Orhei

Orhei
Orhei Fort
Flag Coat of arms
Orhei Location within Moldova
Coordinates: 47°23′N 28°49′E / 47.383°N 28.817°E / 47.383; 28.817
Country	Moldova
County	Orhei District
Government
– Mayor	Ion Stratulat
Population (January 2011)
– Total	33,500
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Orhei (Russian Orgeyev - Оргеев, Yiddish: Uriv - אוריװ) is a city and the administrative centre of Orhei District in Moldova with a population of 25,680. Orhei is approximately 50 kilometers north of the capital, Chişinău.

Demographics

Most people speak Romanian and Russian. There is one school that is taught in Russian.

History

Prior to 2003, Orhei was the capital of Orhei County, a large administrative region, but the country was divided further in Raion, or districts.

The St. Dumitru Church built by Vasile Lupu is located in this town. Orhei gets its name from Orheiul Vechi, an active monastery near the village of Ivancea.

The name "Orhei" is, according to one theory, derived from the Hungarian word Őrhely, meaning "lookout post", dating from the 13th century, when Hungarian forces built a series of defences in the area.^[1]

Orhei was home to many Jews prior to World War II, and has a large Jewish cemetery [1]. There is only one active synagogue left in the community. The main churches are Russian Orthodox. Also in the area are Baptist, Roman Catholic, a Seventh-day Adventist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Salvation Army and Jehovah's Witnesses.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Twin towns - Sister cities

Orhei is twinned with:

• Bicaz, Romania
• Piatra Neamţ, Romania^[2]

Notable people

• Russian poet and member of French Resistance David Knout (Fiksman; 1900–1955) was born in Orhei.
• Mihail Maculeţchi, Romanian politician
• Romanian painter Natalia Vîrlan was born in this town.
• Paul Goma, a Romanian writer was born in Mana, near Orhei.
• Rodica Mahu
• Ilie Cătărău, born near Orhei
• Jacobo Fijman was born in Orhei.

Gallery

• 

  Old Orhei

• 

  St. Dumitru Church

References

1. ^ Nándor Bárdi, László Diószegi, András Gyertyánfy, "Hungarians in Moldavia", Magyar Kisebbség 1-2 (7-8), 1997 (III), pp. 370-390.
2. ^ "Piatra Neamţ - Twin Towns". © 2007-2008 Piatra-Neamt.net. http://www.piatra-neamt.net/en/twin_towns.php. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 

External links

• Orhei

Coordinates: 47°23′N 28°49′E / 47.383°N 28.817°E / 47.383; 28.817