Any human settlement is born on the shore of a water. And where the waters are, after a while the wheel appears which makes flour. The same was in Chisinau, many wind and water mills were built. Years passed, and the city grew like yeast. It already needed a new mill, not dependent on the power of water or wind. The new owner of the mill, a Jew, had just arrived in the city and took over a wooden mill. When there was time to be dressed in white stone and be enlarged – the misfortune happened.

The owner, it was said in the fair, had only one daughter – gentle and educated. He was raising his own child, he wanted to be a good father, to leave his profitable mill to make her life easier. That is why he often took the child with him in the carriage to see the people, the mill, in order to show how things are. That was incredible behavior for those times of a father towards a daughter. Girls had to be brought up at home, taught to sew their dowry and taught to take care of the house.

Soon the building of the walls began. The craftsmen carefully laid the white stones of the walls and outlined the walls. One night the bells of the nearby church were ringing rascally announcing a misfortune. Red flames engulfed the mill as if an unseen blast scorched the wall. The powerless eyewitnesses watched the fire devouring wood and stone insatiably. In the morning the sun rays brought to light the burnt and unfinished walls. It was quickly rumored in the fair that it was not the first property of the Jew that was burnt, that there were others, and they whispered that the Jew was cursed and that his wife also perished in the flames. It is no longer known if it was man-made accident or just a mischance. He diligently built new walls, with new craftsmen, and new stone, working day and night. It was known from the elders that a durable building requires a mortal gift. And the mill asked for his sacrifice-a living being. The Old Jew had made the covenant with himself and fate: he will pay a living sacrifice – the first who enters the mill on Friday evening will be left to die overnight. She had called an old maid to bring her food and prayed to God to bring the Old Lady’s steps to the mill. He had thus thought that he would be able to overcome the power of the curse. But the old maid had fallen ill and told the girl that she couldn’t go. The child of the Jew, eager to be of help, set off with the food to the mill. Neither the darkness of the moonless night, nor the dogs barking in the huddles, nor the loneliness did not frighten the girl. When she opened the door of the mill and called her father, the Echo went up on the walls, and was lost in height. The old father is in pain. Destiny had asked for the hardest sacrifice – her own child, and the covenants demanded their fulfillment. He told the girl that she was going to wait for him a little, he left the locked mill and with heavy steps he moved away to the prayer house.

At night the fire announced by the church bells took its toll. The flames seemed alive and rose as they could be seen from every corner of the fair. People awakened in the middle of the night watched the misfortune of destruction. By morning, full of pain, with braided steps and bleached hair, the old father was desperately searching for the remains of the child. With amazement they were all looking at his search, but he found no sign of the girl. Only the mill had its walls reddened forever.

Years have passed. The mill no longer grinds flour, but the legend says, that even these days inside you can hear crying and sighing, and sometimes you can see in places at the windows a whiff of light, and a girl dressed in white robes with a candle in her hand.

Note:

It is one of the first steam mills in Chisinau, built in 1850. In the period of several decades it became one of the most important buildings not only on the Inzov Hill, but in city as well. Since it was not a simple mill, but a five-story white stone building, always shrouded in flour ”dust”, the locals initially called it ”White Mill”.

In 1889 Avram Levenzon became the owner of that mill. He and his wife’s brother built a shop next to the mill where Chisinau residents could buy baked goods from freshly sifted flour.

The name “Red Mill” appears later after an unfortunate accident. In 1901 there was a large fire, in which some people lost their lives, and the owners had to rebuild the mill again.