Botoșani Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Botoșani is a city in Moldavia, Romania. It owed its prosperity to a favorable location, on the trade route linking the lower Danube to Poland.  Capital of the Botoșani County, it is today an industrial center specializing in textiles.

Botoșani was first mentioned in 1439, when a chronicle stated that “the mongols came and pillaged all the way to Botușani”.  At the intersection of commercial roads, including the Moldavian Road linking Iași to Hotin, the settlement was initially a market.  During the second half of the 14C, the area was settled by foreign migrants (probably Germans or Hungarians from Transylvania).  Additionally, a large community of Armenian traders arrived in the 14-15C.

Early in the 16C, a period of conflicts between Moldavia and Poland, several battles occurred near town, like in 1500, 1505 and 1509;  during the rule of Petru Rareș, the place was set ablaze by the poles.  Despite the fighting, Botoșani kept growing and by 1579 had "the biggest and the oldest fair of Moldavia".  A large Jewish community arrived in the 17C, and soon became the second largest and most important in Moldavia, a status kept until the end of the 19C.

During World War II, the city was much damaged and finally captured by soviet troops in April 1944, in the course of the Uman-Botoșani Offensive.

Some prominent Romanian cultural figures such as the national poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) and historian Nicolae Iorga (1871-1940) were born here.  The painter Octav Băncilă (1872-1944) is another local.  Modern poet Maria Baciu (b. 1942) also hails from Botoșani.  Additionally, the city is the location of A.T. Laurian National College, founded in 1859, one of the country's oldest and most prestigious pre-university educational institutions.

• Ciomac Cantemir House
• Vasilache Puppet Theatre
• Old Centre
• Vila Ventura
• Mihai Eminescu National Theatre
• Monastery Popăuți
• Casa Moscovici
• Octav Onicescu Memorial Museum
• County museums
• Silion House
• 47.7399926.671761 Holy Trinity Armenian Church (Biserica Sf. Treime) (On Armenian Street (Armeana) and Nicolae Grigorescu.). Built by the Armenian community centuries ago. Large grounds. It is not in use. 
• 47.7411926.669972 Biserica Armenească “Adormirea Maicii Domnului”, Strada Armeană, nr.5. The Church of the Assumption is the oldest Armenian church in Romania, as attested by the inscription which dates from 1350. 

• Football: FC Botoșani play soccer in Liga 1, the top tier. Their home ground Stadionul Municipal (capacity 7800) is 500 m southeast of the railway station.