City councilmen, representatives of diplomatic missions, foreign officials and ordinary citizens participated on Friday morning in a flower-laying ceremony at the statue to Stephan the Great, preceding a liturgy dedicated to Chisinau's Patron Saint's Day. “It is a right thing to do to pay homage to our ancestors who fought and made the appearance of Chisinau possible 575 years ago. Later today we will pray for the well-being of Chisinau. I am confident we will be able to further develop the capital city and make it like we wish it to be: beautiful, vigorous and promising”, stated Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca. The Communist councilmen, who represent the most numerous faction in the City Council, didn't attend the ceremony. Nor did the leadership of the state. “We invited everybody, great and small, to the City Day celebrations. Everybody is welcome. We invited all the mayors in Moldova, about 1,000 in number, all the district heads, the diplomatic corps, all the Parliament and Cabinet members, everybody. I wonder what reasons the leadership had not to participate in the ceremony. After seeing what happened yesterday in Parliament, I wonder if we're living in the same city at all”, Dorin Chirtoaca told reporters after the ceremony. The event was attended by Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu and Romania's Ambassador Marius Lazurca, as well as representatives of other foreign delegations. After the ceremony, the Mayor accompanied by his guests went to the Metropolitan Cathedral to attend a holy liturgy officiated by Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir.