The Alley of Classics () is a sculptural complex located in the Stephen the Great Park in

Central Chișinău Sectorul Centru () is one of the five sectors in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. The local administration is managed by a pretor appointed by the city administration. It governs over a portion of the city of Chișinău itself (central and wes ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Overview

The alley is decorated on both sides with red granite busts of classic literary figures and political leaders from

. The alley is located between the Ștefan cel Mare boulevard and the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

bust of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

, set on a granite column and made by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n sculptor Alexander Opekushin. The alley was built and received its name in 1958, and became one of the most important tourist attractions in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. At first there were only twelve sculptures, but after the fall of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

the local authorities added busts of Romanian and Moldovan writers and poets that were banned during the Soviet regime. The idea of a sculptural complex was launched by the interwar sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală, who dreamed to create an open-air museum. Just during the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

, the Alley of Classics was unveiled on April 29, 1958, in the Stephen the Great Park (former "A. S. Pușkin" Park). The sculptural complex from Cișmigiu Gardens in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

served as a model.Călina Trifan, "Aleea Clasicilor", Chişinău, Editura "Arc", 2009.

Busts

The Alley of Classics contains 28 busts (including that of Alexander Pushkin, lying at the head of the alley) in alphabetical order.

Bibliography

* Călina Trifan, "Aleea Clasicilor", Chișinău, Editura "Arc", 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alley of Classics, Chisinau Culture in Chișinău Monuments and memorials in Chișinău Tourist attractions in Moldova