NATIONAL MUSEUM

OF HISTORY
Dabija Mihail
• The beautiful architecture of this museum is one of the reasons
you’ll want to visit in the first place. With an amazing façade on
the outside and an interesting exhibition about the history of
Moldova throughout the centuries inside, this is one of the top
museums in the city. Make sure not to miss the diorama behind
the entrance hall and the treasure room in the basement!
• The national museum was stablished in 1983 when Moldova was part of the USSR and brought together several existing
museums including the museum of military glory. It was renamed the National Museum of the History of Moldova in
1991. The original building was a boys’ school, which after the Second World War served as an army barracks and then
as part of the Polytechnic Institute. The building was rendered unstable by an earthquake in 1977 and in 1979 it was
decided to erect a new building which has some spectacular exhibition rooms amongst its twelve galleries. The museum
was erected between 1980 and 1987 retaining its original frontage. Its displays illustrate the hole of the nation’s history
from Palaeolithic times, through the centuries when Moldova stood on the Dacian frontier of the Roman Empire, and
through a succession of subsequent occupations. The country’s history is reflected in the numismatic collection, which
includes coins from the Greek, Dacian, Roman, Ottoman, and Holy Roman empires, as well as examples from Hungary
and Poland. A large photographic collection records Moldovan history in more recent time. A spectacular diorama
depicts the Iasi-Chişinău operation, a battle in the summer of 1944, which is illustrated by numerous artefacts recovered
from the nearby battlefield.