#Exhibit of the Month

This year we commemorate 350 years since the birth and 300 years since the death of Dimitrie Cantemir (October 26, 1673 - August 21, 1723), the most famous Romanian humanist thinker and also the author of the first original Romanian philosophical works.

Dimitrie Cantemir represents one of the highest peaks of thought of his time, in all areas that his genius touched - in historiography, geography, philosophy, he opened up new perspectives for development. The great scholar was well acquainted with the Muslim environment, speaking, in addition to Western, also Eastern languages (Turkish, Persian and Arabic), and also had extensive knowledge in the fields of logic, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy and music. This well-educated Christian beyzade, being a born diplomat, won the trust of Sultan Ahmed III, who favorably allowed him to familiarize himself with the documents of imperial history that Cantemir used in working on his famous work "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire", which still remains a reference publication in a specialized bibliography.

The National Museum of History of Moldova possesses a German edition of this work, published in Hamburg in 1745. This edition is an impressive volume of 863 pages, accompanied by a preface in German by the editor, containing words of praise and appreciation: "... we consider that such a work of great significance must be known to the Germans in their mother tongue..."

Dimitrie Cantemir was the first scholar to show that the history of the Ottoman Empire divides into two parts. The first part that of growth, includes biographies of 19 sultans and ends around 1672, when the empire entered a new phase, that of political and military decline. Through this work, Cantemir tried to draw attention to the need for an alliance of European countries against Turkish expansion. At the same time, he praised certain aspects of the culture of the Turkish people.

Like "Description of Moldavia", "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire" enjoyed wide popularity in European countries. The work was first translated into Russian by Dmitry Grozin, but was not printed. After the death of Dimitrie Cantemir, thanks to his son Antiochus, who became the Russian ambassador in London and then in Paris, this fundamental writing of our scholar was translated and published in English (two volumes, 1734-1735, followed by a new edition in 1756) and in French (1743, in four small volumes). In 1745, the work was also published in German. It was read, highly valued and used in their writings by Voltaire, Byron, Victor Hugo and others. This is the first treatise that addresses the issue of Ottoman power and the multicultural nature of the empire. Work on it began during the author's stay in the Ottoman Empire, resumed after 1711, and finished in 1717. This writing brought him European fame and placed him among the great scholars of the time.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

"Chisinau: an unknown history"

An exhibition dedicated to the National Day of Culture

January 12, 2023 – January 31, 2024

The exhibition "Chisinau: an unknown history", conceived and organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova, brings together an important number of documentary materials that illustrate the historical past of Chisinau. The absolute majority of these materials are part of the collections of the NMHM and constitute a true historical-cultural treasure that allows the objective reconstruction of the city's past. Brought to light as a result of archaeological research in the last decades, they highlight unknown aspects of the history, culture, demography, social, economic and political relations of Chisinau from all times, starting with prehistoric times, passing through the ancient and medieval periods and reaching the premodern period.

Even if the oldest written documentary mention, which has been preserved, about Chisinau is from the 15th century (year 1436), the research carried out in several archaeological sites in various areas of the city (Valea Morilor, Măzărache Church, Armenian Church, Piața Veche and others) have conclusively demonstrated that the locality has a much older and richer history than previously thought. Thus, according to the latest archaeological research, the oldest known human settlements in the borders of Chisinau are considered to be those in the Valea Morilor area, where settlements dated to the Paleolithic era (about 20 thousand years BC) were discovered, in the Eneolithic era - the Cucuteni-Tripoli culture (4,000-2,600 BC), in the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) and the Early Iron Age (1st millennium BC). Also, traces of human habitation from the late Roman period (3rd-4th centuries) and from the early Middle Ages (8th-12th centuries) were attested within the boundaries of Chisinau municipality (Bâc river meadow, Malina Mică, Valea Morilor s.a.). At the same time, according to some data, there would have been a settlement on the site of the current Chisinau from the period of Tatar-Mongol domination within the Golden Horde (13th-14th centuries), i.e. from the period immediately preceding the first known written documentary mention of the settlement.

The exhibition approach is completed with documentary attestations about Chisinau, which can be found in princely books, gramotes, urics or christoaves that present the locality as a fair or property of some monasteries, with the mention of the owners and builders of churches who contributed to the growth of the city on Bâc river. Visitors can follow the economic development, the evolution of the city's internal and external trade, admiring monetary hoards and coins discovered in isolation, but also work tools, beautifully decorated ceramic vessels. They display the tastes and aspirations for beauty of Chisinau residents, demonstrate the wide range of craft and artistic occupations of the local population over the centuries.

The exhibition displays a beautiful and rich collection of ceramic and earthenware vessels, as well as unusual glass containers with a varied range of shapes and sizes, discovered in the immediate vicinity of the Armenian Church. The peculiarities of the material from which the vessels were made demonstrate the craftsmanship of the local craftsmen, whose works are in no way inferior to similar pieces from other centers of the period.

The purpose of the exhibition is to bring to the public's knowledge the archaeological materials and written sources that reflect new aspects of the history of Chisinau from ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century. The objects presented in the exhibition are authentic, original pieces, some of them being restored in the NMHM laboratory. The originality of the exhibition lies in the fact that most of the presented pieces are exhibited for the first time, only some of them being included in the scientific circuit through publication.