Places

The Danube European Commission Palace was built between 1895 and 1896, apparently after the plans of the engineers C.F. Robesco and R. Effingham Grant. In this building you could find the General Secretariat, the archive and the library, and plenary sessions were held. The Danube European Commison operated in this area until its dissolution in 1948. Since 1968 the building has been hosting the County's Library "V.A. Urechia". In front of the library the bust of the builder, V. A. Urechia, was unveiled in 1971, and it was carved in stone by the sculpture Nicolae Pascu-Goia, using big plans, the portret is expressive and suggests dignity, strength and profound internal unrest. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; http://www.edj.ro/; https://www.facebook.com/bibliotecagalati/

Biblioteca a fost deschisa in anul 2001, are 16 000 de documente si peste 7000 de cititori. Scopul institutiei este de a promova cultura franceza si cultura in general. Fundatia Eugène Ionesco, care sustine activitatea bibliotecii, poseda doua cladiri in care biblioteca isi desfasoara activitatea. La bibliothèque a été ouverte pour le public en 2001, elle a 16 000 documents et plus de 7000 lecteurs. Le but de l'institution est de promouvoir la culture française et la culture en général. La fondation Eugène Ionesco, qui soutient l'activité de la bibliothèque, est la propriétaire des deux immeubles dans lesquels la bibliothèque déroule son activité.

The oldest medieval church in Galati, subjected to many human hazards, but preserving the first form in which it rose on the spur of the hill since the eighteenth century. Being dependent of the Metropolitan Church of Proilavia, the edifice captures the dual utility (ecclesiastical and military) and the ingenious way in which the brick and stone, originating from the Roman Barbosi camp, blends in a synthesis of glorious history and Christian spirituality.

19th-century monumental and significant construction of what the Greek community of Galati meant. The monument is part of an architectural ensemble, to which the Agora has recently been added.

Mavromol Church (from Greek works meaning “black rock”) from Galați has the patron “Adomirea Maicii Domnului” (the Assumption), and its construction was begun by the ruler Gheorghe Duca during his third reign in Moldova (1678-1683) and finished by his son, the ruler Constantin Duca in 1702. This church was dedicated to Mavromol Skite from Constantinopol. After it was burned down by the Turcs in 1736, Grigore Duca, the son of Costantin Duca, dedicated this church to Iași Mitropoly. The current building dates from 1858-1861 and respects the original plan, although the original style has been altered by the introduction of apses, buttresses, windows and niches. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; http://www.biserici.org/Bogdan Frunză

Testimony of the presence of a Catholic community in the city, the cathedral building impresses with its romantic and cross-shaped architecture and a still functional pipe organ, the first of its kind in the city of Galati.

The Church of St. Dumitru was built by Vasile Lupu, ruler of Moldavia (1634 – 1653). There is no information about the exact year when it was built, but the Catholic missionary Petru Bogdan Bakšic (Deodato), who was in Galaţi in September, the 22nd 1641, notes that in the city "there is a large and beautiful church built by the ruler and dedicated to St. Dumitru, the martyr". The church was built with brick and stone taken from Barboși Castrum, the church was dedicated to the Vatoped Monastery from Mount Athos, built by the same ruler. The construction of the church can be related to the bringing in the relics of St. Paraschiva, which the ruler had received in 1640 from the Patriarchy of Constantinople for the great money help he had provided. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; http://www.edj.ro/

The Church St. George from Galați was built in 1897 and sanctified in May, the 27th 1897 by Partenie Clinceni, the Bishop of the Lower Danube. The name of the church was inspired by another Church of St. George that was built in 1664, near the Danube River, close to the Church Precista (The Church of the Virgin) which at that moment was gradually collapsing. Since the people in the parish were plowmen, carriers, andcattle breeders, the second patron was St. Patriarch Modest of Jerusalem (5th century), the animals’ protector. The third patron, St. Ecaterina (Catherine), was added in 1929. Representatives for the Church of St. Gheorghe, Modest and Ecaterina in Galați are the big tower, the iconostasis, the special painting style, and the wonderful embroidered epitaph. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; http://www.edj.ro/

In 1776, Mihai Racovită, the ruler, built the Church of St. Nicholas and dedicated to St Ecaterina from Sinai Mountain Monastery. The church was small and was built after a triconch plan. The construction year is engraved on the foundations and on the nowdays church’s floor. The Church of St. Nicholas has a ship shape plan, divided by two rows of collomns. The west wall and on the first two octagonal columns in the church sustain the Pantocrator Tower with a circular section. The iconostas is wood carved and separates the altar apse from the rest of the church. The painting was refurbished after 1980 in very loud colors. On the outside, the church has several Greek decorative elements: Doric columns, triangular pediments, and denticles. The foundation is made of river boulders, the masonry of brick, the roof truss of wood, and the cover is made of sheet metal. Text and photo sources: //galatituristic.ro/; http://www.biserici.org/

