Moldovan culture, from lăutari to Mărțișor

ILanguage and identity

The official language of Moldova is Romanian. Since March 2023 the constitution has said so too, after parliament replaced the term 'Moldovan language' in all legislation. As early as 2013 the Constitutional Court had ruled that the 1991 declaration of independence, which refers to Romanian, takes precedence over the text of the constitution. The 'Moldovan' that the Soviet Union promoted as a separate language was essentially Romanian in Cyrillic script. In Transnistria that script is still in use today.

Language and identity do not automatically go hand in hand. In the 2024 census, 76.7% of residents described themselves as Moldovan and 8% as Romanian. As their mother tongue, 49.2% gave 'Moldovan' and 31.3% 'Romanian', even though it is the same language (2024 census). The debate over the name, so-called Moldovenism versus a Romanian identity, cuts right through families and parties, and it is less a linguistic question than a political one.

Russian remains an important second language. It is the mother tongue of 11.1%, but 15.3% speak it most often at home, especially in the cities. Many Gagauz, Bulgarians and Ukrainians use it as a lingua franca. For visitors this means that in Chișinău you will often get a long way with English among younger people, while elsewhere a few words of Romanian open doors. One caveat applies to all these figures: the census did not cover Transnistria or the city of Bender.

IIOrthodox faith and monasteries

In the 2024 census, 95% of residents described themselves as Orthodox. In church terms, though, the country is divided. The largest church, the Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova, comes under the Moscow Patriarchate. Alongside it is the Metropolis of Bessarabia, which comes under the Romanian Patriarchate and was only registered by the state after a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, dozens of priests and their parishes have switched to the Romanian church. In early 2026 Reuters counted around 300 parishes under Bucharest against some 1,000 under Moscow.

For visitors, the monasteries are the most tangible expression of that faith. They often lie in woodland or against limestone cliffs along the Răut and the Dniester. Căpriana, first mentioned in 1429, stands in the Codri forests. At Orheiul Vechi, Țipova and Saharna, cells and chapels have been carved out of the rock. Other monasteries, such as Curchi and Hîncu, are large complexes with churches, gardens and guest quarters. Many were closed or put to other uses in the Soviet era and were taken over again by monks or nuns after 1989.

Enter a church with your shoulders and knees covered; in monasteries women usually wear a headscarf, and there are often some ready at the entrance. During the service the congregation stands, as there are hardly any pews. Photography inside is not allowed everywhere, so ask first.

IIIMusic: lăutari, nai and Eurovision

Moldovan folk music revolves around the lăutari, professional musicians who have traditionally played at weddings, christenings and markets. The trade was often passed down from father to son, and many musician families have Roma roots. The classic line-up consists of violin, țambal (hammered dulcimer), double bass, accordion and the nai, a curved panpipe with a clear, slightly plaintive sound. Then there is the cobza, a short-necked lute that UNESCO recognised as intangible heritage together with Romania in 2025 (UNESCO). The repertoire ranges from the slow, free-rhythm doina to fast dance tunes such as the hora and the sârba.

The director Emil Loteanu brought this world to the big screen with Lăutarii (1971), which won a Silver Shell at the San Sebastián festival. The composer Eugen Doga, born in 1937, wrote a waltz for a later Loteanu film, My Sweet and Tender Beast (1978), that became one of the best-known melodies in Soviet cinema. In Chișinău the national opera and ballet theatre is named after the soprano Maria Bieșu.

Elsewhere in Europe, Moldovan pop music is noticed mainly through the Eurovision Song Contest. The country made its debut in 2005 with Zdob și Zdub, a folk punk band formed in 1994, which came sixth with 'Boonika bate toba'. The band returned in 2011 and again in 2022, when it finished seventh with 'Trenulețul'. The best result is still SunStroke Project's third place with 'Hey, Mamma!' in 2017. After sitting out 2025, Moldova took part again in 2026, when Satoshi finished eighth with 'Viva, Moldova!'.

IVDance, weaving and crafts

The hora is the dance everyone knows: a large circle, hands joined or arms on shoulders, that turns slowly and that guests of every age join in without needing an explanation. At weddings it alternates with faster dances such as the sârba. Professional companies such as the national dance ensemble Joc have taken these dances to stages abroad.

The place where all these traditions come together is the wedding. A long evening with lăutari or a band, hours of hora and sârba, and tables laden with sarmale, răcituri and cozonac: for many families it is the biggest party they will ever throw, and emigrants often travel back to the village for it.

The best-known textile art is the scoarțe, flat-woven woollen rugs with geometric motifs or tendrils of flowers and trees. They hung on walls or were draped over benches and chests, and formed part of a bride's dowry. In 2016 UNESCO recognised the traditional wall-carpet craftsmanship of Romania and Moldova as intangible heritage. In 2022 the ie followed, the traditional blouse with an embroidered band on the shoulder, the altiță, again together with Romania.

Pottery is still alive too, although it is under pressure. The village of Hoginești in Călărași district is known nationwide for its earthenware; the potter Vasile Gonciar organises an international potters' fair there with workshops, folk music and stalls. In the countryside you will also see carved wooden gates and well covers, painted Easter eggs and basketwork. The ethnographic museum and the open-air museum Muzeul Satului in Chișinău give a good overview of these crafts.

