Chișinău

Sister cities

• Vilnius
• Tbilisi

History

Founded in 1436 as a monastery village, it was part of the Principality of Moldavia (which, starting with the 16th century, became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, but still retaining its autonomy). At the beginning of the 19th century, Chișinău was a small town of 7,000 inhabitants. In 1812, in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), the eastern half of Moldavia was ceded by the Ottomans to the Russian Empire. The newly acquired territories became known as Bessarabia. Under the Russian government, Chișinău became the capital of the newly annexed oblast (later guberniya) of Bessarabia. By 1834, an imperial townscape with broad and long roads had emerged as a result of a generous development plan, which divided Chișinău roughly into two areas: the old part of the town, with its irregular building structures, and a newer city centre and station. Between 26 May 1830 and 13 October 1836, the architect Avraam Melnikov established the Catedrala Nașterea Domnului with a magnificent bell tower. In 1840, the building of the Triumphal Arch, planned by the architect Luca Zaushkevich, was completed. Following this, the construction of numerous buildings and landmarks began. On 28 August 1871, Chișinău was linked by rail with Tiraspol, and in 1873 with Cornești. Chișinău-Ungheni-Iași railway was opened on 1 June 1875 in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The town played an important part in the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as the main staging area of the Russian invasion. During the Belle Époque, the mayor of the city was Carol Schmidt, whose contribution to the modernisation of the city is still commemorated by Moldovans. Its population had grown to 92,000 by 1862, and to 125,787 by 1900. In the late 19th century, especially due…

Geography

Chișinău is located on the river Bâc, a tributary of the Dniester, at , with an area of . The municipality comprises . The city lies in central Moldova and is surrounded by a relatively level landscape with very fertile ground. Chișinău is roughly equidistant between the borders with Romania (58 km) and Ukraine (54 km), and between the northernmost (188 km) and southernmost (179 km) points of Moldova, thus meaning that it is very close to Moldova's geographic centre. Chișinău has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) characterised by warm summers and cold, windy winters. Winter minimum temperatures are often below , although they rarely drop below . In summer, the average maximum temperature is approximately , however, temperatures occasionally reach in mid-summer in downtown. Although average humidity during summer is relatively low, most of the annual precipitation occurs during summer, causing infrequent yet heavy storms. Spring and autumn temperatures vary between , and precipitation during this time tends to be lower than in summer but with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  558
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  431
• Rook

  Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  426
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  419
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  418
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  413
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  330
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  312