National History Museum of Moldova · Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei
The history between the Prut and the Dniester, in seven sections on the museum's upper floor
The permanent exhibition „Istorie și civilizație”, seven sections on the upper floor, plus the Iasi-Chisinau operation diorama on the ground floor and the „Tezaur” precious metals display in the basement, per the site.
Worth it if you want the thread of the history between the Prut and the Dniester in one visit, and for visitors from abroad who arrive without context. Three things to know first. Access through the main entrance on 31 August 1989 will be temporarily restricted because of the street rehabilitation works, and visits go through the entrance on Strada Mitropolit Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni, per a notice on the site · check it before you set out. English is not a given: one 4 star review found no staff member who spoke it, and a guided tour in English or Russian costs 300 lei and is booked 24 hours ahead, per the site. And if you expect a large museum you may be let down, a 3 star review hoped for more floors and more exhibits.
The National History Museum of Moldova sits at 121A Strada 31 August 1989, in central Chisinau. Per the site, the building housed Boys Gymnasium No. 1 and later the B.P. Hasdeu Lyceum; the old structure, damaged by the 1977 earthquake, was demolished and rebuilt between 1980 and 1987, keeping only the eclectic facade. One reviewer says the same in their own words: the outside is beautiful, and they read that it used to be a school. Also per the site, the museum was founded in December 1983, and the new building, in use since 1987, holds 12 exhibition halls and a diorama across 5,700 sq m. The permanent exhibition „Istorie și civilizație” fills the upper floor, 1,400 sq m in seven sections, from prehistory and the Roman period to the medieval state of Moldova, 19th century Bessarabia, the Second World War and the Stalinist repressions. On the ground floor is the diorama of the Iasi-Chisinau operation, opened in 1990; in the basement, the precious metals display „Tezaur” and the Museum of the Victims of Deportations and Political Repression, a branch since 2010 whose first exhibition opened in 2012, per the site. The collections pass 340,000 items per the site, the largest being numismatics, photographs and archaeology. An adult ticket is 50 lei, 20 for pensioners and students, 10 for pupils, and entry is free for everyone on the last Thursday of the month, per the site. One review puts the ticket at 50 lei, another only calls it cheap at €2.5. Guided tours are booked at least 24 hours ahead: 150 lei in Romanian for a group of 5 to 30 people, 300 lei in Russian or English. Even so, one 4 star review says they found no staff member who spoke English and ran into noisy school groups. A 3 star review hoped for more floors and more exhibits and preferred the ethnographic museum.
- the building, praised by two reviews, one of them specifically for the exterior
- a low price · 50 lei for adults, per the site and one review, while another calls it cheap at €2.5
- an easy chronological thread, per one review: from the first inhabitants to the communist era and independence
- the courtyard, coffee and museum shop, reachable without touring the exhibition, per one review
- free entry for everyone on the last Thursday of the month, per the site
- a 3D virtual tour on the site and free Wi-Fi in the courtyard, per the site
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“I visited the national museum of history in Moldova, the outside building is beautiful, i read that was a school before. The ticket is 50 leu ~ 2.50€ . In every country I visit the country's historical museum, the Moldovan museum I can't say that it left me satisfied. I expected it to have more floors with more exhibits. I liked the ethnographic museum much more. But in any cas…”
“The Museum accommodated is very beautiful building. There isn't any person speaks English so I don't know but the administration should to improve the service. I came across groups of students from the city, apparently instead of a history lesson the children were taken to the history museum. It was very noisy, especially from those students who were bored. Another thing that …”
“I truly recommend taking some time to visit the National History Museum of Moldova in Chișinău. It’s a great place to easily understand how the Republic of Moldova has developed over the years — from its first inhabitants, through the communist era, to becoming an independent republic and a potential candidate for the European Union. As a foreigner, I really enjoyed it a lot a…”
- per a 4 star review, no staff member spoke English
- per a 3 star review, smaller than expected · they preferred the ethnographic museum
- noisy school groups, per a 4 star review
- per a 4 star review, one period is barely covered and the focus falls on refuting Russian propaganda