The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.
Buzău is a railway hub in south-eastern Romania, where railways that link Bucharest to Moldavia and Transylvania to the Black Sea coast meet. DN2, a segment of European route E85 crosses the city. Buzău’s proximity to trade routes helped it develop its role as a commerce hub in older days, and as an industrial centre during the 20th century.
During the Middle Ages, Buzău was a market town and Eastern Orthodox episcopal see in Wallachia. It faced a period of repeated destruction during the 17th and 18th centuries, nowadays symbolized on the city seal by the Phoenix bird. In the 19th century, after the end of that era, the city began to recover. The economy underwent industrialization, Buzău became a railway hub, and public education became available. At this time, the Communal Palace, the city’s landmark building, and Crâng Park, the main recreational area, were built. The communist regime after World War II brought forced industrialization and the tripling of the city’s population. Some of the factories open at the time are still functioning within the framework of market economy.
There are no universities based in Buzău, and only a few universities from other cities have remote learning facilities here. The main educational institutions here are B.P. Hasdeu high-school (where Nobel laureate George Emil Palade studied) and Mihai Eminescu high-school. The city has a number of other secondary schools, in addition to elementary schools. The Vasile Voiculescu County Library and Buzău County Museum are based in the city. The latter also manages an ethnography exhibit in the city, as well as the Vasile Voiculescu memorial house in Pârscov and the amber exhibit at Colți.
Education and culture
The first school in Buzău was the school for church and icon painters, opened by Chesarie, the bishop of Buzău. The school functioned at the bishopric of Buzău, and was managed by Nicolae Teodorescu. Gheorghe Tattarescu started learning painting here.
The city’s most important educational landmark is the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College, attended by the Nobel prize winner George Emil Palade in his youth. The Hasdeu high school was inaugurated in 1867.
The city’s public library was opened in 1893, under the name of Carol I Public Library. Later it took the name of Vasile Voiculescu, Buzău’s most prominent author, writer, and poet.Buzău County Museum
The George Ciprian stage theatre was created in 1996. It does not have an acting crew of its own, relying on contracts. Its first manager was playwright Paul Ioachim.
The first university in the city was the Economic University College, inaugurated in 1992, a branch of the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.
The main museum in Buzău is the Buzău County Museum, which exhibits items related to the region’s history. The same museum oversees the ethnography exhibition at the Vergu-Mănăilă House, as well as the Amber Museum in Colți and the Vasile Voiculescu Memorial House in Pârscov.
