Cathedral of Christ's Nativity

Monasteries and churches · Chișinău and Surroundings

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity stands in the centre of Chișinău, in the Cathedral Park, behind the Triumphal Arch. It was built between 1832 and 1836 to plans by the architect Avraam Melnikov, in a neoclassical style, with a cross-shaped plan and four porticoes of six Doric columns each. The dome rests on a cylindrical drum with 12 windows that light the interior. The complex includes a four-level bell tower, rebuilt in 1998, and the Holy Gates, shaped like a triumphal arch. It is the capital's main Orthodox place of worship and an architectural monument; in 1939 Radio Basarabia began broadcasting with a liturgy transmitted from the cathedral.