Travel: Exploring Moldova - Europe’s ‘least known country’

It has been in the news recently, as it borders Romania and Ukraine, and despite its poverty, has accepted more than its fair share of Ukrainian refugees. It too was a member state of the Soviet Union for most of the last century. It has now gained candidate status to join the EU. It too was a member state of the Soviet Union for most of the last century.

As with so much of eastern Europe, Moldova’s history for over half the last millennium has been dominated by its larger neighbours. The Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires fought their endless battles with each other over its territory; and the area now called Moldova (formally Bessarabia) was always controlled by one or other of them.

During WW2 it was annexed by the Soviet Union, invaded by the Nazis, then recaptured by the Soviets. The Nazis exterminated the large Jewish population and the Soviets transported to Siberia many thousands of people who they though might oppose Soviet rule. The capital Chisinau (also known as Kishinev) was virtually destroyed in the process; made worse by a severe earthquake in 1942, and droughts and famines in 1946 and 48.

Rural Moldova viewed from Orheiul Vecchi Monastery (Image: submitted)

Chisinau is now a pleasant, comfortable, friendly and human-sized city; with wide tree-lined streets, extensive parks with lakes, trolley-buses, open street markets and places to eat and drink. However, it has few significant buildings or monuments apart from the occasional Orthodox Church, so is unremarkable as a tourist destination in itself.

But Moldova does have several places well worthy of a visit outside the city; most of which are attainable by minibus or marshruta (communal private taxis) from the sprawling bus station.

The area of Transnistria (across the Dniester river), bordering Ukraine, is one such - or was, before the current Ukraine war. It declared independence from Moldova in 1991; and after a brief civil war that cost a thousand lives, remains an independent pro-Soviet oddity unrecognised by the rest of the world.

View of the River Raut from the monastery (Image: Submitted)

It has its own border guards, currency, and garrison of Russian ‘peace-keeping’ troops. On the streets of the capital Tiraspol, there are tanks for children to climb on, statues of Lenin, extortionary slogans, and billboards proclaiming unification with Russia. When I visited in 2017 it was considered a genuine tourist attraction and a visitor could wander its streets without any sense of danger. With the current tensions, visiting now might be inadvisable. Odesa is only 70 miles away...

Lenin statue in Tiraspol (Image: submitted)

Further from the current conflict, there is the Monastery of Orheiul Vecci, carved out of the living rock in a cliffside.

The Monastery itself is small, occupied by a single monk. It is entered through an almost invisible flight of steps in what appears to be an isolated bell-tower. Some beautiful icons and religious paintings are displayed inside; but you can also slip out onto a narrow ledge overlooking the S-shaped bend in the River Raut, and the villages of Trebunje and Butucene, reliant on subsistence agriculture unchanged for centuries. An intensely dramatic location.

Solitary monk at Orheiul Vecchi Monastery (Image: submitted)

There’s a church further up the ridge with more of the same (except above ground) and the whole area would be well worth a good few hours walking, just for the views of the surrounding largely deserted landscape.

It’s possible to combine a visit to Orheiul with a tour of the nearby Cricova wine cellars. Moldova is noted for its excellent wines, most of which was exported to Russia. The cellars claim to be the most extensive in the world: over 100 kilometres of tunnels underneath the village of Cricova, containing over 1.3 million bottles. It is in effect a massive wine factory, processing grapes from all over Moldova; most of which are currently in storage, maturing until their optimum date for drinking. The tour (with English-speaking guide) is by underground mini-train. You can watch some of the wine production processes, and also view collections of rare and valuable old wines - all ending in a guided tasting (of four different wines), with tips on how to judge a wine’s quality. Quite an experience.

Inside Cricova wine cellar (Image: Submitted)

Moldova has no beaches or access to the sea, no resorts, no budget airline flights, and little in the way of tourist infrastructure; though what there is can easily organise a tour for you. So its somewhere that may appeal only to more intrepid travellers, interested in history; and in just visiting somewhere that few other people would consider.

As such, it can be very rewarding.

* I visited in March 2017, spending four nights/three days in Chisinau, and visiting the places as described above.