miercuri, 3 noiembrie 2021

The village of the first astronomer in the Republic of Moldova

From eight in the morning until noon, every Thursday and Sunday people spread their goods on the main street in the village of Dubasarii Vechi. Even if on one side of the road, behind a fence, there is space with stalls, very few vendors use them. He prefers to park the vans in front of the gates and open the trunk towards the road. Tomatoes, eggplants, beans, fish, second-hand pants, straw bales, fire-fighting discs, car parts, pink dresses bought decades ago from Moscow for a hundred dollars and sold today with one hundred lei. And not only do the locals sell at the market, but the merchants also come from all over the region, from Corjova to Tiraspol.


Once people gather their stalls and the village is no longer engulfed by the tumult of the square, you have time to visit the town. The villagers rush their bicycles, and the old women sit on the lawns in front of the gates. They are working on the road in front of the town hall: they have laid gravel and are heading.


And the Dniester, no matter what happens in the village, continues to flow.

It's always there, beautified today by the colours of autumn. Apart from the river, in the village, there are several places that attract tourists: the mansion of the astronomer Nicolae Donici, the tomb of the Donici-Macri family and the secular oak grove "Pohorela".




Nicolae Donici's mansion

Nicolae Donici was born in 1874. Because he remained at the age of eight, he was taken care of by his aunt, Elena Lisacovschi.

After studying astronomy in Odessa, in 1908 Nicolae Donici returned home and installed the first astronomical and meteorological observatory in Bessarabia near the mansion. He continued his scientific activity at Dubăsarii Vechi until June 1940, when Romania was summoned by the Soviet Union to evacuate the civilian administration and army from the territory of Bessarabia. Then Donici was forced to leave the country. He returned in 1941 and found the mansion and observatory destroyed. In three years, Donici leaves Moldova forever and moves to France.

For a long time, the mansion was managed by the local kolkhoz, which changed its appearance by covering the exterior walls with tiles and building an annex. However, on the right side of the mansion, in the back, you can still see the walls plastered with "eggs, lime and sand", as explained by the deputy mayor of the town, Constantin Macarenco.


Also there you can see the "stairway to heaven" with ornaments. It is a metal ladder that Nicolae Donici climbs in his laboratory so as not to disturb those of the house during night observations. This scale has been preserved today. What is interesting is that it has been designed in such a way that the angle of the steps can be changed in winter to prevent slipping.


The bust of Donici stands in front of the mansion today. It was recently installed after the previous bust was stolen and sold for scrap metal.

The tomb of the Macri-Donici family

If you arrive at Dubăsarii Vechi, you must also see the tomb from the second half of the 19th century. What makes it special is its image and history.




After the death of Donici's father, he and his mother, Limonia, move in with her sister. Four years later, his mother became ill with typhus and was isolated in a separate room to prevent the infection from spreading.

Because Nicolae had missed Limonița's mother, his aunt broke the rules and half-opened the door of the room so that he could see his mother from a distance. Shortly afterwards, Limonia dies. He was only 35 years old.

Her body was embalmed and placed in a tomb in the courtyard of the church in Dubăsarii Vechi, founded by Nicolae Macri, the scientist's grandfather on his mother's side, who had taken refuge from Greece in Bessarabia. The tomb was built by the master Tuzini according to the sketch of the architect Alexandru Bernardazzi.


During the Soviet period, the tomb was vandalized, the coffin being set on fire. But the construction and decorative elements are still intact.


"Pohorela" secular oak forest

The forest is located in the northern part of the village and has over 130 secular trees. The strongest ones exceed 1.5 m in diameter. Some oaks are over a century old, and others could even be 300 years old.




Legend has it that the Tartars stopped in this oak forest when the natives came to plunder. One night, the villagers set fire to the invaders' camp. Then the forest burned, in Russian - "pogorela". From generation to generation, the word has become "Pohorela". Dumbrava is also called "Pogoreloe", "Pohorila".

The name of the locality also comes from these oaks. According to the deputy mayor of the locality, Constantin Macarenco, in the village used to be used the dubas, some boats made from the trunks of oak trees, and the dubas were the ones who led these dubas.


At the same time, the locals say that the name of the village comes directly from "дуб", from Russian - "oak".


The trips through the locality are usually made by the deputy mayor of the village, Constantin Macarenco. Usually, tourists are officials from other countries or from Chisinau, partners with whom they have projects or people interested in investing in the locality. But local authorities cannot organize trips for everyone. "The mayor's office cannot provide economic activities", explains the deputy mayor, mentioning that tourism in the locality should be developed by other methods.


Once you reach Dubăsarii Vechi, you will notice that the water in the Dniester flows slower than in the north of the country and the banks are closer to each other. This difference is due to the Dubasari hydropower plant. But fishermen consider this difference an advantage - the narrowing of the Dniester is an indicator of its depth. In other words, where the banks are closer to each other, the river is deeper and could be more fish. If you want to fish here, know that the experienced fishermen from the village mentioned a few deeper holes where very big fish would take shelter. It is important to "feed the place" and keep your tent in the rain, if you stay for several days. You can find food in the village - the village of Dubăsarii Vechi is one of those that produce vegetables for sale.


Reports: Georgeta Carasiucenco

Edited by: Marta Sterpu

Video and editing: Oana Rusu

Executive producer: Ana Gherciu

Site: moldova.org

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