Vaslui County
Site of Stephen the Great's greatest Ottoman victory now one of Romania's poorest urban centers
On January 10, 1475, Stephen the Great deployed 40,000 Moldavians against an Ottoman army three times their size at Podul Inalt near Vaslui—and won what historians call 'arguably one of the biggest European victories over the Ottomans.' His buglers hidden behind enemy lines triggered such panic that hundreds of Turks were massacred over three days. Pope Sixtus IV named Stephen 'Athleta Christi' (Champion of Christ), though the promised military support never arrived. Today's Vaslui is probably the poorest of Romania's bigger cities, the rolling hills drained by the Elan, Barlad, and Tutova rivers supporting an economy that never replaced agricultural feudalism with industrial alternatives. The glory of 1475 contrasts starkly with contemporary poverty—a county living in the shadow of its medieval triumph.