Lămuriri finale privind Podul Verde din Iaşi
Clarifications on „Podul Verde” in Iaşi

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with one of the bridges in Iasi in the first half of the 19th century, Podul Verde (the Green Bridge). We do not support an older interpretation, which saw the name of the bridge as being derived from the main street that went up the Copou Hill, which at one point was covered with wood (hence the name of “bridges” – poduri given to this type of street). Podul Verde had existed as a bridge, not built over a river, but rather over one of the many ditches excavated during the Russian occupations of the city. Based on the available information, we believe that it was located on an intermediate ditch, most probably excavated during the occupation of 1789-1792, in the area of the present day National Archives, the Iaşi branch, where it was located until 1833. That year, with the digging of the last ditch surrounding the city – which lasted until the beginning of the 20th century – Podul Verde was moved uphill a few hundred meters, close to the Public Garden. The bridge kept its name for a while, being associated with the barrier that restricted access to the city in that area, but its name had already been extended to the entire Copou street. After 1866, the authorities preferred to give the street the name of the country's new prince, Carol, so the name of Podul Verde slowly left the realm of history and became the stuff of the legend.

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