Demolishing History? The State of Architectural Heritage in the Republic of Moldova

Over the past twenty years, the cultural heritage of the Republic of Moldova has been subjected to unprecedented aggression and is in continuous degradation. This situation was caused in particular by the level of economic development and the unstable social and political situation in the country over the past 20 years.

A real danger to the architectural and natural heritage of the Republic of Moldova is the pressure of real estate investment and unauthorised construction that came with economic growth. Thus, in Chișinău municipality, out of a total of 977 monuments, 254 immovable heritage monuments of national and local category suffered because of non-compliance with the legislation in force.

The state of heritage in the Historic Centre of Chișinău is even more serious:• 80 architectural monuments – demolished (of which 44 were demolished in 1993-2006, and 36 sites were demolished in 2006-2012); 17 historic buildings – in ruins; 160 cases of illegal interventions that damaged the authenticity of the monuments.

In the Republic of MoldovaThe state of heritage, based on the assessment of 788 monuments of national category in 366 localities (29 districts): 15% of historic buildings and sites – demolished; 40% of historic buildings and sites – advanced degradation; 111 churches mutilated; 31 churches – unsatisfactory condition and do not meet conservation standards; 4 wooden churches – advanced degradation; 18 wooden churches demolished; 8 monasteries – unsatisfactory condition; 20 monasteries – deplorable condition; 20 civil architecture buildings – degraded; 50 public monuments – unsatisfactory condition; 80% of boyar manor houses – in ruins;

Data collection and analysis: Tatiana Savva This infographic was produced by Opera Studio on commission from the Independent Think Tank “EXPERT-GRUP”.