#Exhibit of the Month

The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters. According to the 1864 circular, teaching was conducted in the Romanian language, a provision applied throughout the diocese. The school's first headmistress was Anastasia Rizo, of noble origin, invited by Archbishop Antonie.

The curriculum, approved by the Ministry of Public Education and the Chișinău Diocese, combined theoretical subjects with practical training. Students studied religion, reading and writing in Romanian, Slavonic, and Russian, arithmetic and exercises in calculation, world history and geography. The program was complemented by church singing and practical skills such as sewing, embroidery, knitting, as well as household management - baking bread and prosphora, preparing meals and preserves, caring for livestock, and cultivating gardens.

The composite, taken in 1911 at the studio of Z. N. Sumovski in Chișinău, depicts 29 graduates and 13 teachers. At the center are portraits of Bishop Serafim (Ciciagov), headmistress N. R. Mihelson, teacher V. E. Bejerian, and priests F. Ghiliarov and P. Jurikas. Among the teaching staff was Paraskovia Vasilievna Cuciurenko, a calligraphy teacher for 37 years, who in 1911 became senior educator and assistant headmistress. For her dedication, she was awarded the gold medal "For Long Service."

On the reverse of the vignette is a label from the store and workshop of frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass owned by A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, near the State Bank.

This graduation composite was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Chișinău – Archaeological Evidence of Our Millennial History”

October 14th - December 14th, 2013

Chișinău with its historical center is the only city protected by the state in Republic of Moldova. Fist mentioned in 1436, Chișinău was founded in the area of Măzărache Hill and enlarged afterwards to include Buicani, Vovințeni and other neighboring estates. Being a market-town from the middle of 17th century, Chișinău is a typical medieval and pre-modern Moldovan town situated along the big international commercial road connecting the centers from Lower Danube and Black Sea with the towns from Central and Northern (Hanseatic) Europe. This position turned to be decisive at the beginning of 19th century when, owing to its geographical and economical situation, the town has become an important political, administrative and cultural center in the space between Prut and Dniester rivers. This also explains the great interest of historians and lovers of antiquities in Chișinău during the entire modern period.

However, the lack of systematic archaeological investigations lead to the impossibility of outlining a coherent, unitary and complex image of old, medieval and re-modern history of the biggest town east of Carpathians up until now. The academic studies of synthesis or those with encyclopedic character dedicated to Chișinău reflect in general and rigid terms aspects of social-economic, political and cultural life of the town and its evolution from oldest times until the modern period.

Although sporadic, the archaeological excavations and surveys conducted after WW2 in the perimeter of Chișinău and nearby villages resulted in the identification of tenths of sites representing prehistoric settlements, ancient settlements and cemeteries, fortresses and barrows from different historical periods. The settlement discovered in the north-western periphery of the city and attributed to the Thracian Hallstatt from the 12th-10th cc. BC is one of them and it was researched in 1955-1956. This settlement also gave the name to an important archaeological culture - Chișinău-Corlăteni culture, which is recognized by the international scientific community.

Important discoveries made in the last years contribute to defining the historical coordinates of Chișinău and to establishing its century-old evolution. The archaeological investigations from 2009 and 2010 conducted at Valea Morilor, the rescue archaeological excavations from 2010 at Măzărache Church and those from 2012 at Piața Veche, brought to the daylight priceless archaeological evidences for the city's past and for our national history. Therewith, systematic archaeological investigations at some cemeteries from around Chișinău, at Durlești-Valea Babei, Budești and Trușeni come to complete the picture of human communities' evolution from prehistory until the medieval and pre-modern period in this part of the country.

All these discoveries, presented in the vitrines of the exhibition dedicated to the 577th anniversary from the first documentary mention of Chișinău, invite researchers, culture personalities, lovers of history and antiquities, but also city's governors with European aspirations to cultivate more love towards our cultural inheritance, toward the city's past which deserves not only exploitation but also study, protection and valorification.