Originated in the middle of the 16th century V. on the site of a destroyed ancient fortress. The name is explained from Hungarian Varhely, where var "fortress, city",hely- "place".

Geographical names of the world: Toponymic dictionary. - M: AST. Pospelov E.M. 2001.

Orhei

Orhei (Mold. Orhei) - city (since 1835) in Moldova (cm. Moldova), on the Reut River. Population 29.6 thousand people (2004).
Factories: machine-building, low-voltage equipment; food and beverage industry, light industry, furniture industry.
The time of the city's founding is unknown. Orhei is one of the oldest settlements in Moldova. The Cossacks called Orhei Irgeev and Igreev; in Rus' it was known in ancient times under the name Oryga or Orygova. Built on the site of the Dacian fortress of Petrodava (Old Orhei), founded in the 14th century. Stephen the Great and destroyed by the Janissaries in 1499. The remains of the fortress with underground passages have survived to this day. In the mid-17th century, by order of the ruler of Moldova, Vasile Lupu, Orhei was moved 18 kilometers north, closer to the entrance to the Reuta Canyon. Until 1812, the city was the residence of the Turkish Sardars who ruled the northern part of Bessarabia. In 1835 it was renamed Ogreev and received the status of a county town.
Among the attractions: the cathedral church of St. Demetrius (1631-1636), repeatedly rebuilt, 15 km from the city - the medieval fortress of Old Orhei (remains of a palace and castle complex of the 14-15 centuries), a monument to Vasily Lupu - ruler of Moldova in 1634-53.
There is a local history museum in the city.

Encyclopedia of tourism Cyril and Methodius. 2008 .

See what "Orhei" is in other dictionaries:

City in the Republic of Moldova; see Orhei... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

City residence of Orhei Orhei Flag Coat of Arms ... Wikipedia

District town of Bessarabian province, in 41 ver. from Chisinau, on the left elevated bank of the river. Reuta. Owner's city (surname Pangalo). By January 1, 1896, 11,585 inhabitants. (6142 men and 5443 women): 262 nobles, 37 clergy, honorary citizens and merchants... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

See Orhei. * * * ORGEEV ORGEEV, city in the Republic of Moldova; see Orhei (see ORHEI) ... encyclopedic Dictionary

A city of republican subordination, the center of the Orhei region of the Moldavian SSR. Located on both banks of the river. Reut (right tributary of the Dniester), 46 km north of the city of Chisinau. 29.1 thousand inhabitants (1974). Factories: electrical fittings, building materials,... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Orhei- Orhei, city, Moldova. Originated in the middle of the 16th century. on the site of a destroyed ancient fortress. The name is explained from Hungarian. Varhely, where var fortress, city, hely place... Toponymic dictionary

Orhei is one of the oldest cities in Moldova, rich in traditions and cultural values. In the city and its surroundings there are many monuments of local and national significance, attractions that attract many tourists.

Cathedral of St. Demetrius. The oldest church in Orhei and one of the oldest in Moldova. Built between 1632 and 1636. The founder of the cathedral was the ruler of Moldova, Vasile Lupu (1634-1653). The church is included in the register of national heritage, being an architectural monument.

The Cathedral of St. Demetrius in Orhei is depicted on the 5 lei banknote of the Moldovan currency.

Monument to Vasile Lupu.Located on the central square of the city. Bronze statue of Vasile Lupu, ruler of the Moldavian principality from 1634 to 1653. The author is the famous Romanian sculptor Oscar Han. The monument was created in 1932. The statue is a real record holder for the number of changes in location. The monument was moved 8 times.

Roman Catholic Church. Located on the street. Vasile Mahu. Construction of the church began in 1904 and ended in 1915. The church was built at the expense of Cesarina Dobrovolskaya, who owned an estate in the village of Braviceni, not far from Orhei. Cesarina Dolivo-Dobrovolskayabelonged to an ancient Polish noble family and was even a relative of Pyotr Stolypin. She died in 1924 and was buried in a crypt under the church she built.During Soviet times, the Roman Catholic Church in Orhei was partially destroyed. The church was converted into a sports hall, and then into a regular warehouse. Thanks to the efforts of priest Klaus Kniffke, in 2005 the church was returned to the small Catholic community of Orhei. In 2008, after reconstruction, the church was reopened.

