost is of course the metropolitan cathedral, consecrated in 1887, after seven
years of construction efforts. Its architecture is mostly neoclassical, the interior decoration and
flourishes having baroque and renaissance influences. [Click] The Cathedral houses the relics
of Saint Paraskevi of the Balkans, and every autumn thousands of people from all over
Romania make the pilgrimage to be there on her feast day. [Click]

–Another really interesting church is the Trei Ierarhi church. As you can see (photo) it is
beautifully decorated on the outside with really intricate patterns. It was built as a resting place
for the then rulers of Moldavia. Legend has it that it used to be covered entirely in a layer of
gold, but when the tatars invaded in 1605 they damaged the church and took all of it. [Click]
{Ingrid}
-Something else that we are really proud of are our art institutions, such as the Philharmonic
hall, the National Theater and the Opera. This one is the theater. [Click] There is never a dull
moment in these places and the decor makes it feel like they came straight out of a historical
movie. [Click]
{Iulia}
III Dances :D
-"Hora" is a traditional dance, in which people join in a circle and dance to cheerful music. Back
in the day, people from several villages would gather for a hora, and it was a way for young
people to meet. It is characterized by its sense of community, so to speak. It is surprisingly
similar to dances from here in Greece, and we hope that we will all be able to bond over this,
just like the "hora" is meant to bring people together. [Click]

IV Food {Delia}
-Traditional romanian food is loved by all people of Iași, especially sarmale, which you might
have heard of, maybe as sarma, the turkish dish.This is no coincidence, The now romanian
territory was under Ottoman Empire’s influence for quite a long while so we had time to pick up
on some of their traditions. They are basically cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and meat. For us it
is something of a holiday dish, usually made for Christmas or Easter, or when you go to
grandmas.

-Mici are a staple of romanian BBQs. They are like hamburgers, but tinier and with a different
shape. They are usually made from pork or a pork-beef mixture. It's not something uncommon
for them to be marinated with beer while grilled.

-In terms of sweets, our most popular dish are papanași, which are made of a cottage cheese
dough, fried and usually served with sour cream and a variety of jams. [Click]

V Education {Maria}
-Iași, among other big cities of Romania, is considered a "university city" , with many students,
not only from Romania but also from around the world, coming here to study subjects like
medicine or engineering. [Click]

-As I’m guessing you realised by now, Alexandru Ioan Cuza is a very prominent figure in Iași’s
history and culture. For that reason, there is also a university named after him, that deals in a
variety of subjects, such as law, biology, mechanics, philology, theology etc. It is actually the
first university founded in Romania. [Click]

-Another university that deserves to be mentioned is the University of Medicine and Pharmacy
"Grigore T. Popa" Many international students choose to study here, which means the city gets
more and more diverse every year! [Click]

- The last thing we would like to mention is the “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University Library,
deemed one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. [Click]

We hope that you enjoyed our presentation of our city and we can’t wait to show you the beauty
of it next year, when you will visit us.
{Maria ai vrut să faci q&a-ul}