Iasi

Iaşi (yäsh) or Jassy (yä`sē), city (1990 pop. 346,577), E Romania, in Moldavia, near the Republic of Moldova. Iaşi is the administrative and commercial center of a fertile agricultural region. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and textiles are produced. In 1565, Iaşi succeeded Suceava as the capital of the Romanian principality of Moldavia, a position it held until Moldavia and Walachia were united in 1859. The city was repeatedly burned and sacked by Tatars, Turks, and Russians. A treaty signed there in 1792 ended the second of the Russo-Turkish Wars of Catherine II. In Iaşi, long an important cultural center, the first book in the Romanian language was printed (1643) and the national theater was founded (1849). During World War I the city served as Romania's temporary capital while German forces occupied Walachia. Iaşi's large Jewish population was massacred by the Nazis in one of the worst pogroms in history. Soviet troops took the city in 1944. Iaşi is the see of an Orthodox archbishop and has a university (founded 1860) and other institutions of higher education. Landmarks include the 17th-century cathedral, the Church of the Three Hierarchs (17th cent.), and the Church of St. Nicholas (15th cent.), all outstanding examples of the Moldavian adaptation of Byzantine architecture.

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Iasi

 German Jassy

City (pop., 2002: 321,580), northeastern Romania. Located west of the border with Moldova and northeast of Bucharest, it is on the Bahlui River. It was settled as early as the 7th century, and in the 15th century it became a customs post on the trade routes along the Prut River valley. From 1565 to 1862 Iasi was the capital of Moldavia. It was burned by Tatars in 1513, by Turks in 1538, and by Russians in 1686. It is the site of a university, the 16th-century church of St. Nicholas, and a national theatre.

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Iaşi

a city in NE Romania: capital of Moldavia (1565--1859); university (1860). Pop.: 280 000 (2005 est.)

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Iaşi 

(also Jassy), a judeţ (district) in eastern Rumania. Area, 5,500 sq km. Population, 792,200 (1977). The capital is the city of Iaşi.

The judeţ provides 3.3 percent of Rumania’s industrial output and 2.8 percent of its agricultural output (1975). In terms of the judeţs own gross industrial output, the leading sectors are the chemical industry (41 percent of all industrial output), the machine-building industry (16 percent), the food-processing industry (13 percent) and ferrous metallurgy (12 percent). Other industries include the manufacture of textiles, garments, and wood products. A large machine-building and metallurgical plant was under construction in 1978. The principal industrial centers are Iaşi and Paşcani.

Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation of grains (maize, wheat, and barley), industrial crops (sunflowers, sugar beets, crown flax [var. brevimulticaulia] and soybeans), feed crops, vegetables, and fruit, including grapes. In 1976 the judeţ had 168,000 cattle, 234,000 swine, and 458,000 sheep.

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Iaşi 

(also Jassy), a city in eastern Rumania, on the Bahlui River. Capital of the judeţ (district) of Iaşi. Population, 264,900 (1977).

An important economic center, Iaşi has a chemical industry that produces synthetic fibers, plastics, and antibiotics and a machine-building industry that produces reading machinery and equipment for the chemical and pulp and paper industries. The city also has textile, food-processing, printing, and wood-products industries. A considerable share of Soviet-Rumanian freight and passenger rail traffic goes through Iaşi.

The A. J. Cuza University, the oldest university in Rumania (founded 1860), is located in Iaşi. Other educational institutions include a conservatory and polytechnic, medical-pharmaceutical, and agricultural institutes. The city has a botanical garden. Cultural institutions include the National Theater, the State Opera, and the State Philharmonic Society.

The earliest references to Iaşi date from the late 14th and early 15th centuries. From the second half of the 16th century until 1859, it was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia. In 1791 the Treaty of Iaşi was signed by Russia and Turkey in the city. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, a major offensive by Soviet troops took place in the vicinity (seeIAŞI-KISHINEV OPERATION OF 1944).

Notable architectural monuments include St. Nicholas’ Church (late 15th century), the Church of the Three Saints (1639), the Cetáfuia Monastery, and the Golia Monastery (basic structure built in the 17th century). During the 1950’s and 1960’s the new residential areas of August 23rd, Tátáraşi, Socola-Nicolina, and Pácurari were developed. The center of the city was rebuilt in this period; of particular note is the ensemble of Union Square (1962–64, architects G. Hussar and others).

The Iaşi Art Museum contains Rumanian art of the 19th and 20th centuries.