Galați

Galați stands on the lower Danube near the mouths of the Siret and Prut. Its position made it a river port for Moldavia, linking the principality's inland markets with shipping towards the Black Sea. The first securely attested mention of the town comes from a document of 1445 concerning a dispute over goods taken from its port. Earlier settlements and a Roman fort at nearby Bărboși had guarded a crossing of the Danube.

After the Ottomans captured Chilia and Cetatea Albă in 1484, Galați grew in importance as an outlet remaining to Moldavia. Merchants gathered at its wharves and market, and Dimitrie Cantemir later described it as a famous centre of Danubian trade. Its wealth also attracted armies: the town suffered during the wars that crossed Moldavia in the eighteenth century. In 1821 Greek revolutionaries associated with the Filiki Eteria fought Ottoman forces at Galați, bringing the uprising to the river port.

The Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 altered the conditions of Danubian trade and helped open a new period of growth. Galați received free-port status in 1837. From its quays the port served a broad region of fields and market towns. The river remained the foundation of the town's prosperity, carrying the produce of the interior towards the sea and bringing merchants from other shores to Moldavia.