Fălticeni is a city in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Western 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: Rădăuți and Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Fălticeni covers an area of 28,76 km², of which 25% are orchards and lakes, and it administers two villages: Șoldănești and Țarna Mare. It was the capital of former Baia County. The city is known for the high number of Romanian writers, artists, and scientists who were born, lived, studied, or have created here.
The earliest written mention of the villageFolticeni is from March 1490, and the second from March 1554, when Moldavian PrinceAlexandru Lăpuşneanu awarded the estate and the village bearing the aforesaid name to Moldovița Monastery. Fălticeni was first mentioned as an urban settlement in August 1780 as Târgul Șoldănești, 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. In the year 1921 the FaltishanHasidic dynasty was founded in Fălticeni, by Rabbi Eluzar Twersky, a scion of the SkverHasidic sect, and part of the prestigious royal Hasidic Twersky family. Today they are Jewish communities in Brooklyn, New York carrying on the name Faltishan, led by Rabbi Twersky's descendants.
Demographics
Fălticeni reached its peak population in 1992, when almost 33,000 people were living within the city limits. As of 2016, the town of Fălticeni was the third largest urban settlement in Suceava County, after the county capital, Suceava, and the town of Rădăuți. 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, 0.07% Hungarians, 0.04% Germans, 0.02% Ukrainians, and 0.01% Poles.
Culture
There are four museums in Fălticeni. Ion IrimescuArt 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. 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 criticEugen Lovinescu, playwright Horia Lovinescu, esoterist Vasile Lovinescu and novelist Anton Holban. The Lovinescu family contributed to founding a memorial museum in Fălticeni, House of Notable People. 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 Labiș, at some point in their life linked their name with that of the city by both studying and living in Fălticeni. 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.
