Description : Baia is a commune in the Suceava County, Western Moldavia, Romania with a population of 6,793 (2002 census). It is composed of two villages, Baia, and Bogata. Located on the Moldova River, it was one of the earliest urban settlements in Moldavia. There has been a settlement in Baia since the 13th century, but the first written evidence is from the following century. It is possible that a document in Poland mentions the town in 1335, when a certain merchant was mentioned by the name of "Alexa Moldaowicz" (i.e. Alexa from the Town of Moldavia) and the next was in 1345, when Baia is placed on a list of towns of the Franciscan missionaries. It was through Baia that the army of King Louis I of Hungary went when conquering the region around 1345-1347. There is evidence of a large fire dated mid-14th century discovered by the archeologists and associated with this conquest. The early Moldavian chronicles place the first capital of Moldavia in Baia, but it was only an interim capital. Soon the court was moved to Siret, and Baia was not even a county seat by the time of Bogdan I of Moldavia. 14th century seal from Baia, evoking the legend of Saint Hubertus. After the Hungarian conquest, colonists from Transylvania settled in the town, leading to the urbanization of the settlement, which gained a special status. According to chronicler Grigore Ureche, the târg at Baia was founded by "German potters". The area where the colonists settled was reorganized: they built a wooden church and a central marketplace, surrounding which parcels of land were laid out. By 1400, the inhabitants of the town had a standard of living similar to the urban areas of Transylvania: the houses were heated by cocklestoves and the town's streets paved with river gravel. The town was defended by a wooden palisade which was burnt down in 1467.
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