Belcești is a commune in

Iași County Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a cou ...

Western Moldavia Western Moldavia (, ''Moldova de Apus'', or , also known as Moldavia, is the core historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1878, the P ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. One of the county's largest communes, with a population of 10,231 as of 2021, it is composed of six villages: Belcești, Liteni, Munteni, Satu Nou, Tansa, and Ulmi. The commune lies on the

Moldavian Plateau The Moldavian Plateau () is a geographic area of the historical region of Moldavia, spanning nowadays the east and northeast of Romania, most of Moldova (except the south), and most of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine (where it is known as the ''P ...

, at an altitude of , on the banks of the Bahlui River. It is located northwest of the county seat,

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, on the Iași–

Podu Iloaiei Podu Iloaiei is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It has 8,992 inhabitants as of 2021, and was declared a town in 2005. Four villages are administered by the town: Budăi, Cosițeni, Holm, and Scobâlțeni. Geography The town lies ...

–

Hârlău Hârlău (also spelled ''Hîrlău'', ; ; ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It was one of the princely court cities of Moldavia, in the 15th century. One village, Pârcovaci, is administered by the town. Geography The town is ...

line. In the vicinity of Belcești, the important Tansa-Belcești dam was built on the Bahlui River in order to prevent flooding. Most Belcești residents work in agriculture, with fishing another livelihood.

History

Belcești was first mentioned in historical documents in 1420. Belcești's citizens appear again in the historical documents of Moldavia on April 5, 1448, under the reign of

Petru Mușat Petru (Peter) I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivo ...

. On May 12, 1489, Belcești appears in the historical documents of Moldavia with the royal church and court between the villages given by

Stephen the Great Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was List of rulers of Moldavia, Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II of Moldavia, Bogdan II, who was murdered in ...

to the boyars Negrescu and Ivașcu.History
at the Belcești Town Hall site In the documents that are at the State Archives of Iași, it is mentioned that the ruler

Petru Șchiopu Petru Șchiopu (28 April 1947 – 10 October 2014) was a Romanian football midfielder. Club career Petru Șchiopu was born on 28 April 1947 in Pecica, Romania, starting to play football at UTA Arad, making his Divizia A debut on 2 May 1966 in a ...

on 4 February 1579 gave the village of Belcești with all the mills, to

Galata Monastery The Galata Monastery () is a Romanian Orthodox monastery for nuns, founded at the end of the sixteenth century by Moldavian Voivode Petru Șchiopul, in the west of Iași, Romania. The monastery is located on the top of Galata Hill and can be eas ...

in Iași. Another village component of the commune, Ulmi, was also given by Petru Șchiopu to St. Paraskevi Monastery in Iași, but the first document of giving was not preserved. So it is that the first mention about the village of Ulmi appears On August 2, 1597, during the reign of

Ieremia Movilă Ieremia Movilă ( ; c. 1555 – 10 July 1606) was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606. At the time, Moldavia was a vassal province of the Polish-Lituania CommonWealth ...

. This documentary attestation is preceded by various vestiges belonging to older times, such as the coins discovered in Belcești during the reign of

Alexander the Good Alexander I, commonly known as Alexander the Good (; – 1 January 1432) was Voivode of Moldavia between 1400 and 1432. He was the son of Roman I and succeeded Iuga to the throne. As ruler he initiated a series of reforms while consolidating ...

(1400–1432). In the documents arrived to us, it is specified that the decision of these villages was preserved "from the age" suggesting the idea that at the time of their elaboration the villages were old. At first, at its appearance, Belcești was situated at east of the current village Ulmi, and between 1805 and 1820 a part of the inhabitants moved to the left side of Bahlui River forming the village Văleni — the other villages being formed by impropriety and swarming.

References

* ''România – ghid turistic''. Editura Sport-turism, 1983. * ''România – Atlas geografic''. Communes in Iași County Localities in Western Moldavia {{Iaşi-geo-stub