The best museums Iaşi

In the pretty district of Ţicău, this museum occupies the former home of the famous storyteller (1837-1889). It was in this modest bjodeucă (hovel) that he lived his last years, from 1872 onwards. It was here that he wrote his famous Souvenirs d'enfance(Amintiri din copilărie), an autobiographical account. In fact, he modelled the house on the one he grew up in. In the house, converted into a museum in 1918, you'll see documents relating to his life and work, as well as his friendship with Mihai Eminescu, with whom he briefly shared the premises.

Not far from the Palace of Culture, a little lost on the edge of a wide boulevard lined with massive modern buildings, this brick and stone building, with its arcades, does not go unnoticed. Built in 1677, it housed the printing works of the nearby Orthodox metropolis. They were the city's second-largest printing works. Since 1970, Casa Dosoftei (named after the metropolitan under whom the printing works were founded) has housed the ancient literature section of the Romanian Literature Museum. Important manuscripts are on display.

This splendid house near the university houses a museum of literature. It belonged to Vasile Pogor (1833-1906), founder of the Junimea literary society in 1863. Some of Romania's greatest writers and poets met here, including Caragiale, Rosetti, Creangă and Eminescu. The creation of Junimea, the presence of these writers and the publication throughout the ^19th century of numerous literary journals show just how central Iași was to Romanian cultural life in the late ^19th and early ^20th centuries.

It occupies a superb 1806 palace in the Empire style. It was here, between 1859 and 1862, that Alexandru Ioan Cuza, then ruler of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, lived. Between 1916 and 1918, this palace was also home to King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, who came to seek refuge in Iași during the war. The museum displays objects that belonged to Cuza and others involved in the union. It also presents documents on Romania's ethnic, linguistic and territorial unity. The main attraction is the building, with its richly decorated interiors.