The statue of Michael the Brave

 

 

Mihai Viteazul (1558 - 1601) is a Romanian ruler who achieved the first union of the Romanian countries (1600). He is considered one of the greatest national heroes of Romania. Starting with the 19th century, Mihai Viteazul is revered by the Romanian nationalists as a symbol of Romanian unity.

On June 1, 1600, he entered Iași as a voivode, and the title he used was: "Lord of Wallachia and Transylvania and of the whole Country of Moldavia".

The idea for this statue came from the war veteran Colonel (r) Iosif Petrescu in 1993, and four years later, with the help of the Iași Branch "Ștefan cel Mare şi Sfânt" of the War Veterans, through a public appeal, the Committee was succeeded. "Iași - 400 - Mihai Viteazul". In this committee the honorary president was His Eminence Daniel, Metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina at that time, president - Academician Constantin Ciopraga and secretary - Colonel (r) C. Popa.

The statue was made between 1999 and 2001 by sculptors Ioan Buzdugan and Pavel Mercea and unveiled in 2002 in the presence of President Ion Iliescu. The artist Ioan Buzdugan did not get to see the final work, which passed to eternal life in the spring of 2000.

Part of the bronze used in the pedestal comes from the monument of the Soviet Soldier, and the initiative to raise the statue belongs to the Association of War Veterans from Iasi.