The statuary group of the voivodes

 

The statuary ensemble (designed by the architect Constantin Iotzu, (1933-1934) is located in the park of the Students' House of Culture and represents the following voivodes: Dragoș Vodă and Alexandru cel Bun, Ioan Vodă cel Viteaz and Petru Rareș, Ștefan cel Mare and Mihai The Brave, Vasile Lupu and Dimitrie Cantemir.

 

Initially, in place of Ioan Vodă the Brave, was Carol I, and in place of Petru Rareș was Ferdinand I. The project provided that the eight statues be placed on the pediment of the building that housed the University Foundation "King Ferdinand I" (current Library Central University "M. Eminescu"). Also, the facade was to be decorated with bas-reliefs of kings Ferdinand I, Carol II and Queen Maria. But General Ernest Ballif, the marshal of the Royal House, did not agree with the installation of statuary groups at the top of the building, considering that it would be necessary to strengthen the retaining walls.

 

In July 1933, however, the plaster models were fixed for testing. Visiting Iasi, on November 1, 1933, King Carol II, in November 1933, proposed placing the statuary group in the garden of the Foundation, in a "Gallery of the rulers".

The completion of the construction of the "King Ferdinand I" University Foundation took place the following year, and the statues of the rulers were placed in front of the nearby "Prapa Doamna" Church.

 

In 1970, the eight rulers were moved to the park next to the Student Culture House. At the same time, Ioan Vodă cel Viteaz and Petru Rareş were replaced by Carol I and Ferdinand I.

 

The sculptors of the statuary group are: Ion Jalea (Dragoș Vodă and Mihai Viteazul), Ion Iordănescu (Alexandru cel Bun), Ion C. Dimitriu-Bârlad (Ștefan cel Mare and Dimitrie Cantemir), Mihai Onofrei (Vasile Lupu), Ion Dămăceanu (Petru Rareș ), Iftimie Bârleanu (Ioan Vodă cel Viteaz).