Museum of History and Ethnography Orheeva. The museum is located in the house of the former chief architect of the city, Mircea Bengulescu, who built many buildings in Orhei, as well as bridges over the Raut. Bengulescu was also involved in the development of the Ivanos city park, and in 1939 he restored the Church of St. Demetrius for its 300th anniversary. In 1940, the architect was forced to flee Bessarabia, captured by Soviet troops, to Romania. The collection of the museum located in his house contains more than 20 thousand exhibits, the most valuable are collections of coins and ancient books. The permanent exhibition of the museum is dedicated to historical and archaeological research on the territory of Paradise.

Zemstvo Administration building. An architectural monument of the 19th century. The building was built at the insistence of the former chairman of the Zemstvo, Alexander Cotruta. In this building, on March 25, 1918, deputies of the District Zemstvo Assembly voted for the unification of Bessarabia with Romania. After January 1, 1919, the building housed the Prefecture and the District Court. Then, for several years, the I. L. Caragiale Lyceum was located here. The building is currently empty.

District Court building. An architectural monument of the twentieth century.This is the former home of the doctor and lawyer Mihail Coteanu, director of the weekly„ Frăția Românească”( „ Romanian Brotherhood”), produced in the city from 1919 to 1940. After World War II, the building was occupied by the Executive Committee of People's Deputies. Since 1990, the district court has been located here.

Jewish cemetery. An ancient cemetery which, according to some sources, is about 400 years old. There are more than 15,000 tombstones. The oldest date back to the 18th century. For several centuries, a large Jewish community lived in Orhei. It is known that at the beginning of the twentieth century, 3/4 of the population of Orhei were Jews. Now there are only about 0.1%. The Jewish cemetery is located in a landslide zone, which is why its old part was badly damaged.

Ivanos Park. Central city park, entrance from the street. Vasile Mahu. The park was established in 1933 by the decision of city and county authorities. Located at the foot of a granite hill that towers over the entire city. The Ivanos stream flows through the park, from which the park gets its name. Initially, 9,000 trees were planted, brought from the Romanian Carpathians and Europe. In subsequent years, the park developed and developed with the active support of the townspeople. In the early 2000s, the park was seriously neglected due to a lack of funds for its maintenance. In the summer of 2015, entrepreneur Ilan Shor, who became the mayor of the city, carried out a complete restoration of the park, including a fountain, a waterfall, a massive staircase and the main alley. Now Ivanos Park has again become a favorite vacation spot for Orhei residents.

Square of Europe. Located between st. Vasile Mahu and Renasterii, opposite the city hall building. The square owes its name, which was given to it in 2015, to the benches painted in the colors of the flags of European states, which have become a local landmark.

Tourist complexOld Orhei (Orheiul Vechi). It is considered the hallmark of Moldova. One of the most famous and popular tourist destinations. It was here that Orhei was originally located, but after another devastating raid in 1533, the settlement was moved to a quieter place, away from trade routes (read more in the History section). Old Orhei is located 18 km southeast of the current city. The unique landscape with steep limestone slopes of the winding mouth of the Raut River creates a unique landscape here. This place literally breathes history. The ancient Dacians, Romans, the Golden Horde of the Tatar-Mongols, etc. left their mark here. The ruins of an ancient fortress and Roman baths are still preserved. In addition, tourists are attracted by caves, an ancient rock church and ancient monks’ cells, gouged out of limestone.

The villages of Trebujeni and Butuceni. Located on the territory of the Old Orhei complex. Known as centers of agro and ethno-tourism. They are attractive with very beautiful landscapes and traditional Moldovan buildings, some of which are more than 150 years old. Here you can stay in mini-hotels decorated in a traditional style, as well as try national cuisine prepared by local housewives.

