Union Monument, Iaşi

Union Monument (Romanian: Monumentul Unirii), a monument of white marble in the Romanian city of Iaşi, was designed by Princess Olga Sturdza and unveiled in 1927 at the base of Carol Boulevard. It consists of a central piece (the Motherland) and four smaller ones representing the historic provinces of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina (incorporated into Romania at the end of World War I) and the Romanian diaspora. Demolished in 1947 as the Romanian Communist Party was tightening its grip on the country, it was rebuilt in 1999, this time being placed in Piaţa Naţiunii, in front of the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy

The monument was to be placed at the entrance to the palace of the great logofăt Dumitrache Cantacuzino-Paşcanu, at the end of Carol I (later Copou) Boulevard, where Queen Marie lived when the Romanian government moved to Iaşi (1916-1918), but as it was too bulky, it was agreed to place it elsewhere. Installation work began in 1925, at the Foundation intersection (at the base of Carol Boulevard). The components of the work were executed in the Copou neighbourhood, some parts being kept in Copou Garden until they were assembled.

The pedestal was of stone brought from Corbăul Clujului quarry and had four sides, its execution being entrusted to the Bucharest entrepreneur Leonardo Martinez. The following words were inscribed into the left side: "The greatest desire, the most general, that which has nourished all past generations, that which is the soul of the present generation, that which, fulfilled, will gladden future generations is union! Ad-hoc divan of Moldavia, 7 October 1858