Climate Iași - Iasi, the city of two kings

The times have always come upon it and all its rulers, without exception, from Vasile Vodă Lupu to Alexandru Ioan Cuza, have contributed, according to their powers, to the honoring and beautification of the old fair of Ieș. Except for the new rulers, of whatever political color, who did not protect it with ardor, did not understand it enough, did not love it completely. Is it their fault, their fault alone? It is our fault, the fault of all Romanians, because if we understood him, if we truly loved him, we would still have him today, at least in part, as we did when the footsteps of the two kings passed agilely through his columbine, slightly winding, unique streets. Its picturesque houses have grown old. Some still stand to this day, dilapidated, reeking with memories. Most have died of old age, leaving behind many empty places, especially around the churches.

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As well as monuments of a different kind, which we have in many other cities in the country, Iasi has a spirit of place that hovers unseen. The buildings, which are particularly picturesque, have small plaques at the entrances with texts bearing witness to the existence of an impressive number of poets, writers and other personalities of the Romanian nation; history is also at home here, and pilgrimages to holy places have a cyclical nature, gained through the efforts of the Metropolitan. If you walk through the city in a relaxed way, you will be sure to be drawn back to it, because everything is linked to the being of the Romanian nation "...which is more present here than anywhere else..." and of all the shadows of the past, the most frequently invoked are those of the two kings, Creangă and Eminescu.

Read the full text in the printed edition of Arhitectura, nr 1/2011