Bârlad

Bârlad stands on the river of the same name in the southern Moldavian highlands. It developed as a market and customs centre by the early fifteenth century, when documents of Alexander the Good referred to the locality. The town served the surrounding Lower Country of Moldavia, and princes maintained a court here. Its markets drew merchants from beyond the principality as well as from the nearby countryside.

Stephen the Great issued a document at Bârlad in 1467 and later confirmed the boundaries used by its townspeople. In the sixteenth century it became the seat of the great vornic of the Lower Country, an important officer of the principality. Records of the period show Jewish merchants attending the town's fairs and dealing with local traders. A register of 1591 counted 943 households; a visitor in 1646 described Bârlad as a substantial trading centre. Its princely church was rebuilt under Vasile Lupu and suffered fire and plunder in later conflicts.