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Vaslui Information
General info
Geographical position
Eastern Romania, centered on the hydrographic basin of Bârlad River.
Neighbours
On the north: Iaşi County, on the west: Neamt, Bacău and Vrancea Counties, on the south: Gala]i County, on the east: Prut River and the Republic of Moldavia.
Surface
5,318 sq. km (respectively 2,2% of the country’s surface).
Population
462,000 inhabitants.
Towns
Vaslui, county capital, with 80,000 inhabitants situated at the confluence of Vaslui River with Bârlad; the name of the town has Cumanian origin. Other towns: Bârlad (of Cumanian origin), Huşi, Negreşti.
Relief
Hilly region - the Bârlad Plateau and its sub-units: Central Moldavian Plateau, Tutova Hills, Falciu Hills with heights that do not exceed 500 m, dropping off in the Prut Valley to 20 m and in the Bârlad Valley to 54 m.
Climate
Is continental with an average period of 180 days without frost non-uniform waterfalls and winds blowing from north and south. This region is characterized by frequent droughts during summer. The average annual temperature is 9 - 100C, in January -3 - -40C and in July 22 - 230C.
Watercourses
The Upper Bârlad and its tributaries: Crasna, Vaslui, Jeravat, Tutova, Racova and on the east the Prut that receives the Elan river.
Touristic sights
Reservations and natural monuments
Fossil Point in Măluşteni (55 km far from Vaslui), palaeontological reservation, one of the richest in fossils in Romania. Its deposits contain numerous fossils of monkeys, antelopes, camels, deer, turtles. The Harboanca Forest in Brăhăşoaia (16 km north-west of Vaslui), forest reservation with numerous species of oak trees. Other reservations and natural monuments: The Hulubăţ Sands in Vaslui, palaeontological reservation, fossil fauna from the Pleistocen, The Seaca Forest at Movileni (near Coroieşti), forest and botanical reservation, The Bădeana Forest, near Tutova (75 km from Vaslui), forest reservation.
Historical vestiges
The Fortress Ruins in Arsura, important Thracian- Getic fortress from the 4th - 2nd centuries B.C. that was fortified with earthworks and stone walls. Traces of the Earth Fortress in Bârlad built in 1476 by Stephen the Great to defend Moldavia against the Ottoman invaders. Other historical vestiges: Getic-Dacian Fortress in Buneşti, a valuable treasure was found here, Ruins of the Princely Court in Vaslui (1490), Ruins of Princely Court in Huşi (1494).
Religious buildings
„Saint John the Baptist“ Church in Vaslui was built by Stephen the Great in 1490 celebrate the victory won against the armies of Soliman Pasha in 1475. The style of the construction is Moldavian classical. „Saint George“ Church in Bârlad, was built by Stephen the Great in 1496 and rebuilt by Vasile Lupu in 1636. „Saint Apostles Peter and Paul“ Church in Huşi, was erected by Stephen the Great between 1494 - 1495. Grajdeni Monastery in Griviţa village was built by Prince Petru Rareş between 1533 and 1540. Other religious buildings: Bishopric Church in Huşi (1592), „Sfântu Dumitru“ Church in Bârlad (1636). Cultural buildings „Vasile Pârvan“ Museum in Bârlad, the museum exhibits: vestiges of human life in this region (history department), palaeontological, petrographic and fauna collections from the Moldavian Plateau (natural sciences department), ethnographical and art collections. „Emil Racovi]ă“ Memorial House in Emil Racovi]ă (42 km far from Vaslui) in memory of the man who set the foundations of speology. Other cultural buildings: „Dimitrie Cantemir“ Memorial House in Dimitrie Cantemir. Monuments and statues The Statue of Stephen the Great from Podul Înalt (10 km far from Vaslui), was built in memory of the great military mind of the 15th century, who won here one of the most important victories in Romanian history (echoed all over Europe). In this narrow moorland, on the 10th of January 1475, Stephen the Great’s army (highly inferior in number) „terribly defeated“ (as the prince used to say) the Ottoman soldiers led by Soliman Pasha. Mausoleum of Peneş Curcanul from Vaslui, in the city cemetery, honours the soldiers who died during the assault on Plevna during the 1877 Independence War. It was here, Vaslui, from where the „nine foot soldiers, ten with the sergeant“ left for war, as sung by Vasile Alecsandri in his poem „Peneş Curcanul“. Statue of Stephen the Great in Vaslui, imposing statue of the prince, whose memory lives all over these lands.
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