Stories and urban legends

One of the oldest legends, taken from the local elders, tells about The Legend Of The Silver Lamprey* –  he is the one who gave the name of Chisinau … It is said that once upon a time, when fairies walked on Earth, and Dragons stole girls, the sun never...

Many years ago, as the legend says, somewhere around 1740, a Moldovan merchant named Vasile Mazare was chosen as a leader of Chisinau. He had houses, storehouses, big and small shops, and owned many large estates as well. He had a big family – his wife had given him three...

Once Upon a time in Moldova there was a ruler, that was more a scholar than a warrior. When he became a widower, he began to look for a deft, gracious bride, whom he found precisely in Circassia – far away, halfway across the world. She was proud of the...

Local legend tells about the Ghost Mills Vally. Since then, only the name has remained in people’s memory, and our city pleases residents and visitors with a beautiful green park that grows around a deep lake with its mysteries… They say that long ago, 12 rivers flowed out of the...

It is said that long, long ago, St. Andrew, who brought us Christianity, passed over our lands. And, walking around the world, from village to village, from house to house, he stopped one day to take a breather in a picturesque valley full of roses and springs. He sipped fresh...

Once Upon a time in our lands, along with people, there lived Giants. They were tall as poplars, for them every hill was a trifle, and the old Tiras passed it in three steps. The women of people carried their children 9 months in their belly, and the Giants –...

…It was an Easter night. The church was bathing in the flames of candles – the religious service was being held. There was a guest, who came behind everyone, and whose names was only whispered – Tobultoc. He was tall, smoldering, with a moustache as black as ember and curious...

”Valley Of Roses”, this is how Chisinau citizens call the green oasis that separates the Botany district from the city center. This is a deep hollow where many bushes and trees grow, and where a rich grassy vegetation sprouts. Here we see a few small ponds covered with algae in...

Tea of Toma Ciorba “If you want to be healthy – do not eat ciorba* with Ciorba, but drink tea…” Opposite the Alexandrovskaya Public Garden (current name – Stefan The Great And Holy Public Garden) once there was the cafe of the confectioner Koval. This quiet and dignified place enticed...

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...

Two small marble lions from Chisinau’s Central Park are generally not so visible and not too special for visitors. The alleys of classics, the bust of A. S. Pushkin, the oldest fountain in the city, all these sites located in the center of the park attract the eyes more quickly....

Ruins of Nursing Home and Synagogue… The former Țirilson synagogue, which is located on the street of the same name, was built at the beginning of the 20 th cent. Currently only a historical ruin remains of it. The architectural complex consisted of two connected buildings: a synagogue and a...

At the beginning of the XX century, in the center of Chisinau on Sinadino street (now str.V. Pârcălab), the largest Choral Synagogue in Chisinau – the main Jewish place of Prayer – began to be built on the money of the believers. A few pilgrims, recently returned from Jerusalem, brought...

The Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral “Nativity of the Lord” in Chisinau is one of the most recognized buildings in the capital of the Republic Of Moldova. The initiative to construct the Cathedral belongs to Metropolitan Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni (1812-1821), and the place of its location was indicated in the first urban plan...

Once upon a time not far from Costiujeni hospital there stood a rich manorial mansion. The name of the owner the legend has not preserved, but we know that this landowner had two sons – Constantine and Eugene. They both studied at the Lyceum Nr.1 in Chisinau and spent their...

The Masonic lodge was established in the house of Katsiki, which was occupied by the divisional doctor Schuler. I am not sure whether Schuler or Pavel Pushkin was the main master of the lodge. Among the new members was the Bulgarian Archimandrite Efrem. Katsiki’s house was located in the lower...

The Greek Etheria began in the Odessa – Chisinau – Iași triangle. Three cities brought the essential impact for the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman yoke, which lasted more than 400 years. One of the initiators of the revolt was Alexandru Ipsilanti – the son of a lord Constantin...