Beltsy is a city in Bessarabia, Moldova, known in Romanian as Balti. The so-called "Northern capital" of Moldova, Balti is known as far back as 1421. The locality obtained its name from the local swamps, and later all the environs retained the same name for a large area, known today as the Balti Steppe. In 1711 Balti was the location for the alliance of the headquarters staffs of the Ruler of Moldova Dmitrie Cantemir and Russian tzar Petru I, during the "Prut’ Campaign" against Turkish janisaries. Latter, with the development of a rail interchange, the importance of Balti rose, and it became a big industrial centre. This role in creased further in the Soviet period: Balti was extended and the population became more numerous and was especially trained for the industrial factories. In the historic centre: a remarkable church in a national romanticism style, "St. Constantin and Elena", surrounded by a few old parks and squares, the "St. Nicolae" church, the Armenian church, the "Museum of History and Ethnography", the "Al. Russo" Pedagogic University. Within 30 km of Balti are the "Estate of boyar Hasnas from Sofia" and the house-museum of poet Liviu Delian at Corlateni.