Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University has its main seat in the University Palace (Building A), at Bulevardul Carol I no. 11 in the Copou district of Iași. The university was inaugurated on 26 October 1860 (7 November in the new calendar) in the presence of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, whose name it bears, and its first rector was Ion Strat. It is regarded as the first modern university in Romania and traces its origins to the Academia Mihăileană, founded in 1834 by Gheorghe Asachi. From 1860 to 1897 the university was housed in the Calimachi Palace, now occupied by the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The University Palace was built between 1893 and 1897 to designs by the architect Louis Blanc and was inaugurated in 1897 in the presence of King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth; it was extended in the interwar period. The building combines Classical and Baroque elements, and part of it is used by the Gheorghe Asachi Technical University, with which the university is in a legal dispute over the ownership of Building A. The main entrance leads into the Hall of Lost Steps (Sala Pașilor Pierduți), decorated by the painter Sabin Bălașa between 1968 and 1978 with the mural cycle "Galaxia Iubirii" (The Galaxy of Love), covering about 270 square metres. The works include "Aspirație", "Omagiu întemeietorilor", "Ștefan cel Mare", "Moldova", "Prometeu", "Icar", "Exodul spre lumină" and the triptych "Luceafărul". In 2026 the press reported the paintings to be in an increasingly advanced state of deterioration. The university today has 15 faculties and numerous research centres. Its Copou campus also includes the University Museum, and the Anastasie Fătu Botanical Garden in Iași likewise belongs to the university.