Royal Court

 

Today, the Royal Court - #totulvafibine

The first attestation of the Royal Court from Iasi is from 1434 in a document in which Stephen II the Voivode offers the boyar Giurgiu from the Royal Council a village, specifying that the property will depend administratively on the Voivodal Court.

The Royal Court played a particularly important economic role for the city of Iași, a role that accelerated the development of the city, especially after the Voivodes of Moldova chose to have (especially in summer) a temporary residence here. During the reign of Stephen the Great, the royal complex was enlarged and in 1492 the church of St. Nicholas was built.

The most important fortification of the Royal Court takes place during the reign of Vasile Lupu in the seventeenth century when the walls of the fortress were to reach 2 m thick. The royal fortification had a pentagonal, star shape and would maintain its geometry until the end of the 18th century. Vasile Lupu also founded the first princely school, across the road, inside the Three Hierarchs Monastery.

The Palace of Ocîrmuirii, as the main building of the voivodship complex was called, underwent significant changes in the following centuries. Numerous fires destroyed the palace in the 18th and 19th centuries, the largest one taking place in 1827. In the time of Grigore Ghica Vodă, a clock tower was added to the palace, and renovations with many Turkish influences took place in Antonie Ruset's time. The shape it has today, with neo-Gothic influences, dates from 1925 and is due to the architect Ion D. Berindey.

Currently, the Palace of Culture, one of the buildings that still exists in the voivodship complex, is an emblem of Romanian culture and is the headquarters of the Moldova Museum Complex.

My colleagues Alex and Florentina are working for this series