Geological and paleontological natural monument „Orheevskoe ugap". It is a state protected area. It occupies an area of ​​100 hectares.

Curchi Monastery. Located in the village of Curchi, 12 km from Orhei. Some researchers say that the monastery was founded during the reign of Stephen the Great. In documents, the monastery dates back to the time of the ruler Alexander Ghik, when the peasant Iordache Kurkiu founded a wooden hermitage. Between 1937-1938 a beautiful temple was built in honor of St. Nicholas. During Soviet times, the monastery became a psychiatric hospital. Only in 1992 the monastery was reopened. In 1995, a monastic seminary was created here and restoration began. The monastery is included in the UNESCO list of architectural monuments.

MuseumAlexey Donich (1806-1865). The museum of the famous Moldovan fabulist is located in the village of Donich, 26 km from Orhei. It was opened in 1976 in the old family mansion of the Donich family. Near the mansion there is the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, founded by the writer’s father, family graves and the Stynka spring.

Estate-museum of the Lazo family. Located in the village of Piatra, 7 km from Orhei. At the end of the 19th century, the village was the property of the wealthy Lazo family. The last landowners of this dynasty were Georgy and Elena Lazo - the parents of the hero of the Russian Civil War, Sergei Lazo. In 1906, Elena Lazo, after the death of her husband, sold the estate in Piatra and moved to an estate near the city of Balti. During Soviet times, the village of Pyatra was renamed Lazo, in honor of Sergei Lazo. After Moldova gained independence, the village was returned to its former name. The Lazo estate, which had fallen into complete disrepair, began to be restored in 2008. The work is almost completed. The exhibition rooms include household items, furniture, photographs, books that belonged to the Lazo family.

ManorBaliosa. Located in the village of Ivancha, 14 km from Orhei. The estate was built by order of the landowner Karabet Balioz, an Armenian by origin. The estate is surrounded by an ancient park with an area of ​​7 hectares, founded in 1880. Here you can see plants that are not typical for Moldova, such as Canadian spruce, American pine, red linden, yellow cladrastis, Argentine pine, Chinese wisteria, yew. In 1984, the estate was transformed into the Museum of Folk Crafts, a branch of the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History. The museum hosts several permanent exhibitions dedicated to traditional Moldovan crafts. One of the halls is dedicated to traditional costume. The museum has a collection of musical instruments.

Orhei is one of the cities in the very center of Moldova. In Moldavian it is called “Orhei”. This is a small, provincial town in which most of the buildings remain from Soviet times. You won't find skyscrapers or high-tech street gadgets here. However, there are several highlights here that are hidden behind dilapidated facades and crowns of hundred-year-old trees.

Discover Orhei

You can easily get to Orhei from Chisinau. The town is located just 40 kilometers from the capital of Moldova. Along the way, picturesque landscapes open from the car window. Orhei is located in a valley shrouded in hills and forests in one of the greenest areas of the country - next to the Codri nature reserve.

Orhei – version 2.0

The ancient city was founded approximately 20 kilometers from the modern settlement. Today, on the old site there is a historical and archaeological complex protected by the state. Tourists know it as Old Orhei, where one of the first settlements appeared in the 12th century. After 3 centuries, the Mongol-Tatars came to the lands of the Getae and Dacians - the ancestors of modern Moldovans. People were forced to flee and moved the settlement, which today is already known as the new city of Orhei.

Jewish trace

Modern Orhei is 463 years old. Jews were among the first settlers. They were attracted to Orhei by its geographical location - it was easy to get from the city to other major points, as well as by its fertile lands and temperate climate. Over the course of several centuries, Orhei became the largest Jewish community in all of Bessarabia - as Moldova used to be called. By the end of the 19th century, the city's population was three-quarters Jewish. And the remaining quarter are Moldovans, Ukrainians and Russians.

In the 19th century, synagogues could be found on every corner in Orhei; to be more precise, there were 19 of them. Today, by the way, there is only one left.

