Representatives of the public authorities of Chisinau headed by Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca and ordinary people on October 14 laid flowers to the Monument to Stephan the Great on the occasion of the City Day. Later, they took part in the religious ceremony held at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Info-Prim Neo reports. In his congratulation message, the mayor said that he wants Chisinau and its districts and the suburbs of the municipality to develop, but this will be possible only with the support and confidence of all the residents of Chisinau. The Liberal party chairman Mihai Ghimpu was the only representative of the ruling alliance who took part in the events in central Chisinau. Asked what he wants for Chisinau, Ghimpu said that a monument to those repressed by the Communist regime should be erected in front of the Government Building instead of the stone placed there. “This monument must be a symbol of freedom and everything the Romanian people went through,” he stated. The inhabitants and guests of Chisinau participated in the events held in the Great National Assembly Square, where the Guard of Honor of Romania’s Alba Iulia Fortress marched for the first time. On December 1, 2011, the mayors of Chisinau and Alba Iulia Dorin Chirtoac and Mircea Hava signed a twinning agreement between the two cities. During the activities, writer Spiridon Vangheli and literary critic, academician Mihai Cimpoi were declared citizens of honor of Chisinau. The same day, a group of young people staged a flashmob meeting and expressed their love for Chisinau by dance. This year Chisinau has celebrated 576 years of the first documentary attestation.