Brief History

The city of Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, is located on seven hills, in the immediate vicinity of the Bâc River. The territory of the localities and their surroundings have been inhabited since Paleolithic times, among the most significant archaeological remains being those belonging to the Geto-Dacian (4th-1st centuries BC) and Sântana de Mures-Cerneahov (3rd-4th centuries BC) cultures.

1436

First mention

The first documented mention of toponymic „Chisinau” as a settlement dates back to July 17, 1436. In the Middle Ages, the village Chisinau was already densely populated. In the XV-XVII centuries several new settlements appeared in the vicinity of Chisinau: Buiucani, Hrusca, Vovinceni, Visterniceni, Ghecioani, Munchesti, Schinoasa...  All of them, during the 19th-20th centuries, gradually became suburbs of Chisinau. [..]

1641 -1739

Monastery estate

In 1641 Chisinau became a monastery estate, when Vasile Lupu, the lord of Moldavia, passed the Chisinau estate to the possession of the Monastery of Saint Friday in Iasi. Chisinau remained the property of this monastery until the 19th century. In 1739 the city is burned and devastated by the Ottoman army. [..]

1812

Centre of Bessarabia

Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1812, when the area between Prut and Nistru was attached to the Russian Empire, the centre of Bessarabia was decided to be Chisinau. As the city grew and became a market town, a cultural, ecclesiastical and educational centre began to emerge. The first school organised and supported by the state and the Metropolitanate of Moldova was established in Chisinau in the 18th century. The schools functioned alongside the city's churches. [..]

1830-1836

The administrative center

Gradually Chisinau is expanding territorially towards the current bd. Stefan cel Mare, in those times, bearing the name Moskovskaya Street. In 1830-36 the Cathedral Cathedral was built, together with its bell tower and the basis of a public garden was laid. The growth of the city made the villages of Buiucani, Schinoasa, Tăbăcăria, Mălina, become suburbs of Chisinau in 1830-40. [..]

1917-1918

The Proclamation of Union

The town takes on a Romanian urban appearance after the proclamation of the Union with Romania in 1918. Several schools, printing houses, libraries and theatres are opened here. A number of food industry enterprises start to operate: the first mechanized mill, bread factory, sausage factory, champagne and lemonade factory, candy factory, shoe factories, knitting factories, fur factory, exhibitions of industrial goods and agricultural machinery were organized. [..]

1918-1939

The interwar period

In 1934 Pantelimon Halippa founded the first academic science institution in Bessarabia - the Romanian Social Institute. And even earlier, in 1918, also under Halippa's presidency, the Moldovan People's University was founded. [..]

1939-1945

The Second World War

During the Second World War the town suffered great devastation. The architect Alexei Shchusev led the development of the general reconstruction plan from 1947-1949, when the town expanded with new residential quarters. Chisinau became the capital of the Moldovan SSR and, despite the well-known vices of the recently ousted regime, continued to develop, remaining the main centre for preserving national culture under these unfavourable conditions. [..]

1991 - 2021

Independence of the Republic of Moldova

Following the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Moldova on 27 August 1991, the political, administrative and cultural importance of Chisinau increased. For 585 years, the old rural agglomeration of Chisinau has undergone a complex evolution, with many dramatic or even tragic moments, until today, when it aspires to fully express its function as the capital of a modern European state. [..]