Iași: the cultural capital of Romanian Moldavia

Former capital of the Moldavian principality, Iași remains the principal cultural and university center of Romania's eastern region.

The center, cultural capital of Romania's Moldavian region, is comfortably explored on foot.

The Palace of Culture, in neogothic style, remains the city's most imposing architectural monument, today hosting four different museums within.

Steps away, the Monastery of Trei Ierarhi, with its entire façade decorated by stone carvings, remains a unique masterpiece of Moldavian religious architecture.

Moving forward one visits the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania's oldest modern university, founded in 1860.

Towards evening, the Copou Garden, among Romania's oldest public parks, animates evening walks around an obelisk dedicated to the Romanian language.

The Trei Ierarhi Monastery, completed in 1639, features a façade entirely covered with carved geometric motifs in stone, a decorative technique unique to all Eastern European religious architecture.

Iași served as the capital of Romania for a brief period during World War I, when Bucharest fell under German occupation, a role the city still proudly claims today in its collective memory and in museums dedicated to that era.