Stephen the Great Monument

The Stephen the Great Monument (Romanian: Monumentul lui Ștefan cel Mare) is a prominent monument in Chișinău, Moldova.

Stephen the Great Monument

Monumentul lui Ștefan cel Mare
The monument in 2012
Location	Central Chișinău
Designer	Alexandru Plămădeală
Material	bronze, stone
Beginning date	1924
Completion date	1927
Opening date	29 April 1928
Dedicated to	Stephen III of Moldavia

Description

The monument to Stephen the Great was designed by architect Alexandru Plămădeală in 1923. It was erected near the main entrance of the Stephen the Great Park in Central Chișinău. The monument was completed in 1927 and opened on 29 April 1928 (to replace the monument to Alexander II of Russia, destroyed by the Romanian authorities in 1918). The total cost of the monument was 4.000.000 lei.

A few days before the 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, the monument was relocated to Vaslui, and its pedestal was blown up. On August 25, 1942, the monument was returned to Chișinău and taken back to Romania in 1944. In 1945, the Soviet authorities ordered the restoration of the monument to Chișinău.

On 31 August 1989 the monument to Stephen the Great was returned to its original location, chosen by Alexandru Plămădeală in the 1920s. The initial inscriptions were restored. Flower-laying ceremonies are regularly performed at the pedestal of this monument on each national holiday and on days of official top- and high-level visits.

External links

• Media related to Stephen the Great Monument, Chișinău at Wikimedia Commons
• The Monument to Stephen the Great Archived 2009-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
• The Monuments of Kishinev Archived 2010-04-24 at the Wayback Machine