Botoșani: Eminescu's Homeland in Northern Moldavia
Travel guide · editorialA trip to Botoșani is a literary journey: Botoșani County in northeastern Romania is where the national poet Mihai Eminescu grew up, and the composer George Enescu also came from here. The landscape is hilly and quiet, and the county seat has a well-kept historic center.
Hill Country Between Two Rivers
The county lies in the far northeast of the country, framed by the Siret River to the west and the Prut River to the east, which forms the border with the Republic of Moldova; to the north it borders Ukraine. Gentle hills, farmland, ponds, and small woods shape the landscape of the Moldavian Plateau. The large Stânca-Costești reservoir lies on the Prut. The region is rural in character, many people make their living from farming, and the pace of life is unhurried.
Botoșani, Ipotești, and Sights
Mihai Eminescu was born in Botoșani in 1850 and spent his childhood in the nearby village of Ipotești. Today the family's memorial house stands there, with a museum, a park, and the lake the poet described in his verses; it is the county's most important destination. In the city of Botoșani, the restored old town quarter is worth a visit, with its 19th-century merchants' houses where Armenian and Jewish traders once lived. Stephen the Great had the Popăuți Church built in 1496; it shows the typical Moldavian style with brick ornamentation. The historian Nicolae Iorga was also born in the city. George Enescu was born in 1881 in a village that now bears his name; a memorial house commemorates him. From Botoșani, the famous painted monasteries of Bukovina can be reached in about an hour by car.
Food, Getting There, and Best Time to Visit
The cuisine is typically Moldavian: sour borscht soups, sarmale in cabbage leaves, mutton pastrami, cheese pastries, and sweet cozonac on holidays. The best time to visit is from May to September; in winter, temperatures are cold in the continental manner. On Eminescu's birthday, January 15, readings and celebrations take place in Botoșani and Ipotești. The nearest airport is Suceava; by car, you can reach Botoșani via Suceava or Iași, and rail connections are rather slow.