Consideraţii cu privire la un plan rusesc al Focşanilor (1828)

Laurenţiu RĂDVAN

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2025-0011

Abstract: Among the plans discovered at Military-Historical Archive in Moscow is one drawn up by Russian surveyors in the first year of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829. After working in Iaşi and Galaţi, the specialists moved to Focşani, where not one but two towns (one for each country) had developed at the customs post on the border between Moldavia and Wallachia, separated only by a branch of the Milcov River. Of the two, Focşanii Moldoveni was more developed, as evidenced by the larger number of churches. The surveyors led by first-class surveyor Rujiţki covered not only the area of the two towns, but also the surrounding territory, including several neighboring villages. The urban space is captured primarily with the main buildings, i.e., churches and monasteries; added to this is the built environment, houses and shops made of stone and wood, without naming the owners. There are a few errors when identifying some churches, due to the fact that they had identical patron saints (there are no fewer than five churches dedicated to St. Nicholas in the two towns), a situation that can be explained by the short time available to the surveyors; however, the locals knew the churches very well and identified them by their founders and neighborhoods. The main streets (uliţe) and neighborhoods (mahalale) are noted. The number of courtyards is given, both in the two Focşani (a total of 1,579, of interest because they were taxable units) and in the neighboring villages. The hydrography of the area is also well captured. The plan is valuable in that it captures the two towns of Focşani before the modernization process triggered by the Organic Regulation, adopted in 1831-1832.

Keywords: Focşani; Moldavia; historical cartography; plan; Rujiţki.