Chisinau: From First Record to Capital City of Independent Moldova

The first documentary record of Chisinau was made on 17 July 1436 in a land grant made by Moldavian medieval rulers Ilie and Stefan to a nobleman in the rank of {logofat} named Oancea, in recognition of his service: “on the other side of the river Bic on the valley that borders the Cheseneu of Acbas” next to a “settlement”. Maria Danilov, doctor of history, recounted for Info-Prim Neo that in 1466 Stephen III, also known as Stephen the Great, issued a document certifying the conveyance of this settlement to the property of his uncle: “Gentleman Vlaicul (receives) a settlement called Chisinau, near the well of Albisoara, which was bought from Toader, the son of Fedor and his brother, for one hundred and twenty pieces of Tatar silver”. Vlaicul, who took possession over Chisinau, was the brother of Stephen's mother, Oltea, and also the head of the county of Cetatea Alba (1457-1460). “The settlement of Chisinau, located in a rather densely populated geographical area and at the crossroads of several important trade routes in the medieval Romanian space, subsequently developed intensely, from an insignificant rural community, mentioned in a 1576 document as a 'village known as Chisinaul, along the river Bicu, in the land of Lapusna”, to an important market town which in time grew to become the core of the present-day Chisinau”, said Maria Danilov. [Chisinau: transition from village to town] In Miron Costin's “Polish Chronicles” Chisinau is enumerated among the towns of Moldavia's Lower Land. The same chronicler mentioned “the town of Chisinau” again in 1684. Later, Chisinau expanded by absorbing adjacent villages like Buiucani, Vovinteni, Hrusca, Malina Mica, Muncesti, Visterniceni, Schinoasa and others. Maria Danilov notes that the chronicles invariably highlighted the commercial establishments of the town of Chisinau, centered around the so-called bazaar and including a market house built of stone, stalls, workshops, warehouses, inns and caravansaries. The central part of the town contained urban institutions. Foreign merchants also settled in the central part of the town, creating communities that were concentrated along certain streets or in neighborhoods which subsequently were named after them, for example, the Street of Turks, the Street of Armenians, the Neighborhood of Greeks, or the Neighborhood of Serbs. The residential areas were grouped around six parochial churches. As Von Raan wrote in 1788: “Chisinau before devastation was a middle-sized town. But when the Ottomans left the town in retreat, they set it ablaze as their custom was. (…) In the ruins, one can see stoves and chimneys, the remains of the best houses, perhaps 300 or so in number. The merchant stalls, which formed a perimeter of stone with a circumference of around 300 fathoms, now lay in the ashes, and so are six or seven churches”. [Chisinau: the Capital of Bessarabia] Until May 1812, when under the Bucharest Treaty the Russian Empire annexed the eastern part of Moldavia up to the Prut River, Moldavia's capital was Iasi (Jassy). “The new province, renamed by the Russians to Bessarabia, entering a new foreign political and cultural life, needed a new center that would give the province a different political and cultural orientation. As a result, in 1818 Chisinau was selected by Metropolitan Bishop Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni and Senator Krasno-Milashevich to be Bessarabia's capital. Among the first cultural institutions created by Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni in Chisinau were the Theological Seminary in 1813 and the Metropolitan Printhouse in 1814. In 1833 the Regional Gymnasium was opened”, said Dr. Maria Danilov. Chisinau's industry, at first consisting of a few tanneries and small distilleries, started to develop and by 1814 the town had 22 tanneries, 5 saffian factories, 18 candle factories, 4 soap factories, and 4 dyeing workshops. “In the immediate period after annexation, Chisinau didn't have any local administration, except for a police chief. It was only in 1817 that a town hall was established, composed of five members delegated by the most numerous ethnic groups living in Chisinau, and headed by a mayor, or “the captain of the Moldovan service”. The first person appointed to this post was Anghel Nour”, said the historian. In 1828 the Russian Government abolished Bessarabia's provincial autonomy and Chisinau became a “regional” town, with an exclusively Russian administration. Major-General Pavel Fyodorov was appointed to govern the town. “In 1834 the administration adopted a new plan of the town, according to which the field located in the rear of the Metropolitan House was to be leveled to accommodate a new part of Chisinau. The Metropolitan Cathedral was then built, and later the Bell Tower, followed by the Roman-Catholic Church in 1843 and the Lutheran Church in 1825. The latter was erased from Chisinau's center at the order of the Soviet authorities in 1960”. Between 1856 and 1878, the senior architect of the town was Alexander Bernardazzi. His designs were used to build many landmark buildings, including the Greek Church, the Chapel of the Lyceum for Girls (currently St. Teodora of Sihla Church), the Lyceum of Princess Dadiani (currently the National Arts Museum). “In 1912 the inhabitants of Chisinau were able to travel by electric tramways; tallow-based lamp posts were replaced by kerosene-based street lights, which then gradually were replaced by electric street lights; the water supply system was started to be built; and both public and private buildings started to grow in number”. [Chisinau in the interwar period: Romania's second largest town] Between 1905 and 1917, Chisinau was the center of the national emancipation movement of Bessarabia. “This is where Bessarabia's Unification with Romania was proclaimed on 27 March 1918. The interwar Chisinau, being Romania's second largest town, continued to develop as an important economic, cultural and artistic center”. In this period, the central part of the town saw extensive restoration and the appearance of new lavish buildings. “In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the Unification, the statue of Stephen the Great by Alexandru Plamadeala was unveiled in the Public Garden”. Dr. Maria Danilov recalled that after Bessarabia was annexed by the USSR on 28 June 1940, Chisinau was again occupied by Russian administration, until June 1941. During the war Chisinau suffered irreparable damages. “The worst affected was the central part: the Town Hall building, the Cathedral, the Train Station. After the Iasi-Chisinau operation in August-September 1944, the Red Army takes over again the town, which subsequently became the capital of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia. For more than two decades Chisinau had the status of a 'closed town', meaning it couldn't be visited by foreign tourists”. [Chisinau after WW2: Soviet remodeling] In the postwar years, Chisinau grew rapidly and underwent a major Soviet-style remodeling. In 1958, the first Moldavian Television was opened, followed by the Academy of Sciences in 1961. A number of landmark educational establishments appeared, including the State Institute in 1946, the Medical Institute in 1945, and the Pedagogical Institute in 1946. “In the 1970-1980, Chisinau continues to grow extensively. Massive structures of giant enterprises working for the Soviet military and strategic systems appeared on the city's map, as well as socially and culturally important landmark buildings like the Government House, the Parliament House, the National Palace, the Press House, the Palace of the Republic, the Opera House, the Radio House, and others”. Dr. Maria Danilov recalled that in the early 1990', the city lived a period of stagnation, at least economically and architecturally. However, during those years Chisinau became the center of a strong national revival movement, and on 27 August 1991, with the proclamation of Moldova's independence, Chisinau became the capital city of an independent and sovereign country.