« These were mostly the richest people. They held medicine and education in their hands. In our city and county, 20 millionaires were registered among Jews», – said Andrei Kalcha, an employee of the history museum.

The Moldovans got along well with the newcomers and were grateful for their contribution to the development of the city. Now the ancient cemetery, one of the oldest in all of Europe, reminds of the Jewish trace. Almost 15 thousand people are buried in the cemetery, which is over 400 years old. Stone tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew are still preserved here.

The attraction, which sends a chill down your spine, will appeal to those who are attracted by history and architectural monuments. By the way, there are plenty of the latter in Orhei.

ChurchXVIIcentury

One of the oldest churches in Moldova is the Church of St. Demetrius. It was built back in 1636. Today it is the calling card of Orhei, the domes of which are visible almost immediately upon entering the city. To build the monastery, the Moldavian ruler Vasile Lupu invited the best architects from Romania and Poland. They built the temple in just 5 years. If not for the Second World War, the temple could have been preserved in its original form to this day. But the bombings of '44 destroyed half the building. The Church of St. Demetrius was quickly restored in the 50s of the last century. Since then it has not been closed for a single day. Moldovans value this architectural heritage so much that they immortalized it on the 5 lei banknote of the national currency.

Gothic church - Orhei Hogwarts

Orhei is a compact city, where you can and even need to move around exclusively on foot. There is absolutely no need for transport. While walking through the center of Orhei, it is impossible not to notice the Catholic Church.

There are very few Catholics in Moldova, so the church is a rarity. The most beautiful of them is located in Orhei - the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was built at the very beginning of the 20th century by the Polish noblewoman Cesarina Bokarskaya, according to one version, a relative of the Russian reformer Pyotr Stolypin.

The church is made in the neo-Gothic style. In appearance, it resembles the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Such a building is the only one not only in Orhei, but throughout Moldova.

“Even believers of other faiths come to our church. The Mass lasts only 40 minutes, and not 4 hours, as in an Orthodox church, and there are benches here - soft and comfortable», – said the custodian of the church, Alevtina.

In 2008, the temple was completely restored - it was also damaged during the war. For a long time there were warehouses, a gym and even a radio studio here. Now from the outside it looks impeccable, almost the same as 114 years ago. The inside is light and cozy – the multi-colored stained glass windows give a special atmosphere. Each of them reflects biblical scenes, such as the Annunciation or the crucifixion of Christ.

Orhei is the most dynamically developing city in Moldova in 2018

Orhei is a city with a rich past. At the same time, the regional center is trying to keep up with the times - it is developing dynamically and even strives to become a modern European city. New buildings and structures appear here, roads are repaired and street lighting is installed much faster than what happens in Chisinau. Therefore, this city attracts even Chisinau residents. They come here for holidays or weekends. Residents of other cities are fascinated by Orhei with its quiet regularity, low prices and pleasant atmosphere.

A quiet harbor

One of the places where you can relax from the hustle and bustle is the city lake. It has no name because it is the only one in the city. Finding it is not difficult, you can ask any Orhei resident and he will tell you the way.

The first thing that catches your eye is the modern infrastructure: neatly laid paving slabs, snow-white benches, sports and playgrounds. It is not surprising that locals spend almost all their free time here. Here they swim, sunbathe and fish.

« This is a very beautiful place where you can spend time with your family. We love to come here to eat ice cream and listen to music. Many concerts for children are held here» – says Orhei resident Cecilia Grisa.

For privacy, it is better to come here on weekdays, because on weekends you are unlikely to be the only visitors. Here you can enjoy the light breeze and walk along the sandy beach.

The most beautiful park in the country

Once you've strolled around the lake, head into the central part of the city to Orhei's largest and greenest park, Ivanos. It was named after the river that flows along the entire territory. This park was built back in 1873. A few years ago it was completely restored and CCTV cameras were installed throughout the territory. There is also security on duty here around the clock.

