Moldova deserves a closer look for the things that sit side by side: vineyard hills, village kitchens, cave chapels and the broad Soviet boulevards of Chișinău. In the centre of the country, growers work local grapes including Fetească Albă and Rară Neagră, then store bottles in old limestone quarries. At Orheiul Vechi, monks cut chapels into the cliff above the Răut River. Archaeological remains nearby mark earlier medieval settlements. Moldavian rulers, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union each left their mark on the towns and countryside.
Chișinău mixes Orthodox domes, nineteenth-century houses and apartment blocks from the Soviet period. At the Central Market, traders sell walnuts, brined cheese, pickled vegetables and fruit in season. Soviet mosaics and monuments remain part of the city streets, while Cricova’s former limestone galleries hold rows of barrels and bottles underground.
In Comrat and Ceadîr-Lunga, Romanian, Russian and Gagauz are heard in shops and homes. Meals often begin with mămăligă or plăcinte, alongside cheese, vegetables and meat from local farms. Visit a market, stop at a small museum or sit down for a long lunch in a village, and Moldova soon feels far larger than its map suggests.
