Buzău

Buzău stands where the river of the same name leaves the Carpathian foothills for the Wallachian plain. Its market drew merchants along routes between the mountains and the lower Danube. Around 1500 Prince Radu the Great established a bishopric here, making the town a religious centre for eastern Wallachia. Its authority extended over Buzău, Râmnicu Sărat, Brăila and Săcuieni, linking the river town with a broad surrounding district.

War repeatedly disturbed Buzău. Ottoman troops devastated it in 1521 amid a struggle for the Wallachian throne, and Polish soldiers plundered and burned houses in 1616, driving many inhabitants to seek shelter in nearby woods. Yet the town remained a place of trade; an English traveller in 1589 described a large settlement of wooden houses. Bulgarian refugees and settlers were recorded here in 1613 and became known for gardening along the watercourses near the town.

In 1691 Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu established a printing press at the bishopric under Bishop Mitrofan. Books for worship and instruction were translated and printed in Romanian, giving Buzău a place in the cultural life of Wallachia. One early publication was Peter Mogila’s Orthodox confession, translated from Greek with the help of the scholar Constantin Cantacuzino. The bishopric's church, schools and press linked the town's religious authority with the education of a wider region.