Moldova & Transnistria Introduction

Moldova is one of Europe’s least known and most overlooked destinations, but this is something very much undeserved and this small, landlocked, former-soviet state in fact offers much to the curious visitor and a far more diverse tourism experience than many would anticipate. 

Nestled between Romania and Ukraine, lacking in mountains as well as a coastline, but blessed with scenery, rolling hills, fertile wine-producing areas, industrial zones both extant and extinct, and far more variety in all ways than a small country usually offers, it has been ones of those countries which has been born in many guises through the centuries. Over the time, it has developed a complex and deep history and culture in the present day.

Moldova, and the fascinating breakaway region of Pridnestrovia/Transnistria (known more simply as the PMR; The Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic) is a hidden gem. And an accessible and inviting one at that. 

The country is populated by a mosaic of ethnicities - Moldovans, Romanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Gaguaz, and others. This reflects the range of powers who have claimed this territory over the centuries.

The largest city in Moldova is the capital Chisinau, made up of a lovely mix of 19th-century architecture in the centre, with wide boulevards introducing plenty of soviet-era buildings in the socialist-modernism style, attractive public parks, and a fine variety of dining and drinking options.

Transnistria

Over in Transnistria, Tiraspol is the capital. Very Russian-looking place in most areas, but with recent additions in a more globalised style that speaks to more progress than many visitors expect.

A visit to one should always include a visit to the other, as well as a deeper dive into the areas beyond these capital cities. 

Moldova

If Moldova is known for anything it is for wine. Vast estates, enormous and cavernous (sometimes even in caverns) cellars, and a storied history to match that of any other wine-producing country. During the Soviet days Moldova produced a majority of the wine consumed in the whole of the USSR, and the rest of he world has been slow to catch on to the range of wines available from Moldova, something which deserves to change, and which oenophiles are starting to note. 

Caught geographically, culturally, and historically between the interests of greater powers, Moldova to this day is a place that can be seen as struggling along the tightrope needed to navigate these pressures, along with those inherent in a place with both deep rural traditions and a growing modernity and urbanisation.

A country in motion, and a country that deserves to be more seen, visited, and engaged with. 

Moldova & Transnistria History

Ancient Roots

Inhabited from earliest history, the now-territory of Moldova has always been valued for its fertility and strategic location at the edge of the Eurasian steppe.

Bounded by river valleys (the Prut and Dniester Rivers today), architectural finds show settlements going back millennia as successive waves of settlements from ancient peoples such as the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians occupied the land and left their relics for the future to discover. 

Greeks & Romans

Greeks and Romans followed, pushing northwards from their black sea colonies, and Moldova was a part of the Roman frontier province of Dacia, which also included much of eastern Romania.

As the western Roman Empire faded away a long series of migrations from the brought Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars into this land, each leaving their marks and contributing to a unique melange that started to become a national identity for Moldovans.

Principality

Widely considered the first identifiable ancestor state, the Principality of Moldavia was created in the 14th Century. This was a larger state than current Moldova and is greatest figure was Stephen the Great (Stefan cel Mare), whose long reign (1457-1504) is seen as a golden age in both Moldova and Romania.

Stephen earned his moniker through his resistance to Ottoman expansion, even though even he could no hold back he inevitable advance of the period’s regional superpower. 

Ottoman suzerainty was established in the 16h Century, with a higher degree of autonomy retained than most other parts of the region that fell under Turkish rule. A long period of balancing the interests of the Ottomans, the rising Poles, and later Russian influence was to define Moldovan politics and the degrees of independence maintained for the next two hundred years. 

Russia, and Bessarabian division

In 1812, Russia inflicted a crushing defeat on the fading Ottomans, and took possession of what became known as Bessarabia. The region between the Prut and the Dniester, what is now the eastern half of Moldova.

The western half remained a principality and later merged with Wallachia to form the earliest iteration of modern Romania.

Russification ensued with increased Russian settlement, primacy of he Russian language and suppression of Moldovan and Romanian culture and language in favour of making Bessarabia completely a par of the larger empire. Social unrest occurred in increasing amounts as these changes were established, resisted, and there were also pogroms against the increasing Jewish settlements as the region struggled with its identity and direction. 

20th Century

Things got even more complicated in 1918, as the Russian Empire collapsed and nationalists took advantage of the vacuum to declare Bessarabian independence. A vote to unite with Romania passed, and a short merger occurred, to he joy of many Moldovans, and less so to the non-Moldovan/Romanian population. 

The Second World War was to devastate Moldova though, as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact assigned the area seen still as Bessarabia to the Soviet sphere of influence, which led he USSR to annex it from Romania, which could only look on weakly. The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was created and mass oppression, deportation, and imprisonment of enemies of the state began.

As the war between Germany and the Sovie Union began Romania aligned with the Nazis and Romanian and Germany authorities brought more chaos as they seized the land, brought the terrors of The Holocaust to the Jewish and other minority populations.

Soviet Rule

Soviet rule was reestablished with victory in 1945 and was immediately followed by a famine which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths as well as large numbers fleeing the untenable situation. 

As things stabilised, developments in urbanisation and industrialisation integrated Moldova into the USSR and settled borders with Romanis and the Ukrainian SSR. Cyrillic script replaced the Latin used for Romanian, and the whole language was redefined as ‘Moldovan’, a controversy that continues to his day.

Wine production for the thirsty folks of the USSR was promoted and encouraged, and life became sovietised, to he benefit of some, and he chagrin of others, as national identity took a backseat to the grand project of the creation experiment of the vast Soviet Union. 

Independence and Transnistria

As the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Moldova declared independence, but this was no simple path to creating a stable successor state.

