Moldova

Discover Moldova

Fun Foods

Mămăligă, Zeamă, Plăcinte, Sarmale, Mititei, Brânză

Under the village of Mileștii Mici, near Moldova’s capital, Chișinău, lies a maze of tunnels about 200 kilometers (124 miles) long.

It holds about 2 million bottles of wine, the biggest wine collection on Earth, according to Guinness World Records.

The tunnels started as a limestone mine. After it closed in the late 1960s, workers filled the caves with wine, which stays at 12 to 14°C (54 to 57°F) all year.

Moldova’s story goes back to the Principality of Moldavia, founded in the 1300s. Its most famous ruler, Stephen the Great, built forts to defend it.

From 1538, Moldavia had to obey the Ottoman Empire. In 1812, Russia took its eastern half, called Bessarabia.

In 1918, Bessarabia voted to join Romania, and Romanian is still Moldova’s official language.

In 1940, a secret deal between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union let Soviet forces take over, and Soviet rule lasted about 50 years.

Moldova declared independence on August 27, 1991. Fighting soon broke out in Transnistria, a strip along the Dniester River.

A breakaway government still runs Transnistria, with about 1,500 Russian soldiers based there, but most countries consider it part of Moldova.

Moldova remains one of Europe’s poorest countries, and it’s working to join the European Union. In 2024, voters backed that goal by just 50.17%.

In 2025, the pro-EU party of President Maia Sandu, the country’s first female president, won a majority in parliament amid reports of Russian interference.

Visit Orheiul Vechi, where monks carved a monastery into a cliff in the 1200s.

Climb Soroca Fortress, a perfect stone circle that Stephen the Great started in 1499 to guard the Dniester.

For food, try mămăligă, firm cornmeal porridge cut into slices with sour cream and sheep cheese. Then try plăcinte, thin pastries filled with cheese, potato, or sour cherries.

Sources: Wikipedia: Moldova, Wikipedia: Soroca Fort, and OSW: Election in Moldova, PAS Wins Outright Majority Once Again.