Fălticeni

Fălticeni is a city in Suceava County, Romania, capital of the former Baia County (1929-1950). As of 2003 the population is 28,899, and the city covers an area of 28,76 km², of which 25% are orchards and lakes. The city is 25 km away from Suceava, the capital of the county.

The earliest written mention of the village Folticeni is from March 1490, and the second from March 1554, when Moldavian Prince Alexandru Lăpuşneanu awarded the estate and the village bearing the aforesaid name to Moldoviţa Monastery.

Fălticeni was first mentioned as an urban settlement in August 1780 as Târgul Şoldăneşti (Town of Şoldăneşti), after the name of a local boyar's estate, in a document issued by the chancellery of Prince Constantin Moruzi. In March 1826, an edict issued by Prince Ioan Sturdza changed the name of the town to Fălticeni.

Fălticeni houses the largest collection of works of art by a single artist, Muzeul de Artă "Ion Irimescu" (The Ion Irimescu Art Museum).

Fălticeni is also the hometown of the Lovinescu family, who gave Romania four of its most distinguished men of letters of the 20th century: literary critic Eugen Lovinescu, playwright Horia Lovinescu, esoterist Vasile Lovinescu and novelist Anton Holban.

Classics of Romanian literature, such as Ion Creangă, Mihail Sadoveanu, Vasile Alecsandri, or Nicolae Labiş, at some point in their life linked their name with that of the city by both studying and living in Fălticeni.

The main industries of the city are chemical manufacture, hand-made glass, manufacturing soft drinks, clothing, and wood products. Also the fishing industry is one of the oldest base industry in the city.