Vaslui

Vaslui stands in the valley of the Bârlad, a market and princely residence in Moldavia's Lower Country. Its court served the rulers of the principality in the fifteenth century, when the town became an important administrative centre. The surrounding valleys and roads also placed it in the path of armies approaching from the south.

On 10 January 1475 Stephen the Great defeated an Ottoman army under Hadım Suleiman Pasha at Podul Înalt, south of Vaslui. The victory became one of the most celebrated episodes of his reign. Stephen later rebuilt his residence and founded the Church of Saint John the Baptist in 1490. He returned to the town repeatedly and in 1495 issued a document there marking the twentieth anniversary of the victory. The church remains a witness to the years when Vaslui was closely tied to the Moldavian court.