The results of archaeological research in the Mazarache Church of Chişinău in 2010

In the summer of 2010 archaeological excavations in the historic part of Chişinău were carried out. The earliest written records about the Chişinău show that the historic core was located in the lower part of the modern city, near the river of Bâc. Apparently, the locality already existed in the 14th century, before the Golden Horde was ousted from the south-eastern part of the Carpathian-Dniester land in 70s-80s of this century. On the opposite, left side of the river there was located the settlement of the Tatar times mentioned in the sources. Archaeological excavations conducted in the immediate vicinity of the Mazarache Church revealed some ceramic materials of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, as well as ample evidence of the existence of a settlement and burial site of the medieval and modern times. As a result of the investigation of the medieval cemetery in Chisinau it can be also stated that in the middle and in the second half of the 16th century a territory of the cape around the supposed wooden church was fully occupied with the local Christian community burials. Recent burials refer to the first two decades of the 19th century, until 1827, when a stone wall around the church was built, and burials were prohibited.