The territory was far more ethnically, linguistically, and politically complex to accept simply becoming ‘Moldova’ overnight, and the most industrialised part of the land was that to the east of the Dniester River (so ‘trans’ or ‘pre’ depending on where you literally stand), which was also Russian-speaking, and the home of the huge Sovie/Russian 14th Army.

Transnistria is born

Transnistria declared itself into reality and a brief but bloody war began with Moldova. The 14th Army supplied and armed Transnistrian militias, making them more well-equipped than Moldovan armed forces, and then briefly intervened directly in a decisive battle for the city of Bender (which sits on the west bank of the Dniester, confusing the two geographically-determined and politically-sensitive names used for Transnistria), ending the conflict and securing Russian influence in what became fixed as Transnistria territory. 

Transnistria Today

Transnistria today is a curiosity, but also a functioning state, heavily supported/propped up by Russia and benefiting greatly from the ongoing military presence of the Russian Army. It has is own institutions, companies, products, currency, and a distinct culture that makes it very different from Moldova, and retains a soviet-vibe into the 21st Century. 

Divisions between Moldova and Transnistria remain complex and controversial, but the chances of the cold conflict getting hot are hopefully a thing of the past. People move back and forth across the border without issue all the time, a very significant part of the Transnistria population goes to work every day in Moldova and then heads back again at the end of the day.

Many people hold both citizenships (as a Transnistria passport is of almost no use at all outside of its borders), and many people also hold Romanian passports due to a law that states anyone whose descendants lived during the time of Greaer Romanian unity is entitled to his document.

So, while he world often sees Transnistria only as a soviet relic there are plenty of people there who are EU citizens too. 

Moldova has had a difficult time since independence. It remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, emigration for opportunities has suppressed population and economic growth and created a diaspora in Italy, Russia, and of course in Romania, whose remittances are relied upon by many still in Moldova.

Politically the needle has moved left and right pos-1990, with nationalists and communists trading positions of power at the ballot box, but a present the country and its institutions of power are very much western-looking. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine brought miliary danger uncomfortably close to the border with Moldova, society became more united on where it wants to go than ever before and Moldova was even made an EU candidate in 2022. 

Future of Moldova

The future is a complicated one though. EU entry would move Moldova in one direction that many would welcome but would exacerbate tensions with Transnistria and its Russian supporters.

Areas within Moldova such as the ethnically-Turkish Orthodox Christian Gaguazia (which also declared itself separate from Moldova in 1992 unhappy with being part of a Romanian Moldova, but accepted regional autonomy in the end) also oppose closer ties with Romania, and a balance between the competing interests that could tear the counry apart, while also seeking the best future for the country as a whole, is a hard act that Moldovan society and government will reckon with in the coming years. 

Travelling in Moldova & Transnistria

Moldova is not the most well-connected of European countries, but there are direct flights from a small number of cities across western Europe, and there are of course land entry points from Romania primarily.

Chisinau airport is the main arrival point though and is modern, well-equipped, and close to the city. 

Visas are not a problem for most, with visa-free access to those from the EU, UK, US, Canada, and many other countries. Border processes are simple and swift, and it is painless in general.

Transnistria is somewhat different though, as there are no commercial airports and entry has to be by land. Before the war a convenient train line (now suspended) ran from Chisinau to Odessa in Ukraine with a stop in Tiraspol (Transnistria) and entry from the east was simple enough, but this is highly limited now although not impossible.

Almost all entries to Transnistria will be by road from Moldova - by car, taxi, minibus etc. Border checks exist but mostly involve proving that you have a hotel booking to be admitted for any overnight period, and being sure to hold onto the entry/exit form given at customs points. 

Moldova is small and main roads go from not-too-bad to excellent, so travel times are not so daunting. Secondary roads can be rough, but manageable with a decent vehicle. Public transport is easy to use and is reliable. Within Transnistria getting around Tiraspol is easy enough by cab, bus, marshrutka, and their lovely old trolley-buses as well as visiting the city of Bender. For other parts of the territory most visitors will either have a trip arranged or get a private taxi for the necessary period of time. 

Chisinau has a well developed and very cheap bus network and is very walkable in the centre. Other settlements are smaller and easy to get around, and the journey to Comrat, capital of Gaguazia is a particularly pleasant and recommended one. 

All areas of Moldova are welcoming and friendly for visitors, Transnistria too, despite a more severe reputation, and crime is no a major problem (although as always look out for opportunism and the occasional scam). 

English is spoken by many in urban Chisinau, but across the whole territory Russian remains the main lingua franca of adults at least, and the default language for most conversations. In Gaguazia a Turkic language is spoken, but still Russian retains its position as what locals would use with anyone not of their ethnic group.

Moldovan (or Romanian, as the government once again calls it) is the main official language of Moldova and younger people and children will have been educated in this and his very often have a different first language to their parents. It is a time of flux, and language is very much a part of this process. 

Of the major cities, Chisinau and Tiraspol both have lively nightlife, a developed café scene, and lively and distinct cultural events and offer much to the visitor. Regional areas also have plenty to keep a visitor amused and engaged beyond seeing significant sites and museums. Of which there are many fascinating ones, both small and large. 

Markets, festivals (of all kinds, from traditional folk ones to soviet legacies and independence-related events) are open to all, and here is an abundance of public space, parks, funfairs, playgrounds across all of Moldova and Transnistria.
The climate is classically continental with cold snowy winters, hot dry summers, spring and autumn being the most clement periods to visit. 

Moldova, all of it, is a place that is open to visitors who are curious about what the place is like. From short city breaks to longer adventures that examine the breadth and depth of the variety in the country. A journey taking in urban areas, the countryside, wine culture, Gaguazia, and as much of Transnistria as possible in the capital and beyond is something truly eye-opening. It’s a different world at the edge of Europe, and one that deserves a closer look and a deeper dive.