Sightseeing

The achievements of the Kishinev inhabitants in the area of architecture are considerable. The capital of Moldova is indebted for its status of the “historical city”, received in 1986, to its centre. It was formerly the whole Kishinev, and now just a little part of it, encircled with the massive row of the new buildings of 60-80th. That time the people used to joke: "Kishinev is a village in the centre and the city in the suburbs". That was time when the industrial building in Kishinev was accelerating. The high buildings that had been unthinkable in seismic area aroused public admiration. The accurate strait lines of the new houses were found modern and beautiful. Fortunately, the industrial building did not affect the beauty of the old city. The middle 80s Kishinev dwellers had very painful attitude to all the changes in the centre of the city and even opposed them.

On the hills of old Kishinev there are Mazarache (1752), St. Constantin and Elena (1777), Annunciation (1807) churches. They have typical for Moldovan middle-age architecture tripetalous plan and the so-called “Moldovan arch” – two circles of vaults, supporting the dram with the dome.

Blagoveshchenskaya church. It is the monument of architecture; it was erected in 1807-1810 in the place of the wooden church. It represents a typical Moldovan religious construction. A.S. Pushkin during his deportation to Bessarabia frequently came here. This church is protected by the state.

Cathedral and Bell Tower. The adornment of the centre of our capital, its historical and architectural pearl is Cathedral Ensemble, located in Cathedral Park adjoining to the square of Great National Meeting. The ensemble is built on the project of architect Abraham Melnikov in the style of late Russian classicism and initially consisted of Cathedral and Bell Tower  - these were the largest buildings of that time; they had been dominating over the city for a long time.

Saint Gates Arch. In the central square of Kishinev, "Pita Marii Adunari Nationale” (the Square of Great National Meeting), there is its oldest edifice - "Portile Sfinte" ("Saint Gates"). Having built as Triumph Arch in 1840 (architect I. Zaushkevich) in honor of the victory of the Russian Army over the Turkish, it was destined for putting the 400-pound bell, cast from the captured guns. The square architectural construction, 13 meters in height, is divided into 2 tiers. The lower one has transparent rectangular apertures in two directions and 4 pylons with Corinthian columns on the pedestals. The clock, striking every 15 minutes, is embedded from the side of the square.

Armenian Church. One of the patterns of the Armenian architecture in the territory of the Republic of Moldova is Blessed Virgin Church, built in Kishinev at the very beginning of the XIX century. The plan of the edifice in the form of the nave with semicircular apse and the extension of a two-tier bell tower from the west show that the style of the church building is typical for the XIX century. Probably, this church was erected on ruins of an ancient Moldovan temple. Like the whole of Kishinev, in 1739 the old church was, apparently, burnt down, and in 1803 the new one, Armenian, was built in its place.

Roman Catholic Church. This building is the monument of architecture. It was erected in 1840 in the style of the Russian classicism with the Ionic order details in the main front elements. The rectangular building with the semicircular apse is overlapped with the span roof. The high arch windows are located along the perimeter. Two simmetric bell towers rise on the main front, overlapped with the spherical domes. Other fronts are made laconically. The decor is an obstructive carnice, foreparts and vaulted setting of the windows. The building is reconstructed in the middle of 1970s.