sending them to Lemberg, where they attended gymnasium. After completing seven terms of education in Latin, Polish and German, Gheorghe Asachi entered university (the present-day Lviv University) at the age of 14. He studied at the Faculty of Letters, Philosophy and Sciences (attending lectures in logic, metaphysics, ethics, mathematics, physics, natural history, and architecture), but, in 1804, after two years of studies, he withdrew and returned to Moldavia. Despite this, his level of familiarity with Western culture was arguably unparalleled in his native country during the first half of the 19th century. Over the following decades, he designed several lodgings in both his native country and Galicia. His return followed the death of his mother and Lazăr Asachi's appointment as First Protopope of the Moldavian Metropolitan Seat, and saw the family settling in Iaşi. In Napoleonic Europe In early 1805, Asachi fell ill with malaria, and was helped by Metropolitan Veniamin to leave for Vienna, where doctors had advised him to seek treatment. As the recipient of a stately scholarship, Asachi studied mathematics and astronomy with Tobie Bürg, as well as pursuing training in the art of painting. His time in the city coincided with French Empire's successes in the Napoleonic Wars, and, most important, with the 1805 War of the Third Coalition, during which La Grande Armée occupied Vienna; this allowed Asachi to familiarize himself with French Revolutionary and liberal tenets, which he partly adopted in his political activities. In 1808, as the Russo-Turkish War erupted, Moldavia was occupied by the Russian Empire, First Protopope Lazăr contacted Pavel Chichagov to have his son appointed lieutenant and local head of the Corps of Engineers, but Gheorghe Asachi refused to assume office or even return from Vienna. Instead, he left for the Italian Peninsula in April 1808, aiming to complete his studies in Rome, but making long stops in other localities on the way (he notably visited Trieste, Venice, Padova, Ferrara, Bologna and Florence). Reaching the capital of the Papal States on 11 June, Asachi left on 19 August to visit Naples, Pompeii, and other locations in the Kingdom of Sicily. Upon reaching Mount Vesuvius, he descended unaccompanied into the volcanic crater, and was encouraged by a cheering audience. He soon after returned to Rome, where he focused on studying Renaissance Latin and Italian literature, as well as taking classes in archeology, painting and sculpture, and entering his most prolific phase