Leova

Sister cities

• Vetrișoaia

History

The city of Leova is attested as far back as the 15th century. The Leova market is attested on August 26, 1806 in a document from Constantin Moruzzi, the Moldovan prince. After 1812, Leova became a customs post and border checkpoint. In 1819 the old church was replaced by a new one, also wooden, dedicated to Saint Paraschiva. Between 1856 and 1878, Leova reentered the borders of the Principality of Moldavia and Romania. At the 1860 census, the fair was officially the 32nd urban location of Romanian Moldavia, by population (1,845 inhabitants). On October 7, 1878, after reannexation by Russia, Leova had 350 households, 5,682 desyatinas of arable land, 60 large orchards, a steam mill, and six windmills. The first school was opened in 1885, and in four years it had two classes in which 53 boys and 43 girls were taught. In 1904 the city had a town hall, police headquarters, a post office, a telegraph, a mixed school, a Jewish high school, three primary schools, an Orthodox church, and five synagogues. At the turn of the century over a thousand foreign merchants were active, and a German colony numbered 115. There were 1,073 houses and 307 monument buildings. In 1923 the city had 1,075 houses and 3,422 inhabitants, and in 1933 7,000. In the 1930s it was already a city. In 1930 the Leova city census counted 2,326 Jewish inhabitants, about a third of the entire town population. In June 1940 the region was transferred from Romania to Soviet control as part of the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. The Soviets quickly started deporting citizens of their newly annexed territories to Siberia, including Zionist leaders and wealthy Jews. In June 1941 some Jews sensed war was coming and fled east to central Asia. Other able bodied…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  30
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  30
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  29
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  27
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  26
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24
• corn bunting

  Emberiza calandra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  24
• Caspian Gull

  Larus cachinnans Pallas, 1811 · Aves
  22

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2021-08-01
  3 km W of Vulture?ti, Romania
• M 4.4 — 2020-10-29
  3 km ESE of Negre?ti, Romania
• M 4.9 — 2020-04-24
  1 km ESE of Ungureni, Romania
• M 4.3 — 2015-06-29
  2 km NNW of Domne?ti-Târg, Romania
• M 4.2 — 2013-03-16
  1 km SSW of Sascut, Romania
• M 3.2 — 2007-01-07
  4 km NE of Corni, Romania