Galați - the city blessed by the Danube
Galaţi - The City Blessed by the DanubeLegends have been made to be said over generations. Coming from the meanders of a history as old as the Danube itself, Galaţi passes through time with the firmness of a land loaded with legends, but anchored in our times, like the commercial ships on the bank of the river that gave its fame. Either you call it a city of lindens or Galaţi, a terrible city of merchants, as the poet Barbu Nemţeanu called it in a line, you cannot help being wrapped in its charm.
It is one of the most important ports on the Danube, but it is also flanked by Siret and Prut rivers. The borough with documentary attestation in 1445, after a tumultuous history of nearly 600 years, is today the city where tradition harmoniously mixes with innovation. Dunărea de Jos University is a pole of excellence in education, but it is also the second largest employer in the region.
The second half of the 20th century brought Galați the prestige of an industrial centre of European importance. This is how the steel plant, the shipyard or the mineral port appeared. However, the local economy is supported by other several hundred strong firms from the small industry.
In Galați there is the first statue in Romania depicting the poet Mihai Eminescu, made by the sculptor Frederic Storck in 1911. The cultural space is completed by Fani Tardini Drama Theatre, “Nae Leonard” Opera and Operetta National Theatre and by V.A. Urechia Library - institutions operating in monumental buildings in the city centre. The Administrative Palace is impressive, but also the new headquarters of the City Hall, inaugurated in 2017.
Precista Fortified Church is the oldest historical monument in Galaţi, built in the middle of the 17th century, during the reign of Vasile Lupu. It is, however, only one of the places of worship that make Galaţi the most powerful centre of orthodoxy at Dunărea de Jos/ the Lower Danube.
And when every symbol patiently waits to tell its story, the whole land rises in legend. Galati, the city blessed by the Danube!