The Gheorghe Asachi Primary School (Școala Primară Gheorghe Asachi) is a historic school building in central Iași, beside the Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery. Completed in 1900, it stands on a site with a much longer educational history, dating back to the establishment of Romanian-language schooling under Gheorghe Asachi in the early 19th century.
In 1828, Asachi founded a primary school within the neighboring monastery complex, providing education in Romanian at a time when formal schooling in Moldavia was still largely conducted in other languages. The institution subsequently developed into the Vasilian Gymnasium, from which the Mihăileană Academy emerged in 1835. The present school building was erected several decades later on the site of the former Turkish Inn (Hanul Turcesc), a monastery-owned commercial complex whose vaulted shops surrounded a courtyard with a public fountain.
After the deteriorating inn was demolished, construction of the new school began in 1898 under the supervision of architect Inginio Vignali. Its appearance was developed in consultation with French architect André Lecomte du Noüy, who was restoring the neighboring Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery. The resulting façade combines exposed brickwork across its central section with carved stone ornament on the adjoining sections, giving the school a distinctive appearance that complements its historic surroundings.
The building opened in 1900, but its educational function was interrupted during World War I, when the Ministry of Public Works operated here after the Romanian government relocated to Iași. A fire in 1917 caused substantial damage, and between 1918 and 1925 the upper floor accommodated a section of the Iași Tribunal. Repairs undertaken after 1931 allowed the building to return to its original educational purpose.
In front of the school stands the Statue of Gheorghe Asachi, a marble monument commemorating the educator whose work laid the foundations for modern Romanian-language education in Moldavia.
