Turnul de apă (Muzeul de Istorie a Orașului Chișinău)

What you see

The tower stands on the corner of Strada Alexei Mateevici and Strada Mitropolit Bănulescu-Bodoni, on the edge of the old centre. It is a slender building just over twenty metres high. Inside, four floors of exhibition rooms trace the development of the city. The oldest object is an earthenware vessel from the 4th century, and part of the exhibition covers the city's water supply, which began with this tower.

The top floor offers a panoramic view over the city's rooftops. Visitors used to climb up an iron staircase; a lift was added during the last restoration.

History

The water supply project came about under Mayor Carol Schmidt, who had two identical water towers built together with the architect Alexander Bernardazzi. Only this one has survived. Bernardazzi (1831-1907), an architect of Swiss-Italian descent who also worked in Odesa, was Chișinău's city architect from 1856 to 1878 and left a clear mark on the 19th-century cityscape.

In 1979 the tower was given a new role as the city museum. The 1977 earthquake had badly damaged the wooden upper section; it was rebuilt in 1980-1983. After another earthquake in the 1990s the tower closed again. Only in the autumn of 2011, after almost ten years, did the museum reopen, partly reconstructed on the basis of photos from the early 1980s.

Tips for your visit

The water tower is within walking distance of Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare and fits into a walk past the museums of the centre and Ciuflea Church. Allow an hour. Choose a clear day to make the most of the view from the top floor. If stairs are a problem for you, ask at the ticket desk whether the lift is working. If you still have time afterwards, it is a fifteen-minute walk to Valea Morilor park, where a path runs around the lake.