Nativity Cathedral In Kishinev Chișinău Moldova Editorial Photo

The Cathedral of Christ`s Nativity Romanian: Catedrala Mitropolitană Nașterea Domnului is the main cathedral of the Moldovan Orthodox Church in Central Chișinău, Moldova. It was commissioned by the governor of New Russia, Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, and Metropolitan Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni in 1830. The cathedral was built in the 1830s to a Neoclassical design by Abram Melnikov who had designed a similar church in Bolhrad. The cathedral was bombed during the World War II, and its bell tower was destroyed by the local Communists in 1962. The new bell tower was constructed in 1997. During the Soviet period, worship was prohibited and the cathedral was transformed into an exhibition center.