The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm. The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s. The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM. Brief History of the Camera The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality. The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia. The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.
Lazo Mansion Museum in the Piatra village (Orhei District)
The Lazo family mansion is located in the village of Piatra, Orhei district. It is registered as a monument of architecture and history from the second half of the nineteenth century, with national significance, protected by the state.
Starting with 1990, by Order of the Ministry of Culture no. 220 from August 1, the mansion is transferred to the administration of the National Museum of History of Moldova, with the status of branch.
The mansion was built between 1862-1865 by Ioan and Matilda Lazo, representatives of a noble family of Bessarabia. Two generations of the Lazo family spent part of their lives in this house. In 1894 Gheorghe and Elena Lazo sold the Piatra mansion. Until 1940, the Lazo family house passed through the hands of several owners. After 1945, the house is nationalized and used as a school. In 1974, the rebuilt mansion became a memorial museum devoted to the civil war hero in Russia, Serghei Lazo. In 1993 the museum was reorganized into the Lazo family mansion. Between 2007 and 2018, the mansion underwent an extensive rehabilitation process, opening its doors to the public on December 2, 2018.
The new exhibition in the Lazo family mansion "Bessarabian Environment - the Piatra mansion - interconnection of historical personalities", includes a living room, a dining room, a library office and a children's room. The memorial and typological pieces from the new exhibition present the material and moral ambience of the Lazo Family Mansion with several generations of this noble family, with their epoch, with all the complexities of life, emotions and facts intertwined with the history of the personalities owners of the Mansion, of living people with their visions and occupations who have been in our history and have contributed to the development of the Basarabian society over the centuries.
Visiting hours: Monday - Sunday: 10.00-17.00
Friday closed
Official Holidays - January 1, 7 and 8, March 8, the first and second day of Easter, Parents Day, May 1 and 9, August 27 and 31, December 25 - the museum is closed.
Admission Fees
Adults - 50 MDL Pensioners, Students - 20 MDL School students - 10 MDL
Free admission:
Preschool children (up to the age of 7), children from residential institutions, children with disabilities (up to the age of 18) and their companion, military personnel, official delegations and delegations of a cultural nature (within the limits of the museum's operating hours), employees of the national museum network, the Ministry of Culture and national institutions in the field of cultural heritage, holders of ICOM and ICOMOS cards, war veterans (pursuant to Law no. 317/2024), for the participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the damage at the Chernobyl C.A.E.
Free admission for all visitors: the last Thursday of every month
The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
