#Exhibit of the Month

The great ruler Stephen the Great, outstanding army commander and diplomat, was also concerned during his life with the economic prosperity of the country, supporting the development of crafts, trade and fairs. During his reign, groși and half groși minted in the dinar system were issued, a monetary system introduced in Moldova during the last reign of Petru Aron (1455-1457).

The coins were minted from silver of superior title, those that reflect stability in the economic life of the country at that time. Their masterful execution at the Suceava mint is among the beautiful artistic achievements during the reign of Stephen the Great.

During his reign, two types of issues were minted, for the two denominations: groși and half groși.

Type I issues have a split shield on the obverse; in the first quarter appears a rose surmounted by a cross and three fascias, in the second quarter. For the epigraph issues (groși), the image is accompanied by the circular legend with the name of the issuer: + STEFANVS VOIEVODA. On the other side appears the bour's head with a star between the horns accompanied by the heraldic furniture - the rose and the contoured crescent, placed to the right and left of the bour's head; circular legend: MOLDAVIE COIN.

On type II coins in the shield on the obverse appears a patriarchal cross (double) and the legend STEFANVSVOIEVOD or abbreviated STEFANVSVOIE. On the reverse, as in type I, the bour's head with heraldic attributes is preserved: rose right/crescent left and crescent right/rose left. A star or rose appears between the ox's horns. The legend accompanying the face with the bour head is MONETAMOLDAVI or abbreviated MONETAMOLDA.

The dating of Stephen the Great's coins is still under discussion. According to one opinion, type I issues were minted between 1457-1476, and type II between 1480/1481-1505 (Octavian Iliescu), and another 1465/1467-1475/1476 for type I and 1476/1479-1497 for type II (Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu).

The coins in this showcase were discovered during the archaeological excavations at Orheiul Vechi (Trebujeni, Orhei district) in the 6th and 7th decades of the 20th century:

1. Type I money issues, groși, silver
2. Type II money issues, groși, silver
3. Type II coin issue, half groși, silver

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Academician Alexei Shchusev. Life and Works" 150 years since the birth

Within the European Heritage Days

September 28 – October 15, 2023

The exhibition is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the famous architect Alexei Shchusev, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

The future architect and academician was born on September 26, 1873 in Chisinau. He graduated from Male Gymnasium no. 2 in Chisinau (1891) and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg (1897).

After the successful restoration of St. Basil Church in Ovruch, he was awarded the title of academician of architecture (1910).

He was a teacher at the Vkhutemas Art School (1918-1926), president of the Moscow Architectural Society (1921-1929), director of the Tretyakov Gallery (1926-1929). In 1946, he was appointed director of the Museum of Russian Architecture in Moscow, which today bears his name.

In 1947, in the house where he was born and raised, the Museum of Architecture and Construction Technologies of the City of Chisinau was opened, renamed after the death of the architect into the House Museum of Alexei Shchusev (1949).

The exhibition "Academician Alexei Shchusev. Life and Works" brings together about 150 museum showpieces from the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova: works of art, photographs, documents, books, objects of numismatics and philately, other relics intended to reconstruct unknown pages from the life and activity of the famous architect.

At the beginning of his career, Alexei Shchusev was inspired by religious themes. Among the many monuments designed by the architect, one can admire the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Cuhurestii de Sus of the Republic of Moldova.

Design projects for the Square of the Cathedral, the Chisinau Theater, the Government House, the quarter of the State University of Moldova, the Măzărache and Râșcani hills, the banks of the Bîc River presented to visitors for the first time are just some of the projects developed by academician Alexei Shchusev, which were to be brought to life within the framework of the Urban Plan for the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Post-War Chisinau. Unfortunately, they did not progress beyond the project stage.

The exhibition is conceived as a tribute to the famous architect and academician on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth. It is addressed to specialists in the field, as well as to the general public interested in the life and work of Alexei Shchusev.