The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency.
The ceramic assemblage consists of a large storage vessel (pithos) with a capacity of 20 litres (h = 39.2 cm; d = 35.0 cm), decorated with a raised band below the rim; a medium-sized bowl with a capacity of 2.5 litres (h = 16.9 cm; d = 23.2 cm); a medium-sized jug with a capacity of 0.6 litres (h = 12.0 cm; d = 13.4 cm); and the base of a jar-shaped vessel.
The coarse handmade pottery was produced using the coil-building technique, by stacking and shaping coils of clay prepared from a paste tempered with crushed fired clay (grog) and sand. The vessel surfaces are uneven and covered with a yellowish-red slip featuring black patches, while the core of the vessel walls is black in colour.
The three vessels preserved intact display well-defined biconical shapes, with their maximum diameter at the middle of the body and straight or slightly oblique rims with rounded edges. Pottery of this type is characteristic of the Early Medieval cultural area of the northern and northwestern Black Sea region, dating from the 5th to the 7th centuries. East of the Dniester River, on the territory of present-day Ukraine, analogous pottery is found in Penkovka-type settlements, while in the Carpathian-Dniester region it is characteristic of settlements belonging to the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca cultural group.
Within the Prut-Dniester region, coarse biconical pottery is generally represented by fragments and only relatively rarely by complete vessels, such as those discovered at Hansca, Dănceni, Recea, Seliște, Păhărniceni, and other sites. This type of pottery constituted an indispensable component of the local material culture during the 5th-7th centuries. In this context, the discovery at Bălceana of an almost intact set of coarse biconical vessels represents a relatively rare find of considerable scientific importance.
According to certain hypotheses, the tradition of coarse biconical pottery dating to the 5th-7th centuries originated in the North Pontic region. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that these biconical ceramic vessels were the result of contemporary ethnocultural interactions, developing simultaneously across the vast territory extending from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dnieper River and the Seversky Donets.
The image of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the collection of icons of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The six icons from the collection of Marian icons from the National Museum of History of Moldova represent the image of Our Lady of Hârbovăț. Of these, three are large processional ones and the others are smaller, home icons. The techniques of their manufacture are different: from tempera and oil on wood and gilding with gold leaf to chasing the fish glue gesso and enamel paints. All these icons are Russian and Bessarabian and are dated from the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
As is known, the appearance of the icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț in the monastery dates from the late 18th century and is connected with the name of a Russian officer Nikolai Albaduev. Sources indicate that it was a family heirloom, handed down from generation to generation. In the monastery it proved to be a miracle-working icon. Multiple copies of it have spread in Bessarabia and beyond, and soon the image has become widely known as the icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț.
On April 17, 1859 the Holy Synod has recognized its miraculous properties and approved the requests of Chisinau residents, allowing annually, from October 1 to April 17, with a procession to transfer the icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the monastery to Chișinău.
This image is of the Hodegetria type. The image of the Virgin is presented till the knees; she holds the Child on her left hand and points at him with her right hand. The Savior blesses with his right hand, and in his left hand he holds a scroll. Their heads are inclined to each other. The distinctive elements of this type of Marian iconography are the outstretched more than usual right arm of the Savior, his light shirt with a belt, sad face of the Virgin and floral decoration of her garments.
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț.
Fig. 2. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Ascension Monastery at the village of Japca, Florești District.
Fig. 3. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Noul Neamț Monastery of the Holy Ascension, Slobozia district.
Fig. 4. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the village of Sârcova, Rezina District.
Fig. 5. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the village of Sârcova, Rezina District.
Fig. 6. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Church of All Saints in the Armenian Cemetery in Chișinău.
Fig. 7. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Savior's Transfiguration Monastery in Bolgrad, Ukraine.
Fig. 8. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Archangel Michael Monastery in Odessa, Ukraine.
Fig. 9. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the St. Paraskeva Church at Furatovka village, Odessa Region, Ukraine.
Fig. 10. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Tyron in Chișinău.
Fig. 11. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Tyron in Chișinău (painter Ioan Protcenco).
Fig. 12. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, from the Assumption Monastery at Hârbovăț.
Fig. 13. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-22918-3).
Fig. 14. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-22918-11).
Fig. 15. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-22918-44).
Fig. 16. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-22642).
Fig. 17. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-14736).
Fig. 18. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț, the NMHM collection (FB-1540).
Fig. 19. Icon of Our Lady "Il'inskaya Chernigovskaya" from the St. Trinity Monastery of St. Elijah in Chernihiv, Ukraine.
Fig. 20. Icon of Our Lady "Chernigovskaya Gefsimanskaya" from the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Sergiyev Posad, Russia.
Fig. 21. Icon of Our Lady of Trigorie from the Holy Transfiguration Monastery at the village of Trigorie, Ukraine.
Fig. 22. Icon of Our Lady of Barkolabovo from the Ascension Monastery at the village of Barkolabovo, Belarus.
Fig. 23. Icon of Our Lady of Lublin from the Monastery of the Miracle of Archangel Michael at Chonae (Chudov Monastery) in Moscow, Russia.
Fig. 24. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț.
Fig. 25. Icon of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine.
Adelaida Chiroșca
Icons of the Intercession in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
Nativity of Christ: interpretation of the plot in icons from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVII [XXXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
Two monetary treasures from the 16th and the 17th centuries from the collections of the NMAHM
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
Eucharistic icons of Jesus Christ in the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
The monk-painter Irenaeus Protcenco and his famous icon "Our Lady of Sorrows"
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency...
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
