AEGEE IASI, ROMANIA

Every big city in Europe and in the whole world has its specific history and its charm. Iasi, "the town of the seven hills", has them both and it has something more: it’s OUR city. Romanian scholars usually say that Iasi has a real vocation for history and I definitely won’t argue with that.

But let’s go straight with this one: Iasi doesn’t have the Eiffel Tower or the Big Ben, neither the Coliseum nor the Louvre Palace. But Iasi has THE SPIRIT!

You will see that the beautiful Copou Hill (the so-called “lovers hill”) will make you think about holding somebody’s hand….Visiting the Culture Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral, you’ll get in touch with our main spiritual folk symbols and with our millenary roots, and tasting a cup of tea near the Vasile Pogor’s Memorial Museum will bring the inspiration muse into your mind, the same one which inspired our great writers. And, as we do when we need to take a breath, you may relax a few hours in the Botanical Garden and making the worries go away. And, YES: Iasi does have a night life and hopefully we’ll be here to show you nice places where you can have fun!

The city of contrasts, being in the same time a traditional city, but also a modern one, Iasi is the second university center in Romania, with over 40. 000 students and most of them do not get a shut eye all weekend. If you wonder how they keep their parties going on, I’ll give you a clue: around Iasi there is one of the most famous vineyards of the South-Eastern Europe!

IASI is the most important political, economic and cultural center of the Moldavia region and one of the oldest cities in Romania. Situated in the North-East of Romania, near the border with the Republic of Moldavia (once a part of the Romanian country of Moldavia), it was in the Middle Age the crossing point of the most important commercial roads that passed through Moldavia coming from Poland, Hungary, Russia and Constantinople. The name of the city was mentioned for the first time in a document about a commercial privilege granted by the Moldavian king Alexander the Grateful to the Polish merchants of Lvov in 1408.

In 1859, as a result of an immense internal effort and a favorable external context, the Union of the 2 counties: Moldavia and Walachia was achieved in Iasi, by the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Prince of both states. "The Small Union" was consolidated by a reforming work which Europeanized the new state, putting an end to the Ottoman influence.

IASI continued to be the most important cultural centre of the country even after Bucharest officially became the capital of Romania in 1862. It is in Iasi that the first Romanian university was founded in 1860: the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” state University. The cultural life in Iasi continued to be very intense, in fields like poetry, literature, art and publications.

Even after the Great Union was accomplished on the 1st December of 1918 (when Moldova and Walachia were united with the other Romanian countries: Basarabia, Bucovina, Banat and Transylvania) and it became clear that Bucharest will remain the capital of the Romanian Unitary State, Iasi continued to claim the status of the most important cultural center of the country.

This courageous position is also sustained nowadays, due to the fact that Iasi still has a remarkable contribution in promoting our national cultural values.


	About Iasi
General Presentation Program Experts & Trainers Participants Lodging & Accomodation About Iasi Getting to Iasi Sponsors Organizing Team	Every big city in Europe and in the whole world has its specific history and its charm. Iasi, "the town of the seven hills", has them both and it has something more: it’s OUR city. Romanian scholars usually say that Iasi has a real vocation for history and I definitely won’t argue with that. But let’s go straight with this one: Iasi doesn’t have the Eiffel Tower or the Big Ben, neither the Coliseum nor the Louvre Palace. But Iasi has THE SPIRIT! You will see that the beautiful Copou Hill (the so-called “lovers hill”) will make you think about holding somebody’s hand….Visiting the Culture Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral, you’ll get in touch with our main spiritual folk symbols and with our millenary roots, and tasting a cup of tea near the Vasile Pogor’s Memorial Museum will bring the inspiration muse into your mind, the same one which inspired our great writers. And, as we do when we need to take a breath, you may relax a few hours in the Botanical Garden and making the worries go away. And, YES: Iasi does have a night life and hopefully we’ll be here to show you nice places where you can have fun! The city of contrasts, being in the same time a traditional city, but also a modern one, Iasi is the second university center in Romania, with over 40. 000 students and most of them do not get a shut eye all weekend. If you wonder how they keep their parties going on, I’ll give you a clue: around Iasi there is one of the most famous vineyards of the South-Eastern Europe! IASI is the most important political, economic and cultural center of the Moldavia region and one of the oldest cities in Romania. Situated in the North-East of Romania, near the border with the Republic of Moldavia (once a part of the Romanian country of Moldavia), it was in the Middle Age the crossing point of the most important commercial roads that passed through Moldavia coming from Poland, Hungary, Russia and Constantinople. The name of the city was mentioned for the first time in a document about a commercial privilege granted by the Moldavian king Alexander the Grateful to the Polish merchants of Lvov in 1408. In 1859, as a result of an immense internal effort and a favorable external context, the Union of the 2 counties: Moldavia and Walachia was achieved in Iasi, by the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Prince of both states. "The Small Union" was consolidated by a reforming work which Europeanized the new state, putting an end to the Ottoman influence. IASI continued to be the most important cultural centre of the country even after Bucharest officially became the capital of Romania in 1862. It is in Iasi that the first Romanian university was founded in 1860: the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” state University. The cultural life in Iasi continued to be very intense, in fields like poetry, literature, art and publications. Even after the Great Union was accomplished on the 1st December of 1918 (when Moldova and Walachia were united with the other Romanian countries: Basarabia, Bucovina, Banat and Transylvania) and it became clear that Bucharest will remain the capital of the Romanian Unitary State, Iasi continued to claim the status of the most important cultural center of the country. This courageous position is also sustained nowadays, due to the fact that Iasi still has a remarkable contribution in promoting our national cultural values.
© 2004 AEGEE IASI	top

About Iasi