Get closer to Moldova and find out its peculiarities

Have you ever heard of Moldova? No? Please, let me introduce you to this amazing country with colorful nature, tasty fruits and the best wines. Moldova is officially called the Republic of Moldova and is situated in Southeastern Europe. It has a unique form, that reminds of a bunch of grapes. Maybe that is the reason why people here are so fond of wine-making. Getting closer to Moldova’s geographical peculiarities, it is quite surprising that, although 100 km away from the Black Sea, Moldova has no direct access to it and is landlocked by Romania on the east and Ukraine on the west. Another wondering peculiarity is that, on the tiny area of only 33,6 km2, fits in two independent regions: Transnistria, that seats on the east bank of the Dniester River and Gagauzian Autonomy in the southern part of the country. By the way, in Gagauzia, you can find the longest village in Europe - Kongaz, with a population of 13 500 people. A marvelous fact is that the capital city Chișinău is placed on seven hills. So, if you like cycling, you will have a great opportunity to have a good cardio training.

Picture © Credits to Evenimentul.md

Moldova is a small country with quite a long history behind. One of the most legendary personalities in our history is Stephan the Great (Ștefan cel Mare). He was the ruler of the Moldavian Princedom in the 15th-16th century. Out of 36 wars he participated in, he brought 34 victories to his country, which is nearly unbelievable but is stated as a fact. Stephan the Great was religious, and with every new victory, he was building churches and monasteries. We can admire them nowadays all over the country. You can even find a monastery in Greece, built in his honor. Now, guess what the name of the main street of the capital city is? Right, it is Ștefan cel Mare, where his monument is placed as well. Since that time, Moldova went through different wars, transformations and changes, but preserved the best out of it.

Did you know that in Moldova at least three languages are used as common ones? The Moldavian language is undeniably the official and the most used one. It is very similar to the Romanian, and our countries also have quite the same flags. The Gagauzian language is the one that is mainly used in Gagauzia, i.e. the southern part of Moldova. This language is quite similar to Turkish and has nothing in common with Moldavian. Russian is the language of interethnic communication. You wonder why Russian? Because this language was widely spread along more than 100 years since the Bessarabia was a part of the Russian Empire (1812-1918), and afterwards along more than 40 years (1944-1991), when Moldova was a part of the Soviet Union. Now you will not wonder why the population is multilingual.

National flag of Moldova - Picture © Credits to shaadjutt

It is interesting that albeit there are different religious groups in Moldova, the primary religion is Christianity. Moldavians predominantly are Christians-Orthodox. Nonetheless, they respect and take care of all the religious heritage they have. The Tipova monastery, the Capriana monastery, the same as the Saharna and the Orheiul Vechi are the most enjoyable places to see. You will be amazed by them. These monastic complexes are more than 2000 years old and are ready to provide you with scattered ruins, magnificent views, ancient monasteries and unique fountains. If you are looking for peace and harmony for your soul or you want to get silence and freedom, I would advise you to visit at least some of this nature reserves.

Picture © Credits to Plateresca

There is no house in Moldova that doesn’t have some homemade wine is their cellars. If you go from house to house, from village to village, you will be surprised by the variety of tastes, colors and types of wines, because every single master has his unique wine-recipe. There is no way to get a boring or untasty wine in this country. Moldova is an agricultural country and winemaking is the most interesting feature. Moreover, Moldova has the biggest and the most amazing wine cellars in Europe, which are so huge and long that you can go underground by car and find even some traffic lights inside. As soon as you get inside of the Cricova cellars, you are shrouded in magic. You can discover the secrets of winemaking processes and taste traditional food in underground restaurants. The great persons like Putin, Obama, Angela Merkel, as well as some famous stars, visited Cricova and keep till nowadays their best wine selections, with oldest wine bottles inside there. However, from my point of view, the most astonishing cellars are the Mileshti Michi (Mileștii Mici). They are the longest ones and go further then Moldavian borders. I was amazed to find out that many centuries ago they were used as a hidden passage from one castle to another.

Give yourself a chance to find out more about Moldova, get closer to its culture and be amazed by all the admirable peculiarities it has to offer.