Alexandru Lapusneanu Street, Iasi (must see)

This promenade, once known as Ulița Sârbească, became a fashionable nineteenth-century meeting place for elites, artists, and intellectuals. Elegant clothing, shop windows, cafés, and confectioneries shaped its atmosphere. One of the best remembered was the Swiss-run Tuffli pastry shop, associated with refined sweets and lively conversation.

The area also carries strong links to national history. The Union Museum preserves the memory of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who used the building as an official residence between 1859 and 1862. During the First World War, when Bucharest was occupied, King Ferdinand and the Romanian government moved their activity to this part of the city, turning the surrounding area into a political center of the country. Nearby, the Hora Unirii, the dance connected with the union of the Romanian principalities, was first danced publicly in 1857.

At one end stands the Grand Hotel Traian, built between 1879 and 1882 and designed by Gustave Eiffel before the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The project was first planned as a national theater, but its high costs ruined the original patron. It was later completed as a hotel, using a modern metal structure hidden behind a neoclassical façade. This connection gives the area an unexpected link to European engineering history.

Today, the promenade keeps a balance between memory and daily life. Historic façades, bookstores, galleries, terraces, and small shops make it an easy place to explore on foot. In warmer seasons, colorful hanging umbrellas add a playful visual layer, while the nearby Râpa Galbenă staircase, built in the late nineteenth century, remains a favorite place for photographs, especially wedding portraits.