The park is kept in perfect order - by the way, this habit dates back to the 19th century, when the city governor organized a massive cleanup of the area. Until now, no one has abandoned this tradition - all visitors maintain cleanliness. Automatic watering is installed on neatly trimmed lawns. The entire area is surrounded by tens of thousands of trees brought from all over the world: Canadian maple, Australian acacia and golden spruce.

Walking here is a pleasure. It feels like you are in an oasis hidden in the very heart of the city.

French style chateau

This piece of paradise is located at the highest point of Orhei, overlooking the entire city and the Reut River. The history of the city inspired local winemakers to create a real “chateau” - in the French style. A chateau is a place with a full cycle of wine production, when one winemaker controls the entire process, from planting the vines to aging in cool cellars.

This winery does not have a centuries-old history - it was founded a little over 20 years ago, but this place will appeal to many.

On the territory of the complex there is a restaurant with Moldovan and European cuisine, a production workshop, as well as 4 villas where guests of the chateau can stay for several days until they taste all the wine available here. And there is a lot of it in cool basements. Classic European red varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Shiraz, and Pinot Noir. Whites: Chardonnay, Riesling, Traminer and Muscat. To get an insight into the Moldovan culture, it is worth trying local varieties that are found only in Moldova - these are Feteasca Regale, Feteasca Neagra and Rare Neagra.

Orhei is a good option for a busy one-day trip. Here you can experience the centuries-old history of the city, see some of the most beautiful architectural and cultural heritage of Moldova and taste good wine.

Perhaps the most famous attraction of Moldova is Orhei: the ruins of the most ancient city in the country in an incredibly beautiful place. But in fact, Orhei (or, in the Russian manner, Orhei) is no longer a city, but an area along the Reut River, quite comparable to. The fact is that Orhei, founded in pre-Moldavian times and replaced several “layers”, one of which was the Golden Horde, in 1636, by decree of Vasily Lupu (“Wolf”), the last Moldavian ruler who ruled for more than several years, was moved 18 kilometers upstream the Reut. So now there are two Orhei in Moldova: the new one - a city (33 thousand inhabitants) 40 kilometers from Chisinau at the fork in the roads to Soroca and Balti, and the Old one - a settlement between the villages of Trebujeni and Butuceni. So, “attraction No. 1” is precisely Old Orhei, and now I’ll tell you about New: for some reason there is an opinion that there is nothing to see in it, and yet it is perhaps the best-preserved county town of the Bessarabia province.

Of course, I was also in Old Orhei, and I’ll tell you about it, as well as about the stone-cutting village of Braneshti, in the next three parts. I kindly ask you to read this paragraph several times and not write me comments saying that I went to the wrong place.

Getting to Orhei from Chisinau is almost easier than to many areas on the outskirts of the capital: minibuses from the Central Bus Station run every 15-20 minutes, and this does not count those passing by - since the city is located on the main fork in the country, there are dozens of them every day. About 40 minutes after leaving, this view opens up ahead - on the left is the road to Balti (the minibuses going there do not call at the Orhei bus station), on the right is Orhei itself, through which the road to Soroca lies:

The city center with the prospect of three churches - and I never found information about any of them, except for the central one. The red church in the foreground stands at the fork, and if you are traveling by Balti minibus, the city tour will begin approximately from there. The middle St. Demetrius Church is already behind Reut, and is considered the main attraction of the town. In fact, I would call the county center the main attraction - but from here it is completely obscured by trees:

Well, the center opens with the same church of Dmitry Solunsky, the same age as the city (1634-36), one of three buildings in Moldova older than the 18th century (the other two are churches in Causeni) and the only monument in the country from the era of Vasily Lupu, in which especially active Iasi was built. However, visually the church is rather nondescript and is clearly designed for defense:

In addition, even the gates were closed outside the service time, and the church is surrounded by a fence of a considerable height - I, despite my very good height, barely managed to take a photo, holding the camera at arm's length above my head:

In the church yard there is also a hefty cross of unknown date, the pedestal of which was built for the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city under the Romanians... and you will see who stood on the pedestal later:

