Chisinau, now the capital of the Republic of Moldova, was documented for the first time in 1436. It was mentioned as a locality located on the banks of the Bic River, but traces of even older human settlements were found in the area. The city had several statutes until the nineteenth century, in 1812 becoming the capital of the Bessarabia region.
The name Cheșeneul of Acbaș is first mentioned in 1436 in an act of empowerment of Oncea Logofăt as leader of several villages, including the "Cheșeneul". In another mention, from 1466, there is talk about the acquisition of the settlement by Vlaicu, at that time around 5-10 peasant households were located here, and the acquisition gave him and his descendants the right to use it.
"As proof of the growth of Chisinau is the price at which the settlement in sale-purchase documents was evaluated: 120 yellow coins in 1466 and 500 yellow cards in 1576", writes Lică Sainciuc in his book "Hidden Chisinau".
After 90 years, a great-granddaughter of Vlaicu sells that village, and in another hundred years, in 1641, the territory is already included in the estate of Sfânta Vineri Monastery from Iași. It remained in this property until the 19th century.
The same author writes that Chisinau ceases to be a village around 1666, and its inhabitants are already mentioned as towns. At the same time, the locality begins to include neighbouring villages, gets customs at the entrances, has a foreman or even two in the lead.
With the annexation of the territory by the Russian Empire and the subsequent transformation of Chisinau into the capital, the city expanded even higher, being built a new cathedral, a public garden, which we have today.
Why was the capital chosen?
The city of Chisinau was chosen as the administrative centre because it was located in the centre of the new territory annexed by the Russian Empire, being at the same time at the intersection of several trade routes and near enough stone and wood raw materials.
In the first years after the annexation, Archbishop Petre Cunițchi argued the choice of Chisinau as the capital in a letter to Metropolitan Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni: that on the one hand, it has enough wood and stone for buildings, and on the other hand - wide steppe and spring water, as well as clean air, which is why this city is more populated than the other cities here. In it, as in the city of Bălți and Fălești, there are large fairs, where wholesalers buy large herds of oxen and horses and a lot of hides and wool and export them with great use to the Austrian and German lands ”.
But Chisinau remains "a large, dirty village with four or five stone houses," as described by General Kiselev in 1816.
For the next 50 years, until the Crimean War, when Chisinau was used as a station for Russian troops, the city did not change much, although it was the administrative capital of the territory. Being nicknamed at that time by contemporaries as "a big village", the city did not have any paved streets until 1862.
It was not until 1873 when the Bessarabia region became the governorate of the Russian Empire, and Chisinau became the capital of the governorate, that the city was transformed. The streets were gradually paved, the horse-drawn tram was established, and already in the new twentieth century, it was possible to travel in electric trams.
The population is also increasing. If at the time of the annexation by the Russian Empire it was about 7000 people, by 1894 it already numbered 128 thousand. The city of Chisinau, however, was a contrast to the surrounding villages, which remained underdeveloped.
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| Chisinau, the interwar period |
Further development
This large village, which later became the capital of the governorate, continued to develop in the interwar period, already under the Romanian administration. Several schools, printing houses, libraries, theatres are open. A series of enterprises of the food industry begin to operate: the first mechanized mill, the bread factory, the sausage factory, the kvass and lemonade factory, the candy factory, the shoe factories, knitwear, the fur factory, exhibitions of industrial goods are organized and agricultural machinery. Chisinau is integrated into Romania's road network.
In the 20-the 30s of the century XX, in Chisinau there are several banks: Moldova, Unirea României, Dacia, Iași. Several magazines and newspapers are published. Education is developing. In 1934, Pantelimon Halippa founded the first academic science institution in Bessarabia - the Romanian Social Institute. As early as 1918, also under the presidency of Halippa, the Moldovan People's University was founded. The National Theater, the National Museum of Natural History, the Odeon Cinemas, the Orfeum, the Colosseum, the Express, the Polish Club were active in Chisinau. During the interwar period, three music high schools were active: the National Conservatory, the Municipal Conservatory and the Unirea Conservatory.
With the occupation of the USSR, Chisinau became the capital of the MSSR, a union republic. The city was completely rebuilt on the Soviet model, taking advantage of the fact that it was destroyed by war and two earthquakes in the 1940s.
The city reached a figure of almost 700 thousand inhabitants during the Soviet period. The chief architect of Chisinau, Alexei Shchiusev, drew up the first development plan for the capital, but it was not completed. The architect S. Fridlin designed the House of the MSSR Parliament in 1964. The residential areas Botanica, Rîșcani, Buiucani, later Ciocana Nouă were built. Practically, at one time, almost 70% of the capital's inhabitants lived in buildings built during the Soviet period.
After independence, the city of Chisinau continues to be the capital of the Republic of Moldova, as established by Article 14 of the Constitution. Here is currently the entire central public administration, but also almost three quarters of the country's economy.
The article was written by Ștefan Grigorița and published on October 14, 2021 on the website moldova.org
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