FÃÂlticeni (; ; ; ) is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia. According to the 2021 census, FÃÂlticeni is the third largest urban settlement in the county. It was declared a municipality in 1995, along with two other cities in Suceava County: RÃÂdÃÂuÃÂi and Câmpulung Moldovenesc.
FÃÂlticeni covers an area of , of which 25% are orchards and lakes, and it administers two villages: ÃÂoldÃÂneÃÂti and ÃÂarna Mare. It was the capital of former Baia County (1929âÂÂ1950). The town is known for the high number of Romanian writers, artists, and scientists who were born, lived, studied, or have created here.
FÃÂlticeni is located in the southern part of Suceava County, away from Suceava, the county seat. The European route E85 crosses the city. FÃÂlticeni is connected to the Romanian national railway system, through Dolhasca train station (24 km away). The city of Roman is to the south, on the E85 road.
The town's current local council has the following political composition, according to the results of the 2020 Romanian local elections:
The earliest written mention of the village Folticeni is from March 1490, and the second from March 1554, when Moldavian Prince Alexandru LÃÂpuÃÂneanu awarded the estate and the village bearing the aforesaid name to MoldoviÃÂa Monastery.
FÃÂlticeni was first mentioned as an urban settlement in August 1780 as Târgul ÃÂoldÃÂneÃÂti (ÃÂoldÃÂneÃÂti Market), 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 FÃÂlticeni.
FÃÂlticeni was bombed by the Bolsheviks during World War I.
Before World War I, FÃÂlticeni was the capital of the Romanian Old KingdomâÂÂs Suceava County. After the Union of Bukovina with Romania and an administrative reform from 1925, FÃÂlticeni became the capital of Baia County, remaining as such until 1950. Since the revival of counties in 1968, the city has been part of Suceava County.
In 1921 the Faltishan (Yiddish for FÃÂlticeni) Hasidic dynasty was founded in FÃÂlticeni, by Rabbi Eluzar Twersky, a scion of the Skver Hasidic sect, and part of the prestigious royal Hasidic Twersky family. Today there are Jewish communities in Brooklyn, New York carrying on the name Faltishan, led by Rabbi Twersky's descendants. The Jewish community of Falticeni, unlike those in the other urban communities in the present-day Suceava County, was not deported to Transnistria.
FÃÂlticeni reached its peak population in 1992, when almost 33,000 people were living within the city limits. As of 2016, the town of FÃÂlticeni was the third largest urban settlement in Suceava County, after the county capital, Suceava, and the town of RÃÂdÃÂuÃÂi.
According to the 2011 census data, 24,619 inhabitants lived in FÃÂlticeni, 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 (including Lipovans), 0.07% Hungarians, 0.04% Germans (namely, Regat Germans), 0.02% Ukrainians, and 0.01% Poles.
At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 23,902; of those, 85.26% were Romanians and 1.51% Roma.
There are four museums in FÃÂlticeni. Ion Irimescu Art Museum (Muzeul de ArtÃÂ "Ion Irimescu") 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, 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).
Mihai BÃÂcescu Water Museum (Muzeul Apelor "Mihai BÃÂcescu") was founded in 1982 by the Romanian zoologist Mihai BÃÂcescu, 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 FÃÂlticeni, in 1914, by professor Vasile Ciurea.
FÃÂlticeni 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 FÃÂlticeni, House of Notable People (Galeria Oamenilor de SeamÃÂ). 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 CreangÃÂ, Mihail Sadoveanu, Vasile Alecsandri, and Nicolae LabiÃÂ, at some point in their life linked their name with that of the city by both studying and living in FÃÂlticeni. Mihail Sadoveanu Memorial House (Casa memorialÃÂ "Mihail Sadoveanu") is a museum founded in 1987 in FÃÂlticeni, in the house where Sadoveanu lived and created between 1909 and 1918.
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.
Not born in FÃÂlticeni, but artistically active there was also: