Transnistria

This rebellious breakaway republic still considers itself part of Russia and as such has its own borders as well as an entirely different outlook to the rest of Moldova. Transnistria is a Russian-backed, breakaway state sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. It is a land seemingly stopped in time. and worth a visit.

RASHKOV & STROENTSY

The two last places visited during our tour through Transnistria were villages Rashkov and Stroentsy located north of Rîbnița. In Rashkovo is Chervona Scala (Red Rock) – a limestone formation with a height of 50 meters. There is also the Polish Roman Catholic church of St. Cajetan, the...

DUBĂSARI DAM

On the way to Dubăsari, we have stopped at a massive Tank Monument on a large hill overlooking the battlefields of WW2, with an old Soviet T-34 tank that was found in the Dniester River after the war. Then we made a little break at the hydroelectric dam at the Dniester river – The...

GRIGORIOPOL

We made a very short stop in Grigoriopol to view their Silver Lenin statue. The city is located on the left (eastern) bank of the river Dniester in central Transnistria. In 1996 and in 2002, the town was the center of a dispute regarding the attempts of local Moldavian inhabitants to use...

BUTYLKA MUSEUM

Village Ternovka (Tinauca) is situated on the east bank of the river Dniester, between Tighina and Tiraspol. It is notable for being home to the largest bottle-shaped building in the world, the Butylka hotel, and museum (entrance 75 PRB). The five-story structure features Grigory...

NOUL NEAMŢ MONASTERY

Noul Neamţ is an all-male monastery located in Chiţcani near Tiraspol. It is also known as Mănastirea Chiţcani, and it is the biggest religious complex under the control of Transnistrian authorities. The monastic complex rises grandly to the sky, there’re four churches on the territory of...

KVINT DISTILLERY

We made a visit to the famous KVINT factory (entrance 100 PRB). The history of KVINT dates back to 1897 when the first rectification warehouse was built and launched into operation on Vokzalnaya Street in Tiraspol. At that time, it was specialized in the production of 40% alc. vodka from...

AQUATIR STURGEON COMPLEX

Aquatir Aquatic Farm specializes in the reproduction of fish species in order to obtain black caviar from sterlet, bester, Russian sturgeon, and the famous beluga whale. Fish farming is carried out according to the rules of the trade, using modern infrastructures and state-of-the-art...

TIRASPOL

On the way to Tiraspol, we met our fan Evgeniy Vasalatiy, who became at the end our friendly and very helpful guide for two days around the self-proclaimed capital of Transnistria. The city lies along the Dniester River and the Odessa-Chişinău railway. It was founded by Russia in 1795...

BENDER

We have arrived in the morning at the unofficial borders of Transnistria, on the Moldovian side was only a police car parked, they just asked why we go there (tourism), and let us disappear in a minute. Before the bridge we hit the Russian army checkpoint, they let us go without stopping...