Moinești (; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county there a ...

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 ...

, with a population of 19,728 . Its name is derived from the

Romanian-language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

word ''moină'', which means "

fallow Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store Organic compound, organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting ...

" or "light rain". Moinești once had a large

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community, and in 1899 about half of the population was Jewish; in Jewish contexts the name is often given as ''Mojnescht'' or "Monesht". The city administers one village, Găzărie.

Location

The city is situated in the foothills of the

Tarcău Mountains The Tarcău Mountains (, ) are a mountain range, part of the Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians of the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The range is located between the latitudes 46°25′ and 46°57′ N and between the longitudes 25°52′ and 26°28 ...

, at an altitude of , on the banks of the river Tazlăul Sărat. It is located in the northwestern part of Bacău County, west of the county seat,

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

. Moinești is crossed by

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

, which connects it to Bacău (where it ends in DN2) and to nearby Comănești (where it ends in ).

History

First mentioned in 1467, the locality was listed among the

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

n villages on the ''Bawer map'' of 1783. A '' târg'' was first attested in this location in 1832; it had 188 houses and 588 inhabitants. In 1921, Moinești was designated a ''comună urbană'' ("urban commune"), with its own coat of arms and local administration, but a step short of being considered a city. It became a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in 2002. The 2011 census counted 20,855 inhabitants. At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 19,728. There are two secondary schools in Moinești: the Spiru Haret Theoretical High School and the Grigore Cobălcescu Technical College.

Economy

The area around Moinești is rich in natural resources such as

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, salt, and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Moinești experienced a steady economic growth thanks to the large petroleum extracting industry. After 1990, however, following the nationwide industry

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, Moinești's economy changed dramatically, at some points reaching level of unemployment of over 20%.

Dada monument

In 1996, a monument was built in the town in honor of

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...

, the Moinești-born founder of

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

. It was created from concrete and steel by the German-Romanian sculptor Ingo Glass It is 25 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, and 10 meters high and it weighs 120 tons.

Tourism

Tourist attractions in Moinești include: Băi Park (with healing mineral waters), Pine Tree Park, Ghindaru Hill (where archaeologists discovered artefacts of the pre- Cucuteni culture, over 5,000 years old), the Dada Monument (dedicated to Tristan Tzara), Cetățuia (Dacian fortified city archaeologically certified), and the Jewish Cemetery (where the oldest tombstone with recognisable text dates back to 1692).

People

* Alexandru Barna (born 1993), footballer * Robert Căruță (born 1996), footballer * Lăcrămioara Filip (born 1973), gymnast * Vasile Gherasim (1950 – 2020), politician * Alexandru Margină (born 1993), footballer * Nestor Rateș (born 1933), journalist, Head of Romanian Desk of Radio Free Europe 1989, 1994–2002 * Moses Rosen (1912 – 1994), Chief

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

of Romania from 1948 to 1994 * (1854 – 1938), born Moșe David Iancovici, early Zionist and founder of Rosh Pinna *

(1896 – 1963), writer and founder of

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

References

Populated places in Bacău County Localities in Western Moldavia Jewish communities in Romania Cities in Romania Market towns in Moldavia {{Jewish-hist-stub