Audio Guide: Chisinau Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Chisinau

Chisinau is the capital of Moldova, a small nation in Eastern Europe landlocked between Romania and Ukraine. For many years this land had been part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, until it finally gained independence in 1991. For this reason the city is also often referred to as Kishinev, which is the Russian version of the name.

While the true origin of the name is unclear, many believe that it came from the Romanian words chișla (which is archaic for "water spring") and nouă (which means "new"), and it refers to Chisinau's origin as a monastery village built around a small spring in 1436.

Initially, Chisinau was part of the Principality of Moldavia, which in the 16th century became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, the Ottomans ceded territory, thence known as Bessarabia, to the Russian Empire.

The Russians made Chisinau the capital of Bessarabia province, which by the mid 1830s emerged as an imperial outpost with broad, long roads and other key infrastructure. The renewed city center was anchored by the neoclassical, dome-topped Nativity Cathedral, built between 1830 and 1836, complete with a magnificent belfry in the Cathedral Park. In 1846, another landmark – the Triumphal Arch, celebrating Russia's victory over the Turks – was added to a nearby plaza.

After the Russian Revolution, Bessarabia joined the Romanian Kingdom in 1919, following which Chisinau became Romania's second largest city. Between 1918 and 1940, the downtown area underwent vast renovation. In 1927, the Stefan the Great Monument was erected to commemorate Moldova's national hero, the saint prince who fiercely opposed the Ottoman rule in the 15th century. This monument now stands outside the park named in his honor.

From 1940 to 1944, Chisinau and Bessarabia had changed hands several times between Romania and the Soviet Union, until eventually both became part of the USSR. Throughout 1947-1949, the city – then still heavily damaged by air raids in WWII – underwent gradual reconstruction. The large-scale housing construction of the 1950s and 60s was followed by the grand palatial projects of the 1970s-90s producing landmarks like the Parliament Building, Presidential Palace, the National Opera and Ballet Theater, and others.

If you wish to acquaint yourself more closely with these and other notable sights of the Moldovan capital and to learn more about this relatively little known travel destination, take our self-guided introductory walk!