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#Exhibit of the Month

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The artifact is a battle axe made from magmatic rock (diabase) of gray-brown color. It was accidentally discovered in 1966 within the territory of Aluniș village, Rîșcani district. Based on its morphological characteristics, the artifact can be attributed to the Catacomb culture (29th-22nd centuries BCE).

The axe features a massive, elongated naviform body with slightly pronounced shoulders, a short and narrow edge that is flat and circular in cross-section. The blade is slightly curved. The hole was drilled in the maximum width of the object. It is circular in shape with a diameter of 2.2 cm. The surface of the artifact is meticulously polished, worked with great care, and shows no signs of damage or chipping.

Dimensions: Length: 20.0 cm; Maximum width: 8.4 cm; Edge diameter: 5.0 cm; Blade width: 7.0 cm; Weight: 2.3 kg.

Stone battle axes are characteristic of the Catacomb culture communities and are most often found as grave goods, deposited in tombs. Their presence in funerary complexes suggests a multifaceted functionality: weapons, social symbols, and ritual objects. Initially used as weapons, the axes became social symbols for their owners, later acquiring votive significance when deposited in tombs to serve the deceased in the afterlife.

The social symbolic function of stone battle axes is indicated by the high-quality rocks used for their manufacture and the exceptionally meticulous craftsmanship. The large dimensions of the axe from Aluniș support this hypothesis and distinguish it from other examples.

The discovery of stone battle axes outside a funerary complex may indicate their votive deposition. It is difficult to imagine that these exceptionally well-crafted pieces, made from high-quality rocks transported over great distances, could have been abandoned or lost accidentally. It is far more likely that they were deposited for magical-religious purposes, a possibility that may also apply to the stone axe discovered at Aluniș.

Virtual Tour


Exhibitions

„Vilnius – 700 years”

Old photography exhibition

26 May – 18 June, 2023

The oldest historical document to first mention the name Vilnius is a letter sent from Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, to Western Europe on 25 January 1323. Thus, on 25 January 2023, Lithuania's capital celebrates 700 years since that first reference.

Over seven centuries, Vilnius experienced periods of both flourishing and decline. The city's face transformed, its external changes mostly the result of wars, occupations, epidemics, and fires. But the city always recovered to thrive once more. The earliest, most authentic images of the city were created in the latter half of the 19th century, when Vilnius was finally reached by one of the most important technological discoveries of that time - photography. The history of photography in Vilnius begins in 1839, with the production and display of the first daguerreotype images. The first photo studios began opening in the city in the 1860s by photographers Abdon Korzon and Albert Swieykowski, who then captured images of Vilnius. The city was also recorded by photographers arriving from abroad, including Wilhelm Zakharchik, Antal Rohrbach, and Konrad Brandel, who were the earliest creators of images included in the Vilniaus vaizdai (Images of Vilnius) albums. But the first photographer to thoroughly document old Vilnius was Józef Czechowicz (1818-1888). In the history of Vilnius photography, Czechowicz is known as a creator of artistic panoramas, impressive photo landscapes of his surroundings, and a chronicler of unique architectural monuments and important events in the city's life.

Later, Vilnius was photographed by Stanisław Filibert Fleury (1858-1915) who, at the turn of the l9th and 20th centuries, used photography to record historical and architectural monuments in his photographs as well as scenes of everyday city life, and enjoyed capturing images of people in the street, squares, and at markets and fairs.

The largest collection of photographs of Vilnius was assembled by photographer and pioneer of art photography Jan Bułhak (1876-1950). Over many years of photographing the city, from 1910 to 1944, Bułhak created thousands of intriguing and valuable photographs. After settling in Vilnius before World War One, he was employed as a city photographer, which is why the greater part of his legacy consists of artistic photographs of Vilnius architecture: images of Old Town streets, churches and their interiors, monasteries, palaces, and residential and other types of architecture and its details. Bułhak devoted considerable attention to natural light, which became an essential aesthetic motif in his photography and his principal method of artistic expression. This exhibition displays a small portion of historical images of Vilnius, which we hope will offer viewers an opportunity to see and imagine how the city looked in the past. The spirit of this historic city is wonderfully captured in the words of Jan Bułhak: "Vilnius rings, plays, and sings with its church spires, smiles with its garden blossoms, blushes with its roof tiles, enchants with its verdant hills and clear rivers, and stirs every heart able to love. The bells of Vilnius resound prophetically, sonorously: We were, are, and will be here!"


 




Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#Exhibit of the Month

The artifact is a battle axe made from magmatic rock (diabase) of gray-brown color. It was accidentally discovered in 1966 within the territory of Aluniș village, Rîșcani district. Based on its morphological characteristics, the artifact can be attributed to the Catacomb culture (29th-22nd centuries BCE)...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2025 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2025 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2025 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC