7 ways to chase the colours of Chişinǎu

Chișinău (“Ki-shi–naw”) is a place of unexpected joys and easily-missed secrets; a place whose big-city buzz comes accompanied by small-town traditions. Spend time visiting the most beautiful spots, eating local fare and delving into a deep-rooted, Soviet-heavy history, and you’ll soon notice the famously welcoming nature of its residents, too, not to mention that English is widely spoken. Equally constant is a happy propensity for all palettes: from gleaming, pearly limestone to sunset-streaked skies, colour-chasing can informatively anchor your trip in Moldova’s capital. Here are the hues to hunt for… 

You don’t get nicknamed the “City of white stone” without justification. In Chișinău’s case, many of its major edifices — such as the open book-shaped parliament building — were constructed from pure, gleaming limestone (quarried from nearby Cricova, leaving room for famous wine cellars — but we’ll get to those).  

Architecture buffs will additionally find many artistic, neoclassical structures designed by the Swiss-Italian-Russian wizard Alexander Bernardazzi plus lots of brutalist blocks, if that’s your bag, and a glut of striking, oh-so-Soviet buildings. The cylindrical ‘Romanita’ social housing tower and Chișinău State Circus are especially eye-catching. 

Visitors are forever surprised with how verdant Chișinău is, as lots of lovely green spaces offer peaceful escapes. Most scientific is its Botanical Garden, out near the well-maintained zoo and home to an arboretum, a rose garden and a rock garden.  

Back in Chișinău’s heart, the Stefan cel Mare Central Park is a 17-acre riot of landscaped gardens, ancient acacia trees and sculptures of Moldovan literary greats. Named after the country’s greatest ever ruler, it also has several coffee-serving kiosks and is renowned locally for canoodling couples. There’s nowhere better to stroll. 

Yet another park, Valea Morilor, hosts a large lake popular with walkers, joggers and swimmers, who use its artificial beach. For the best Instagram shots, climb a long, waterfall-flanking staircase at its northeastern corner. Nearby, see if you can also spot a miniature statue of the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fictional, space-travelling character. 

Chișinău’s river, the Byk, has slightly vanished from view over the years, despite being formed — so legend has it — from the tears of an angry female giant. More visible is the elegant, slender Chișinău Water Tower, a rebuilt Bernadazzi monumental which now hosts a city-focused museum. 

If it was good enough for Queen Elizabeth II… the former monarch reputedly loved Negru de Purcari, a red wine epitomising Moldova’s oenological prowess. Having made stellar tipples since 3,000 BCE, these lands host the world’s largest wine cellar at Mileștii Mici, a 199km underground complex near Chișinău that rivals Cricova in repute. 

As for food, signature Moldovan dishes include sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls), mămăligă (polenta-like cornmeal porridge) and filled plăcinte pastries, savoury or sweet. Try the La Taifas restaurant for a traditional meal or roam the mammoth Piata Centrala market to find pickled watermelons and kvass, a fermented, sweet-and-sour beverage made from rye flour. 

Chișinău’s modern colours contrast with the greyer hues emblematic of its Soviet past, and with sober structures like the central Triumphal Arch, a 43ft monument modelled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. As for pre-USSR life, you can learn all about that inside the vast National Museum of History of Moldova, where golden coins and 2,000-year-old urns await.   

Modern-day Chișinău, meanwhile, is an innovative place of super-strength public WiFi, Europe’s first e-park, cutting-edge tech firms and supermarkets with hydroponic farms. Golden coins? Bitcoins, more like. 

Although the Valea Morilor park offers nice views, sunset’s golden-hour glow in Chișinău is best enjoyed at a rooftop bar. Try the Colombian-themed Escobar, which serves cocktails and hookahs to glamorous young things, or Zaxi, whose classier summer terrace crowns the Radisson Blu Leogrand Hotel. 

Beauty also beckons down below at a pair of religious sites. Inside the yellow-walled Nativity Cathedral, an impressive Orthodox church, the neoclassical interior features wonderfully rich frescoes gilded in gold leaf. And there are exquisite murals too at the Ciuflea Monastery, whose sky-blue complex is topped with nine golden domes. It’s a breathtaking, ethereal sight. 

From its Alexander Pushkin House-Museum, recalling the exiled Russian poet, to the grand National Museum of Art of Moldova’s exhibitions, culture abounds in Chișinău. Early March’s country-wide Martisor music festival sees classical music, folklore and traditional dance performances take place across the city, while September delivers the Maria Bieşu Opera & Ballet festival, two weeks’ worth of shows amid a cultural centre honouring the internationally acclaimed opera singer. 

More of a millennial? Then sign up for this summer’s inaugural Blackout Fest, a rap, trap and pop bash. Household western names are promised. Or simply make for one of the city’s nightclubs, such as the subterranean Kira’s or cocktail bars like trendy Marlène, toasting Europe’s most underrated city.