Roman

Roman: Museum of History

Roman, city, Neamț județ (county), northeastern Romania, situated at the confluence of the Moldova and Siret rivers. It was founded by Roman Mușat, ruling prince of Moldavia (1391–94); he referred to it as “our town of Roman” in a letter of 1392. It developed as a small trading settlement on the Siret valley route between Suceava, to the northwest, and the Danube ports. During the reign of Alexander the Good (Alexandru cel Bun, 1400–32), a diocesan residence was located there; among its bishops was the scholar Dosoftei, whose translation of the Psalter (1673) was the first work in Romanian in formal verse. Among the city’s attractions are a 16th-century cathedral; the church of Precista Mare (founded in the 16th century by Princess Ruxandra, wife of Prince Alexandru Lăpușneanu); the remains of the fortifications of Prince Roman Mușat, which stand on the Cetățuia Plateau, and the Museum of History (1957). In addition to a long-established sugar refinery, the city has a pipe- and tube-rolling mill and a building materials factory. Pop. (2007 est.) 69,058.