Siret

Siret is a town in Suceava County in northeast Romania. The town is on the right bank of the Siret River and borders to Ukraine at North. The town has 9.400 inhabitants consisting of ethnic Romanians, Ukrainians ,Poles and Germans. At the beginning of the Twentieth century there was a prominent Jewish community, but most have now emigrated to Israel. Other denominations in the town are Romanian Orthodox, Greco Catholic, Romano Catholic and Protestant.

The town of Siret is part of the historical region of Moldavia, one of three Princedoms that formed the old state of Romania. The town's location is known as the Old High Country, (a designation attached to Moldavia centuries ago) and as Bukovina. The name Bukovina (or Beech Country) was designated by the Austrian empire to the regionfollowing annexation. In time, this term has become a familiar one and it is very common nowadays

Siret is the oldest urban centre from Moldova and one of the most oldest towns in Romania.Betwwen 1354-1388 Siret was the capital of Moldavia princedom.Our town preserves different monuments of great cultural value and touristic amusement. Among the most important monuments of the town,we can mention

• Saint Trinity Church,built between 1354-1358.This was the royal church in the period when Siret was the capital of Moldavia.It is known as an architectural monument,being a model for all the churches built in Moldavia till 1500.This church is part of the national heritage. In Siret there are two old churches built around 1670,on the place of another churches.
• St. John the Baptist Church is situated in the centre of the town,on the place of a former Roman –Catholic episcopal church between 1371-1572.Due to the anti Catholic politics of the Moldavian princes,around 1600 the Roman Catholic churches lost many parishioners and their source of income,the result being their decay.The church was rebuilt in 1673 by Stefan Petriceicu Voda prince,a good friend of the Polish king and of the Catholic community.
• The same prince built St. Onufrie Church in 1673,on the place of an old church raised in 1560.He was very akin to Siret,being born in a village near the town. Other important monuments are the Jewish cementeries and the synagogue.
• The medieval Jewish cementery is considered ,by some historics, the oldest from the East of Europe. The setting of the town offers favourable touristic conditions.
• The barrier lake is an amusement place,being visited by many fishermen and by those who want to spend their time in nature.There is a forest around the town,too.

We can mention the inter ethnic activities from Siret.Besides the Romanian community,we have Polish,Ukrainian and German representants.Orthodox,Greco-Catholic and Romano-Catholic churches run their course in this area. One of the most important events that gathers all the communities is the holy day –The Christ Baptism,celebrated on the 6th of January.On the bank of Siret river a holy water ceremony takes place,being held by all the ethnic priests.All the local communities happily witness the celebration.There is ,also, a mutual participation of the community,for different ethnic feast days.We are very proud of attaining a good will and reciprocal respect climate in a multiconfessional and multiethnic town. The cultural interethnic activities are centred on the Ukrainian community,the most active in promoting their own culture and values.”Kolomeika”choir develops its activity in Siret,improving not only the Ukrainian culture,but the other ethnic traditions of our town.And,not at least,the nearness to Ukraine( around 3 km to the border) was an encouraging exponent for the Ukrainian cultural activities”. Kolomeika” participated at some different shows,organized by the national television TVR1 ,TVR 2 and at international contests in Italia,Ukraine.You cand find more information on . The Polish community is not very active,but it develops some cultural and educational activities,promoted by the Roman –Catholic church.’Dom Polski’ Polish Association organizes youth camps in Poland every year.Some very good Polish speakers youth from Siret have studied in Poland. The German community,part of the German Democratic Forum, has less activities,but it supports the activity of the German kindergarten. Talking about tourism,we can mention the area near Siret.At 35–40 km from our town, there are two important monasteries: Putna and Sucevita,part of UNESCO heritage.There is a village,nearby Siret,specialized in black pottery objects,taking into account that there are only two places in Europe specialized in this kind of activity. We have,in this area,popular masters whose main activity is the realization of stalked Easter eggs.They were,initially, specific Easter objects,but,nowadays,they are considered set pieces,dur to their artistic beauty, and they decorate our houses. The accommodation offerings are not so generous in the present. An 8 accommodation pension is situated nearby the barrier lake.We have,also, a hotel,but its construction is stopped at the present. At present,this problem was seriously taken into consideration by the local administration.