Kishinev

Spellings: Kishinev, Kishenev, Kischinew, Kishiniv, Kishinëv, Kishinef, Kiscinev, Chişinău, Кишинёв

Coordinates: 47° 0' N 28° 51' E

Chişinău is currently the capital city of the Moldova Republic.

The exact time of Kishinev foundation is unknown. It is mentioned for the first time in the certificate of Hospodar (ruler of Wallachia and Moldova) of Alexander in 1420 by the name of the farmsteads of Kishnovrzareva of the monastery on the Byk river. In the 18th century, Kantemir (russian poet) mentions the settlement “Kishinou”, which was destroyed by tatars. At the beginning of the 18th century the inhabitants returned to the old place and renewed the settlement, which became a commercial place. The armenians settled there created commercial relations with the turks of Bendery and the tatars of Kaushany.

In 1812 the population of city counted about 7 thousand inhabitants, in 1832 - 34 thousand, in 1897 - 108,483 inhabitants.

At the end the 19th century in the city counted with 18 orthodox churches, 2 chapels of old believers, one armenian-gregorian church, one catholic church, one lutheran church and 33 jewish synagogues (according to kishinev.org by the turn of the century Jews owned a score of factories employing thousands of Jewish workers; there were 16 Jewish schools with 2,100 students, and 70 synagogues).

Composition of population on the census of 1897:
Total population: 108 483 souls
Jews: 49 829 (46%)
Russians: 29 299 (27%)
Moldavians: 19 081
Ukrainians: 3 393
Poles: 3 247
Germans: 1 270
Bulgarians: 925
Armenians: 369
Greeks: 306
Gipsies: 146
Turcs: 38
Rest: 580

Source: Bessarabia.ru

Websites:
Kishinev Site en JewishGen ShtetLinks

Links:
link Moldova - Jewish Comunity of Kishinev
link Moldova - Kishinev - Pogroms of 1903 and 1905, nazis and comunism
link Moldova - Kishinev old maps
link Moldova - OldChisinau.com

Articles:
Text / article 1903 - Le pogrom de Kishinev
1903 - The City of Slaughter (by Haim Nahman Bialik)

Pictures / Documents:
Building of the Former Lemnaria Synagogue of Kishinev
Building of the Former Main Synagogue of Kishinev
Kishinev jewish cemetery
Kishinev jewish cemetery - Torah burial place
1900 - Kishinev: early 20th century
Mapa of Bessarabia region (today)
1900c - Views of Kishinev 19th and 20th centuries