Built at the beginning of the XIX century, St. Spiridon Church has elements specific to the Moldavian religious architecture. The church was built after a triconch plan, with four buttresses and includes a closed porch, covered with a spherical cap and the slightly elongated nave over which there is a tower that reproduces the image of Jesus Pantocrator. Two large towers, with a square base from the wall and continued with timber, rise above the porch and over the nave. On the outside, you can admire a middle girdle of bricks placed on the church’s corners, the same ornamental motif repeating itself at the base of the towers. The foundation of the church was made of river boulders, and a masonry brick over a meter thick, with a sheet of casing and sustained by a roof truss. Over time, the church was subject to several interventions. Just like the other churches in Galați, the church of St. Spiridon was burnt in 1821. The most valuable elements of the church are the rood screen and the icons. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; https://www.viata-libera.ro

Sfinții Voievozi Church was built between 1857 and 1963 on the highest point of the city, therefore dubbed "Catedrala din deal"(Cathedral from the hill). With an impressive architecture, the church was designed according to the Bolgrad Cathedral plan, at the suggestion of the Bishop Melchisedec Ştefănescu (the first Bishop of the Lower Danube, in 1864), and it is about to become the Cathedral of Galați county. The sanctum was built on the cemetery of the former public hospital, where are buried the bodies of the Russian soldiers fallen on the battlefields in the Russian-Turkish wars, starting with the one from 1806-1812 and ending with the Crimean War (1853-1856). In recent years, the Sfinții Voievozi Church has been restored capitally for the third time, and in 2011 the Church was resanctified. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro/

Vovidenia Church from Galați county, having the patronage of the Entrance of Our Lady to the Church, was built in 1790 by the old governor Ion Cârja, and in the same year was sanctified by the archpriest G. Avram. The church was built using a triconch plan with architectural and decorative elements specific to the Moldavian religious architecture. The narthex is covered with a semi-circular vault, and the nave is covered by the Pantocrator Tower, and above the altar another smaller tower is rising. On the exterior, the church has a belt made of medial girdle consisting of two rows of bricks placed on the corner. The cornice is decorated with niches. The foundation is made of river boulders and concrete, the masonry is made of bricks, the framing is made of wood and the coating is made of sheet-metal. The bell tower on the porch is an addition from 1901. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro/; http://www.edj.ro/

Proiectată inițial ca locuință, construcția în stil eclectic, cu elemente plastic-decorative de origini neoclasiciste de origini franceze, a fost închiriată în perioada 1897–1906 pentru sediul Pârcălăbiei/Prefecturii judeţului Covurlui. În lungul șir de proprietari se remarcă Evstratie Ivan Geshov, care provenea dintr-o familie puternică de bancheri şi negustori bulgari, iar la momenul moștenirii imobilului, era ministru de finanțe al Bulgariei. Putem spune că această clădire emblematică a renăscut după 150 de ani, și-a redobândit strălucirea de altădată și a fost redată comunității, după lucrările ample de restaurare pe care le-am derulat cu fonduri europene.

In more than half a century, the Orthodox community of Galati was rewarded with an impressive Cathedral, with elements of neo-Romanian style and original interior fresco. The monument today is founded by King Ferdinand I of Hohenzollern -Sigmaringen and Queen Mary.

The building of the current National College "Costache Negri" was built between 1898 and 1902, and its inauguration took place in March 1902, in the presence of Spiru Haret, the Minister of Cults and Public Instruction. The building is a „Spiru Haret" typical school, with 16 classrooms, laboratories, festivities hall, kitchen, dining room and bedrooms. To increase the tuition space, after 1980, the bedrooms were divided and transformed into classrooms. On the pediment is the bust of Costache Negri, and in front of the school is placed the bust of Professor Nicolae Longinescu, the first director of the institution, a work made by the sculptor Dumitriu Bârlad. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; https://www.face-book.com/Colegiul.National.Costache.Negri.Galati/

The local National College "Vasile Alexandri" was built between 1888 and 1890. The place on which you can find it today was bought by the City Hall (the mayor being C. Ressu, the father of the painter Camil Ressu) from Mrs. Elpinica Hristudor Alexandri. In front of the school you can find Vasile Alexandri's bust, made by the sculptor Gheorghe Terescenco using a photo of the poet from 1863. Near you can find on the left V.A. Urechia's bust, the founder of the public library from Galați, and on the right Ioan Cetățianu's bust, the first principal of this prestigious institution and professor here between 1876 and 1896. Text and photo source: http://galatituristic.ro/; https://www.facebook.com/CNVAgalati

