Vaslui (Romanian pronunciation:[vasˈluj]), acity in easternRomania, is the seat ofVaslui County, in the historical region ofWestern Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara.
Archaeological surveys indicate that the territory of Vaslui was inhabited since theNeolithic. From the 14th century onwards, it developed as the provincial town of Vaslui, with a population that fluctuated considerably in the following centuries. The name of Vaslui appears first in a Polish document from 1375, referring toKoriat's sonYuri Koriatovich. The nameVaslui was also mentioned in 1435, in connection with the accession ofPrinceIliaș to theMoldavian throne. The town was burned to the ground in 1439 and 1440 whenTatars invaded Moldavia.
Building from the medieval Princely Court historical ensemble in Vaslui
The peak of Vaslui's importance was in the 15th century, when it was a second-rank capital of Moldavia, during the reign ofStephen the Great (r. 1457–1504) and its population approached that of the neighbouringIași. In 1475, Prince Stephen won hisgreatest battle against theOttoman Empire in the Vaslui area. Once the Moldavian capital was moved fromSuceava to Iași and the southern town ofBârlad became an administrative center of southern Moldavia, Vaslui declined for the next three centuries to eventually become a localborough (târg).
The population of Vaslui grew steadily again after 1968, when the town was proclaimed as the administrative center of Vaslui County, with immigration from the neighbouring countryside, attracted by the industries set up by theCommunist regime.
According to the2021 census, there were 63,035 people living within the city of Vaslui,[3] making it the 40th largest city in Romania. The ethnic makeup was as follows: 98.63%Romanians, 1.19%Romani people, 0.06%Lipovans, and 0.12% other. The majority of the population is of Romanian ethnicity. Members of theRoma minority live compactly in the southwestern suburbs ofRediu andBrodoc, in the southwestern part of the main town (in the neighbourhoods around Traian Street) and also scattered in the rest of the locality. In the 1960s and '70s nomadic Roma belonging to theKalderash caste were forcibly settled by the Communists in the northern part of the town, scattered among ethnic Romanians. The third ethnic group is that of the Lipovans, who have in the center of the town a church of theirOld Believers Christian branch.
According to data provided by Romanian officials in 2017, the population of Vaslui was 100,170. The substantial increase compared to the2011 census figures is because tens of thousands of dual citizens from neighboringMoldova come to Vaslui for their identity documents, where a Vaslui address is listed.[4]
Vaslui has several neighborhoods: 13 Decembrie, Ana Ipătescu, Castanilor, Copou, Delea, Alecu Donici, Gheorghe Racoviță, Green Park, Gura Bustei and Traian.
The main industries are textiles (clothing and knitted wear) and food (baked goods, vegetable oil, meat, dairy). There are also a number of shopping centers and supermarkets.
TheVaslui railway station [ro] is located in the south of the city. Originally designed byAnghel Saligny, it opened in 1886. The station was renovated in 2013.
In the city, public transport is provided by buses and taxis. In July 1994, atrolleybus line opened. It closed in July 2009, reopening in August 2016.[5]
^"EU funds Romanian trolley revival"Buses issue 738 September 2015 page 25
^*M. E. Ravage (2009) [1936]. "Pt. V, 'Postscript: Twenty Years Later'".An American in the Making: The Life Story of an Immigrant. Harper Modern Classics.ISBN978-0-8135-4537-0.JSTORj.ctt5hhx2m.
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