Fălticeni

Fălticeni (Falticsén) is a city in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Moldavia. Fălticeni is the second largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 24,619 inhabitants, according to the 2011 census. It was declared a municipality in 1995, along with two other cities in Suceava County: Rădăuţi and Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Fălticeni covers an area of 28,76 km², of which 25% are orchards and lakes, and it administers two villages: Şoldăneşti and Ţarna Mare. It was the capital of former Baia County (1929-1950). The city is known for the high number of Romanian writers, artists and scientists who were born, lived, studied or have created here.

Geography
Fălticeni is located in the southern part of Suceava County, 25 km away from Suceava, the capital of the county. The European route E85 crosses the city. Fălticeni is connected to the Romanian national railway system, through Dolhasca train station (24 km away). The city of Roman is 80 km south, on E85 road.

History
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 was bombed by the Bolsheviks during World War I.

Between 1929-1950 Fălticeni was the capital of former Baia County. From 1950 to present the city is part of Suceava County.

Demographics
Fălticeni reached its peak population in 1992, when almost 33,000 people were living within the city limits.

According to the 2011 census data, 24,619 inhabitants lived in Fălticeni, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census, when the city had a population of 29,787 inhabitants. In 2011, of the city total population, 98.15% were ethnic Romanians, 0.76% Roma, 0.75% Russians and Lipovans, 0.07% Hungarians, 0.04% Germans, 0.02% Ukrainians and 0.01% Poles.

Fălticeni is the second most populated city in Suceava County, after the county capital.

Culture
There are four museums in Fălticeni. Muzeul de Artă "Ion Irimescu" (Ion Irimescu Art Museum) houses the largest collection of works of art by a single artist, Ion Irimescu, one of Romania's greatest sculptors and sketchers, as well as a member of the Romanian Academy. The museum building is a historic monument, dating from the middle of the 19th century and had various destinations until 1974, when it was given to the art museum. In 1974 Ion Irimescu took the initiative to establish the museum, at first as a department of the Town Museum and made some donations. Later the value of the collection grew, currently being the richest author collection, and in 1991 an independent museum emerged. It comprises the most representative works by the sculptor Ion Irimescu: 313 sculptures and 1000 drawings: portraits, compositions, monument project carried out in the rondebosse or alterorelief technique, in gypsum, wood, terracotta, marble, bronze works of graphics especially donated to the museum by the author. The museum also includes the artist's personal library (1500 volumes).

Muzeul Apelor "Mihai Băcescu" (Mihai Băcescu Water Museum) was founded in 1982 by the Romanian zoologist Mihai Băcescu, who was also a member of the Romanian Academy. This museum of natural sciences represents the enhancement and the development of the first museum established in Fălticeni, in 1914, by the professor Vasile Ciurea.

Fălticeni is the hometown of the Lovinescu family, which 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. The Lovinescu family contributed to founding a memorial museum in Fălticeni, Galeria Oamenilor de Seamă (Notable People House). The museum was opened in 1972 and represents a synthesis of the city's cultural and intellectual life.

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. Casa memorială "Mihail Sadoveanu" (Mihail Sadoveanu Memorial House) is a museum founded in 1987 in Fălticeni, in the house where Mihail Sadoveanu lived and created between 1909-1918.

Economy
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. Most of these industries have died down after the Communist era.

Natives

 * Costin Anton - painter
 * Ionuţ Atodiresei - kickboxer
 * Aurel Băeşu - painter
 * Grigore Vasiliu Birlic - actor
 * Jules Cazaban - actor, director
 * Ion Dragoslav - writer
 * Nicu Gane - writer, politician
 * Arthur Gorovei - writer, folklorist, ethnographer
 * Ştefan S. Gorovei - historian
 * Sofia Ionescu - neurosurgeon
 * Ion Irimescu - sculptor, sketcher
 * Alexandru Lambrior - folklorist
 * Dimitrie Leonida - engineer, scientist
 * Eugen Lovinescu - literary historian, literary critic, novelist
 * Vasile Lovinescu - esoterist
 * Constantin Schumacher - footballer
 * Vasile Maftei - footballer
 * Maria Olaru - gymnast
 * Teodor Tatos - painter, writer, lawyer