Grand Hotel is a construction from the beginning of the XX century and was built at the initiative of the great owner Elie (Ilie) Climi (Climis) and is part of the group of 18 hotels built in the Galaţi during that century, along with the new stimulus of commercial life in the famous harbor of the Danube. Grand Hotel is a building in a composite style, with neoclassical and baroque decoration elements. As architectural elements, there are two bowindows, symmetrically arranged in front of the main entrance, and richly decorated, framed with vertical ornaments with geometic and floral elements and highlighted in the eaves by semi-circular decorative fronts. The main entrance is highlighted by the presence of the two balconies of honor, disposed at the level of the two floors, framed with decorative columns identical to those of the two bowindows. The decorations of the window frames on the two floors and the cornice also stands up. The north and south facades are decorated according to the models designed by the local architects, which seek to ensure a connection between the main and the secondary facade, oriented towards Logofat Tăutu Street. After the IInd World War, the building was the headquaters of the Communist Party Administration, and after 1990 it became the headquarters of Galați City Hall. Text and photo sources: http://galatituristic.ro; http://www.galatiidealtadata.volte.ro/; https://adevarul.ro

Today, an integrated construction of the "Dunărea de Jos" University, built by the Catholic Church and led by the Carmelite Order, the girls' school, with the status of a maiden pension, was one of the best performing institutions of its kind.

The building of the Galati Collection House, built in 1900, was inserted into the Galați residents' consciousness under the name Ținc Pharmacy (listed in the Historical Monuments List at GL-II-mB-03045), and imposed itself in the architectural landscape of the city of Galaţi - specific to the beginning of the century XX -by defining stylistic elements its initial destination was to be a pharmacy and a residence. The farmacy operated at the groud floor of the building, while the upper floors were the pharmacist's residence and space allocated to the service staff. The building operated as a pharmacy until 1989, when a technical expertise disposed of the evacuation for safety reasons. The restoration of the building takes place between 1994 and 2006, through the financing of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs and the Council of Galați County. The museum hosts indoor exibitions and memorial collections, like the "George Maksay" collections - supplier of the Royal Court and luxury photographer of Galați, and "Smaranda Brăescu" - the first parachutist woman with a brevet from Romania, born in Buciumeni commune from nowdays Galațicounty. Text and photo sources: http://www.migl.ro/; https://ro.wikipedia.org/

Manorial house, that later - in 1939 -became a museum, precisely because it belonged to the Cuza family and because it was inhabited by the Chief Magistrate of Galati, the future Lord of the Little Union in 1859.

The two sections of the museum are placed on one side of this Danubian Agora: old history and lapidarium, with relics and othertestimonies about the millennial civilization of the place.

The building situated in an ensemble including the statue of ruler Alexandru loan Cuza and the Public Garde is now a museum that impresses with the sober elegance of the building and the religious relics present in the exhibition halls. As an episcopal cathedral, the palace was inaugurated in the presenceof the royal family and the governors of the time.

This sleek and elegant creation of architect Ion Mincu was designed to celebrate a history that ultimately has been accomplished through the Great Union on 1st of December 1918.

Today the headquarters of "Dunarea de Jos" University — is a monumental building with a spectacular hall of lost steps, with elements of Romanian medieval architecture, the first significant building in the series of edifices built at the beginning of the 20th century on the axis of Domneasca Street.

A monumental building, built in the old port of Galati, the economic lung of medieval Moldavia meant to slenderly and elegantly celebrate the beneficial vecinity of the Danube, a point of departure and arrival, sometimes adventurous, and sometimes full of romanticism.

Port and trade fair, the old Galati excelled with inns, because from here the water roads to the East and the West began and also the land to Moldavia and Muntenia. From such an inn, situated on the land road leading to the North, there is still a gateway, and beneath the ground, enormous cellars for wine barrels.

The Jews were concerned, from the beginning of their settlement,with their religion. At first, they met in prayer homes installed in residential homes and then by building synagogues by different categories of parishioners who were frequenting them. Thus, in 1780, the Great Synagogue was set up and also a mikwe with a steam bath was installed. The Great Synagogue also functioned as headquarters for the first Jewish Community in Galati (epitropia).

An impressive donation of books and documents belonging to V. A. Urechia needed a building to make them worthwhile. Thus, between World War I and World War II, the Athenaeum was built. Initially designed to be a multifunctional cultural center, today is one of Galati theaters.