Civic Square (Piața Civică) is Vaslui’s central city square, set along Ștefan cel Mare Boulevard in the heart of the administrative center. The square is overlooked by the Administrative Palace and marked by the bronze Monument of Stephen the Great, one of the most recognizable landmarks in central Vaslui.
The square and surrounding civic center were created after Vaslui became the seat of the re-established Vaslui County in 1968. The redevelopment replaced the old Central Park, several streets and rows of older town buildings with a new administrative and cultural ensemble planned for the center of the city. Architect Nicolae Munteanu was responsible for the wider central-area plan, while Nicolae Vericeanu designed the Administrative Palace, completed by 1971. The Trade Unions’ House of Culture, Hotel Racova, Palace of Telephones and other public and commercial buildings followed as part of the same transformation.
The open plaza was arranged in front of the Administrative Palace and completed alongside the surrounding buildings in the early 1970s. Iftimie Bârleanu’s bronze statue of Stephen the Great was unveiled here in 1972, commemorating the Moldavian ruler whose army defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui in 1475. The square is now used for public gatherings and events, with the Administrative Palace, monument and surrounding early-1970s buildings defining its present appearance.