VFestivals through the year

The Moldovan year follows the Orthodox church calendar and the rhythm of rural life. The main fixed occasions:

Around New Year, children and young people go from house to house with the Plugușorul, an old ritual of good wishes for the harvest with bells and cracking whips, and with masked figures such as the goat, the capra. If you are staying in a village at that time, you are almost certain to see it.

Every village and town also has its own hram, the feast of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. Relatives come back from far away, the tables are full and music plays until late. National Wine Day, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2026, has grown into one of the biggest public festivals in the country, with wineries from every wine region pouring tastings in the street (ONVV, 2026).

VILiterature

Moldovan literature begins with Dimitrie Cantemir, the prince and scholar whose Descriptio Moldaviae, written in exile in Russia, was the first systematic description of the country. In the 19th century Alexander Pushkin spent three years of his exile in Chișinău, where his house is now a museum. Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, born in northern Bessarabia in 1838, became one of the great Romanian philologists. Constantin Stere portrayed tsarist-era Bessarabia in his cycle of novels În preajma revoluției.

Alexei Mateevici's 1917 poem Limba noastră (Our Language) has been the national anthem since 1994. In the Soviet era Ion Druță and Grigore Vieru wrote in Romanian, even though their work was published in Cyrillic script. Vieru's poems for children and his song lyrics in particular are known to almost everyone. Paul Goma, born in Mana near Orhei, became one of the best-known dissident writers of the Eastern Bloc from his base in Paris.

Among contemporary authors, Tatiana Țîbuleac is one of the most widely translated. In 2019 she won the European Union Prize for Literature for Grădina de sticlă (The Glass Garden), a novel about an orphan girl in 1990s Chișinău. If you want to get to know Moldova before a trip, her work and Druță's are a good way in.

VIIFilm and stage

In the Soviet era the Moldova-Film studio in Chișinău produced a small but distinctive body of cinema. Emil Loteanu worked there until 1973 and then made Tabor ukhodit v nebo at Mosfilm, known internationally as Queen of the Gypsies, which won the Golden Shell at San Sebastián in 1976 (Emil Loteanu). The actor Mihai Volontir became famous throughout the Soviet Union as Budulai, the Roma horse dealer in the television series Tsygan.

Two international names have their roots here. Lewis Milestone, born in Chișinău in 1895, won the Oscar for best director with All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). The soprano Maria Cebotari, born in the same city in 1910, sang at the opera houses of Dresden, Berlin and Vienna in the 1930s. Maria Bieșu, after whom the opera house in Chișinău is named, made her international name in the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly.

Today's stage scene is small but lively: Chișinău has several theatres performing in Romanian and Russian, as well as a philharmonic, an organ hall and a circus. Tickets are affordable and performances are often well attended, which makes an evening at the opera or theatre appealing for visitors too.

VIIIArchitecture: from tsarist town to Soviet modernism

Most of Chișinău's townscape took shape after 1812. The tsarist era left the neoclassical Catedrala Nașterea Domnului (1836) and the triumphal arch in front of it (1840), and the main boulevard is lined with mansions and public buildings from the late 19th century. The architect Alexey Shchusev, who later designed Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, was born in Chișinău in 1873.

After the devastation of the Second World War, the city was given a Soviet plan with broad avenues. From the 1960s onwards came a wave of Soviet modernism that now draws architecture lovers from all over Europe:

• Hotel Național (1978, designed by A. Gorbunțov and V. Șalaghinov), the former Intourist hotel above the main boulevard; it fell into disrepair after privatisation and its future is uncertain (The Calvert Journal).
• Porțile Orașului, two residential towers of about 70 metres that stand like a city gate on the road in from the airport.
• The State Circus (1981), with its striking round dome.
• Casa Romanița, a cylindrical 77-metre residential tower.
• Hotel Cosmos, opened in 1983.

In the countryside you will see a very different architecture: low houses with façades painted blue or green, wooden verandas, richly decorated metal gates and covered wells along the road.

IXMinorities and shared heritage

Moldova is home to several peoples. The 2024 census, excluding Transnistria, gave this picture:

The Gagauz are Orthodox Christians who speak a Turkic language related to Turkish and Azerbaijani. They settled in what was then the sparsely populated south between 1820 and 1846. In Comrat and at the museum in Beșalma you can see how this blend of Turkic language and Orthodox tradition comes through in songs, dishes and folk dress. The Bulgarians around Taraclia arrived as settlers in the same period. In Transnistria, many Russians and Ukrainians live alongside Moldovans.

The Roma of Soroca are known for the eye-catching villas on the hill above the town, with turrets and columns that echo palaces elsewhere. Jewish heritage has largely disappeared, but it was once defining: Chișinău, Soroca, Orhei and many smaller towns had large Jewish communities. After the Holocaust and the emigration of the late Soviet period and the 1990s, little of this remained. In Chișinău the old Jewish cemetery and a memorial to the victims of the ghetto keep the memory alive. Another vanished group are the Bessarabian Germans, who were transferred to the German Reich in 1940, after the Soviet annexation.