Right in front of you, on the corner shaded by rows of leafy trees, stands a stately rectangular mansion with tall rectangular windows framed in ornate white, set atop a high stone basement-just peek behind those branches to spot its elegant, slightly mysterious façade facing Mihai Eminescu Street.
As you stand gazing up at the Urban Mansion of Inglezi, imagine yourself whisked back through time. The year is 1875, and the streets of Chisinau are alive with the clatter of carriages and the whispers of local gossip. Here on this bustling corner, a remarkable home is rising-designed by the famed architect Alexandru Bernardazzi, no less! The aroma of fresh plaster and stone fills the air as master builders carefully place each ornate detail around the windows, carving out curling arches and eastern-inspired ornaments.
Take a closer look, and you’ll notice how no window here is quite like anything else on the street. There are intricate chain patterns, twisted moldings, and ogival arches-all perfectly aligned in symmetrical rows, just as the original plans intended. Up above, seven luxurious rooms sparkle with parquet floors and even tiled ceramic stoves, their walls lined with the finest wallpaper, ready to impress any visitor bold enough to step inside. But don’t be fooled: below those grand rooms, the servants bustle around in five underground chambers, mixing soup in the kitchen and scrubbing laundry, making sure the house runs smoother than a well-oiled clock.
But the real drama begins as decades roll on. Nobleman A. D. Inglezi himself claimed this fabulous mansion for a time, entertaining dignitaries and perhaps even the odd secret admirer. Can you hear the echoes of champagne glasses and laughter? Then came a twist straight from a soap opera: the mansion was sold to the noble lady Alexandre Casso, pawned off to a credit society, and shuffled through so many hands that even a cat might get dizzy keeping track.
By the 1940s, the grand halls didn’t merely echo with music and poetry, they rang with the footsteps of students from the girls’ normal school, who flocked here from the neighboring district-perhaps reading secret notes under those grand arches, or dreaming of their own futures in the city’s changing world.
The story doesn’t stop there! Fast forward to the 1960s and 70s when the mansion became a hidden backstage world: the city’s opera and ballet costume workshops filled every corner, with the rustle of tulle and the whisper of velvet as seamstresses hurried to finish costumes for the next show.
And if you look closely at the main entrance-pointing proudly down Mihai Eminescu-you’ll see it’s not just any door, but a portal inspired by the mysterious East, framed by elegant columns and flanked by windows that seem to wink in the sunlight. Legend has it that if you listen carefully at twilight, you can almost hear the footsteps of Bernardazzi himself, making sure his creation is still looking her best.
Restored and cherished even now, there are plans afoot to turn these halls into a café or restaurant. So perhaps one day soon, you can sip your coffee right where Chisinau’s most dramatic stories once unfolded. And hey, if any ghostly seamstresses offer you fashion advice from the shadows, just nod and smile-they definitely know style.
