#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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Exhibitions

"Works of Architect Valentin Voitsekhovsky"

August 9 – September 9, 2012

The exhibition is dedicated to the commemoration of 35 years from the death of architect V. Voitsekhovsky (1909-1977); it is a tribute to this outstanding person who has greatly contributed to the reconstruction of postwar Chisinau and the urban construction in the country.

Based on his projects in the Chisinau there were designed about 100 buildings, including the "Patria" Cinema (1951), buildings of the first residential district of Botanica (1952-1962), the building of the Ministry of Food Industry (1953), "N. Testemițeanu" Medical University (1956-1962), buildings from the 4^th residential district of Riscani (1961), "S. Lunchevici" State Philharmonic (1962), a number of residential buildings on Stefan cel Mare Boulevard in Chisinau, and many residential buildings, schools, cinemas at the towns of Balti and Soroca. In his work V. Voitsekhovsky used motifs of Moldavian folk architecture and local materials. He used glazed ceramic elements for decoration of facades in accordance with the traditions of Byzantine architecture. V. Voitsekhovsky was at the forefront of the Moldavian Soviet architecture, one of the few founders of the national architectural school.

The exhibition presents photographs and original documents from the museum and private collections. Valuable is the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova, which reflects the activities of the Andronache (Andrunakevich) - Stadnițki family, revealing biography of the architect wife - Tatiana, well-known pianist and teacher at the Chisinau State Conservatoire, a daughter of renowned Bessarabian pianist Antonina Stadnițki - Andronache. An important part of the exhibition presents the development of Soroca, the hometown of the architect V. Voitsekhovsky.

Among the authentic materials (projects, models) there is shown an original project - the former Sovnarkhoz building (now Ministry of Industry), situated on Stefan cel Mare Boulevard. For many years this project has been preserved in A. V. Şciusev's Memorial Museum and currently is in the possession of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova. This work of the architect is the core of the exhibition.