Stefan the Great Monument, Chisinau (must see)

The bronze monument just outside the main entrance to Ștefan cel Mare Park is one of the most recognizable sights in central Chișinău. It honors Ștefan the Great - or Ștefan cel Mare, as we call him here - the 15th-century ruler of the Principality of Moldavia, remembered especially for defending the land against much larger neighboring powers, including the Ottoman Empire.

Nowadays, you can find his name and image pretty much everywhere in the country, including local currency (just check out a 1-leu banknote to see what I mean).

Now, take a moment to look at the statue itself. Ștefan is shown here upright and commanding, raised high above street level on a substantial stone pedestal. The monument was created by Moldovan sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală between 1925 and 1928 and was cast in Bucharest. It was officially inaugurated on April 29, 1928.

Its location is also significant. The statue was placed near the site where a monument to Russian Emperor Alexander II had once stood. After Bessarabia united with Romania in 1918, that earlier imperial monument was removed.

Plămădeală searched archives and collections in Iași, Bucharest, and Cernăuți while developing Ștefan’s likeness. A miniature portrait dating from 1475 is said to have served as one of his main references.

What makes this monument especially interesting, though, is how much traveling it has done. In June 1940, just before the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, it was evacuated to Romania for safekeeping. It then returned to Chișinău in 1942, and then again was moved back to Romania in 1944. It was finally brought to Chișinău in 1945 and has remained here ever since. During the Soviet period, the statue was placed farther inside the park, while its pedestal and original inscriptions were altered.

Finally, in 1989, the monument was returned to its historic location near the park entrance, and its original inscriptions were restored.

Today, it is far more than just a historical monument. Locals use it as a meeting point, wedding parties often stop here for photographs, and visitors pause here before entering the park. (I also reckon that you might want to snap a few shots of the man just to keep up with the trend, so to speak)