Even from my trip to Balti, I managed to remember that Orhei is very spectacular from the Balti highway, and then I decided, before going to the center, to admire the city from that side. Across the street from the Demetrievskaya Church, meadows already begin:

And although the “facade” of the city is formed by high-rise buildings, its unique appearance is given by a steep hill, which for some reason reminded me of the Kazakh hills:

The Reut Valley is famous for its quarries, and kotelets was most likely once mined in the quarries above the city:

Directly ahead is an abandoned factory and a Jewish cemetery. Two monuments of two civilizations that left here:

The picture was completed by a hang glider in the colors of the Bulgarian flag, which spent the entire evening circling over the city and meadows - you’ll understand why a little later.

I never made it to Kirkut; I’m not a fan of cemeteries at all. There are such cemeteries in many old cities and former towns of Bessarabia, which by the beginning of the twentieth century were 50-70% Jewish. The list of famous natives of Orhei speaks volumes: for example, the poet Simcha Ben-Zion, the French sculptor Moses Kogan (who died in Auschwitz), the Argentine poet Jacobo Fichman, the first mayor of Tel Aviv Meir Desingof and even the famous and rather controversial Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman.

On the mountain is another unidentified church. However, all of them, except Dmitrievskaya, are rather nondescript and clearly from the second half of the 19th century, therefore they are interesting only as part of the Orhei landscape:

Well, the wind brought music and cheerful cries to me - this is the city center, on the left is the recreation center, right behind the trees is the bus station:

In general, I got to Orhei exactly on the city day - and you should have seen how sincerely the people were having fun at these carousels:

And the Palace of Culture, by the way, is not Stalinist, but another work of Semyon Shoikhet (circus and Palace of Culture of the Railway in Chisinau) of the 1970s. What’s impressive here is not so much the buildings themselves as the plots - I almost fell in love with this uncomplicated collective farmer:

I don’t know whether this is connected with the holiday or not, but Orhei seemed very neat to me. In general, among the Moldovan towns I have seen, it is perhaps the most comfortable - Balti is too industrial, Soroca is too gypsy, and in other cities there is not enough antiquity:

From the cultural center I went out to Vasily Lupu Square with a typical city hall building. The Romanian house on the left side of the frame is in the opening frame, but from the other side. On the wall of the city hall on the right are images of the cathedral in the Curchi monastery near Orhei, which again I did not have time to visit:

The monument to Lupu, by the way, was erected in 1936 - for the 300th anniversary of the city, and originally stood on the same pedestal at the Demetrius Church. This square was built only under the Soviets, in front of the mayor's office stood, of course, Lenin - the ruler was moved to his place in 2000. But in general, Moldova is perhaps the only country annexed on the eve of the war, where the Soviet government did not destroy some monuments of the era of “bourgeois freedom” - Stephen the Great (1928) in Chisinau, Vasily Lupu here... However, these were heroes long ago of the past days, and also built excellent relations with Russia.

Vasily Lupu, unlike Stephen the Great and Peter Rares, left very few traces in Bessarabia. But his reign in 1634-53 was the last “island” of stability in the endless succession of rulers who remained on the throne for a maximum of several years with the support of foreign patrons. Under Volk, Iasi was actively built, which became the capital back in 1574, he tried to subjugate Wallachia and Transylvania, conducted trade with Russia and secretly negotiated an alliance against the Turks, but Lupu was not friends with the Ukrainian Cossacks, openly supported Poland (although in Khmelnitsky’s army Moldovan volunteers fought), for which he was eventually beaten by an alliance of Cossacks and Tatars, after which he made peace with Khmelnitsky and even gave his daughter Roskanda to his son Timofey. The boyars and governors, who were friends with the Polish gentry, immediately came to their aid and, with the help of Wallachia and Transylvania, organized a conspiracy, which ended Lupu’s reign. “Bastard boyars” have always been more relevant for Moldova than for Russia - the country has lived for several centuries in a continuous division of power, and even several strong rulers in a row could have made it the main power of the Balkans.

