TOPONYMIC ASPECTS RELATED TO THE PORT AREA OF GALATI

Abstract

Our paper aims at accomplishing a more complex image of the toponymic
peculiarities identified in Galati port region. The paper focuses on the social and
economic characteristics of the area included in this research in order to explain the
changes that had occurred in street names. Studies demonstrate that Galați old
Danubian port had developed significantly starting with the 15th century, becoming
Moldova’s major port for trade in the 17th and 18th century, since it was the only one
with access to the Black Sea. The area included our research had witnessed dramatic
changes, but it had been rebuilt each time. Unfortunately, many of its former houses,
buildings, factories and churches were lost, being destroyed or demolished during
the communist regime in order to make room for the communist blocks of flats.
Several streets got new names reflecting the new realities while others completely
disappeared.