Iaşi

Iași was a settlement on the Bahlui in northern Moldavia, where long-distance trade routes met. Its name was associated with the Iazyges and Jassi peoples of the Prut region.

In 1408 Prince Alexandru cel Bun granted privileges to Lwów merchants in the town's earliest surviving charter. Around 1564 Alexandru Lăpușneanu moved the Moldavian capital there from Suceava. Vasile Lupu founded a school and press at the Trei Ierarhi Monastery in 1640; it printed Moldavia's first book in 1643. In 1821 Alexandros Ypsilantis raised the banner of Greek independence in Iași.