Botoșani

Botoșani is a town in northern Moldavia, rightly counted among the cradles of Romanian culture. Its old merchant centre, with nineteenth-century shops and houses, recalls the days when trade and guilds flourished here. At its heart, the Mihai Eminescu Theatre bears the name of the national poet, forever tied to this land.

Near Botoșani were born two of the country's great spirits. At Ipotești, a few kilometres away, Mihai Eminescu spent his childhood, and the memorial house and its grounds are a place of cultural pilgrimage. At Liveni was born George Enescu, the greatest Romanian composer. For the traveller, Botoșani is a gateway into a deeper Moldavia of poetry, music and memory.