#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

“World through Camera Lens, 3rd Edition”

(January 27 – February 15, 2010)

The personal exhibition of the Italian photographer Pietro Pensa present 57 works, which reflect the beauty of Italian nature, majestic mountain landscapes of the Alps and Apennines as well as the inimitable nature of Sicily. There are also presented a number of photographs dedicated the Capriana Monastery in the Republic of Moldova.One of the aims of the exhibition is charity. The money gained from sale of the works will be donated to Chisinau families, which bring up orphaned children.

Pietro Pensa was born on January 27, 1960 in Busto Arsizio in the province of Vareze, near Switzerland. He is a design engineer. Pensa always took a great interest in photography, which he used to support certain ideas. In the early 1970s, by means of camera, he tried to draw public attention to ecologic problems. Later he was among initiators and establishers of “GRUPPO AUDIOVISIVI”, which in the late 1980s organized diverse events on history and natural science in the province of Vareze.

The whole of Europe, Turkey, Vietnam, Africa, North Pole – just a few routes that traveled in his car Pietro Pensa. His reports on journeys appear regularly in magazines published in large editions, such as “Gente Viaggi”, “Gente motori”, “Domenica del Corriere”.

Today Pensa continue to take photographs, organizing private exhibitions in Europe and attracting more and more followers and admirers of photographic art.

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