Iași.city
Iași coat of arms
Iași
Romania
Iași flagRomania flag
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași, where the relics of Saint Parascheva are kept.
1/4The Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași, where the relics of Saint Parascheva are kept.Losy, CC BY-SA 3.0 RO, via Wikimedia Commons
The cathedral's west front on Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare — the queue of pilgrims forms along this side.
2/4The cathedral's west front on Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare — the queue of pilgrims forms along this side.Losy, CC BY-SA 3.0 RO, via Wikimedia Commons
The inner garden of the Metropolitan Palace, behind the cathedral.
3/4The inner garden of the Metropolitan Palace, behind the cathedral.Argenna, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Trei Ierarhi, five minutes down the boulevard — the church the relics were first brought to in 1641.
4/4Trei Ierarhi, five minutes down the boulevard — the church the relics were first brought to in 1641.Andrei Lucian Vaida, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
religious

Feast of Saint Parascheva — the Iași pilgrimage

When
14 October 2026
Where
Metropolitan Cathedral
Address
Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt nr. 16, Iași 700064
Organiser
Mitropolia Moldovei și Bucovinei

Romania's largest pilgrimage: the relics of Saint Parascheva are brought out of the Metropolitan Cathedral and tens of thousands queue down Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare.

On 14 October the Metropolitan Cathedral marks the feast of Saint Parascheva, whose relics have been in Iași since 1641. For the days around it the reliquary is moved out of the cathedral to a canopy in the esplanade so that pilgrims can pass it in the open, and the queue — which regularly runs the length of Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare and into the side streets — becomes one of the largest religious gatherings in Europe.

Where. Catedrala Mitropolitană, Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt nr. 16, in the centre. The queue forms along the boulevard; stewards direct it, and it does not start at the cathedral door.

When to come. The feast itself is 14 October. The queue opens several days earlier and the wait is longest on the eve and the day. Coming in the small hours of a weekday is the usual advice for a short wait; coming on the 14th itself means several hours standing.

Getting there. The cathedral is a five-minute walk from Piața Unirii. CTP trams and buses run along the boulevard but are diverted for the duration — check sctpiasi.ro before travelling. Iași railway station is about 2 km west; the airport is 8 km east.

Cost. Nothing. There is no ticket and no booking.

Programme. The Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina publishes the full order of services, and the city hall its accompanying Sărbătorile Iașului programme, in the second half of September. Neither had been issued for 2026 when this page was written — mmb.ro and primaria-iasi.ro carry them when they are.

Event page ↗ source
✨ Ask AI if this event suits youAsk AI
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexityGoogle AI