Din urmările ocupaţiei ruse în Moldova (1739): cel mai vechi plan al Iaşilor
On the consequences of the Russian occupation in Moldavia (1739): The oldest plan of Iaşi

Summary/Abstract: The city of Iași, capital of the principality of Moldavia, was occupied for the first time by the Russian army in September 1739. Although the occupation was short (only one month), it had fortunate consequences for those interested in the topography of this center: the drawing of the city plan, the oldest preserved, published in a copy by Fedor Fedorovici Laskovskij in 1866. The plan pursued a specific goal, to contribute to the fortification of the city. For Iași, Field Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, the commander of the Russian army, proposed a defense system that – at least in the Copou area – was inspired by the Vauban model. The system had been designed to be part of a larger ensemble designed to protect the positions already achieved by Russians in the northern half of Moldavia. Even if it did not reach its goal, the plan left behind includes important elements related to the city and its surroundings. Because of the short time available to the topographers, the streets of the city were not drawn; instead the plan contains the most representative buildings, the palace of the prince and the churches/monasteries. It is also the only plan that includes the old lake located in the southern part of the city, which disappeared in mid-18th century, and is not present in later plans.

• Details
• Contents