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The symbol of Iași is the Palace of Culture, a neo-Gothic architectural masterpiece, built between 1906 and 1925 on the ruins of the old Princely Court of Moldova. The statue of the most important and long-lived ruler of Moldavia, Stefan cel Mare, was unveiled in 1883 in front of the former Administrative Palace. The French sculptor’s work, Emmanuel Frémiet, has spawned controversy since his inauguration, the bearded character with a Catholic crown being denied by many. For a long time, the townspeople believed it was a mistake in the delivery of the statue, the one of Stefan being sent to Krakow, and that of a Polish voivode to Iași. However, it was proved that the prince’s appearance was not well known at that time, and the sculptor worked after a sketch made by Gheorghe Asachi. The personalities of the time, including the historian Nicolae Iorga, the poet Mihai Eminescu, and the bishop of Roman Melchisedec Ştefănescu challenged the appearance of the statue and even showed in Parliament the serious mistake that affected the image of Iaşi, but the statue remained unchanged. The bronze monument is 4.5 m tall and stands on a pink Carrara marble socket. On the sides of the socket are two bas-reliefs of famous battles – the „Podu Înalt” (high-bridge) – 1475 and Codrii Cosminului (Cosmin Woods) – 1497. Next to the statue there are two Krupp canons captured during the 1877 Independence War, marking the end of the Ottoman struggle that Stephen the Great had begun.
The square in front of the Palace is extremely generous in size. Here, in the communist period, meetings were held in honour of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Today concerts, festivals and fairs are held here. Not accidentally, most of the active events start at Palace Square. Whether we are talking about urban running competitions, the monthly meeting of cyclists, the Statue of Stephen the Great is the epicentre of active movements in Iaşi and its surroundings.
“Iasi Semi-Marathon” is an urban running competition that takes place in April and promotes the movement and a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this event is to raise funds to support humanitarian causes. Hundreds of runners of all ages join the competition, and companies in the city are encouraged to form teams of employees to represent them. There is also “Company Cross” for private companies, an international initiative that is already attended by five countries: Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, joined in 2017 by South Africa and the Netherlands. There are also other running competitions organized in the city during the year, such as: “Cross for Schools”, “Cross for Life”, “Cross of Iasi”, “Colour Run”, and “Iasi in the trail” in the Bârnova-Repedea forest area.
“Skirt bike” is a quiet ride on bicycle, preferably in a feminine outfit, to which all ladies that frequently ride their bicycle are invited. This event completes the monthly one, addressed to all cyclists, called “Critical Mass”. The role of these events is to show the authorities that the number of cyclists is on the rise, and that drivers need to pay more attention when meeting cyclists in traffic. Of the cycling events organized in Iasi, most of them are located on the hills of the city. The city hosts the “Ice wheels” contest in the Ciric forest, “Cetăţuia XCO” in Cetăţuia forest, “Uphill Contest” organized on the Copou ski slope and various competitions in the Bârnova-Repedea forest, such as “Tour of Iaşi”.
The proposed active route starts at “Stephen’s Statue”. The dominant position of the Palace opens in the back a perspective of three of the seven hills of Iaşi, and the first on the active route is Galata.
2. Galata Hill – Galata Monastery