Lupu Square is also crossed by Lupu Street, the main street in Orhei - in fact, the city stretches along it for 7 kilometers, but on average it is less than a kilometer wide. However, to begin with, I turned into the street behind the house from the introductory frame. After a day in the city, people wait for minibuses to the outskirts and villages:

Orhei courtyards:

The same street goes down in a couple of steep zigzags into a deep hollow of some stream, most likely flowing to Reut from Lake Orhei - it is small and adjacent to the residential areas. On the mountain is the Chateau Vartaley winery, and behind it you could walk to the Old Believer church (not visible from here):

A boiler room with a thick pipe and either a Romanian or even a pre-revolutionary building:

But the medical college is definitely from the Romanian era - a typical school design, I came across these several times:

Having made a circle, I went out on the other side of Lupu Square onto one of the side streets. Orhei district stretches for about a kilometer from the square to the Demetrius Church, and its architecture is mainly concentrated above Vasily Lupu Street. Of the 7 district towns of Bessarabia (Ackerman, Balti, Bendery, Izmail, Soroca, Khotin), Orhei a hundred years ago was the smallest (12 thousand inhabitants), but at the same time it looks much more impressive than the district districts or, and most importantly, much more holistic. Moreover, “by eye” about 2/3 of its buildings are from tsarist times, the rest is Romanian:

And yes, it really happened on the streets so deserted - however, where all the Orhei people were at that time, I have already shown. True, a group of schoolchildren of about 13-14 years old were rushing through these streets with loud screams, and to be honest, their presence bothered me - a rare case in Moldova, in fact the country is not at all a riot.

One of the two streets on which this neighborhood is located runs right along the back of Lupu Street. Here, let's say, a hotel - isn't it Romanian, maybe? The facade is 100% Soviet, I didn’t even take a photo of it, but from the courtyard it resembles interwar functionalism:

Or here is the apse of the now Orthodox church, suspiciously similar to the former church:

From the south, both district streets are closed by a church (1902-04), perhaps the largest and most beautiful in thoroughly Orthodox Moldova:

Bessarabia, as a part of New Russia, in the 19th century was extremely multinational - Germans, Poles, Bulgarians, and Greeks lived here, invited by the government of Tsarist Russia - some to fertile lands, others away from the Turkish yoke. However, churches are not typical for Moldova, and this particular one is the merit of the local boyars of Polish origin, the couple Grigory Dolino-Dobrovolsky and Cesarina Bokarska - according to a family legend, which Alexander Deorditsa told me, the first built a church in the village of Braviceni, the second - a church in Orhei .

Nearby there is another church - but it could very well be Bulgarian or Greek:

So I went out again onto Lupu Street, about a block from St. Demetrius Church, and walked back towards the square. The development of the street is generally quite dull. The already mentioned former church (?) looks at it with its façade - and here is a church in a county town, so you shouldn’t be surprised, there are a lot of ex-German villages in Moldova:

Crossed Lupu Square again. Basically, the center of Orhei is built up with these Stalin-era low-rise buildings, very typical for Moldova:

Although in general the district of Orhei is much more extensive than those two streets, but for some reason it does not form a single fabric beyond them - only a scattering of individual houses in Soviet buildings. Behind Lupu Square there are three monuments almost in a row. The first is for victims of repression (for Moldova, the darkest year was 1949, when at least 35 thousand people were deported from here, but in journalism and disputes the numbers vary up to six zeros):

The next one is for the victims of Chernobyl. The cross on the atom is impressive:

And finally - to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War:

The furthest point along Lupu Street was a functioning synagogue with architecture characteristic of Bessarabia:

There is another house nearby - I was wondering whether it was Romanian or modern, and it turned out that it was a remodel after all. But very good:

Along the parallel street below Lupu Street, I began to return to the bus station:

I took the last shot in Orhei near the cultural center:

And less than an hour later he returned to Chisinau. In general, I remember this town - it’s clearly not worth neglecting when traveling around Moldova.
The next two parts are about Old Orhei. I went there on another day, and it’s easier to get from Chisinau than from here.