The main activities of the inhabitants were trade and agriculture, from the Middle Ages until the interwar period. Buzau suffered a series of successive destructions in the 17-18th centuries, and during the communist period the city's population tripled with the strong industrialization of the city (most of the factories still work today, in the new market economy).

In Buzau you can visit the renowned Mud Volcanoes, along with the Living Fire (an extraordinary phenomenon in which the gases that reach the surface through the cracks of the earth are lit by the sun). You can also visit a number of significant ancient monasteries, such as Ciolanu Monastery (14th century), Bradu Monastery (14th century), Izvoranu Monastery (1595-1600) or the Church of Saint John of Damascus.