The Iași Journal

The blog is where we write about Iași without selling anything. No itineraries, no restaurant round-ups — pieces about why the city looks the way it does, written for someone who wants to understand it rather than tick it off.

What we write about

• History with consequences — the city that lost its capital explains the single most important trade in Iași's history: in 1859 it gave up capital status and got the country's first university in return. Almost everything Iași is today comes from that.
• Infrastructure without mythology — why Iași has no metro answers the most common confusion with Bucharest, and makes the case for why a tram network is the right answer for a city this size.
• The city's rhythm — when to visit Iași unpacks the real calendar: the university year, the October pilgrimage, the months when the city empties out.

House rule

If it cannot be checked, it does not get published. Where a figure is an estimate, it says so; where sources disagree on a date, we say that too instead of picking whichever version sounds better. The rule costs us articles — and it is the only thing that makes the rest worth trusting.

Going further

For full context, the city encyclopedia covers history, culture, economy and urban life chapter by chapter. For concrete plans, the guides.