Preliminary Technical File Orheiul Vechi, MOLDOVA

Avec le soutien du
Ministère de la Culture
et de la Communication

With the support of the
Ministry of Culture
and Communication

Kyiv Initiative Regional Programme
Pilot Project on the Rehabilitation of Cultural Heritage in Historic Towns

Preliminary Technical File

Orheiul Vechi, MOLDOVA

Kyiv Initiative Regional Programme - Rehabilitation of Cultural Heritage in Historic Towns 2

TABLE OF CONTENT

FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 6

I. REFERENCE FILE ........................................................................................................................... 9

1.1 General information about the town ..................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Brief summary ...................................................................................................................................... 9
1.3 Main stakeholders / potential partners ................................................................................................. 9
1.4 Geographic, climatic and/or other physical factors that have influenced the .........................................
morphology and structure of the town .................................................................................................. 9
1.5 Historical events that have shaped the town and its identity ................................................................ 9
1.6 Socio-economic situation ................................................................................................................... 10
1.7 Capacity of action of the municipality ................................................................................................. 10
1.8 Supply and demand for space ........................................................................................................... 10
1.9 State of public services ...................................................................................................................... 10
1.10 Legal and institutional situation .......................................................................................................... 10
1.11 Cultural heritage ................................................................................................................................. 11
1.12 The contribution that the heritage can make to the quality of life and to the social ...............................
and economic prosperity of the town ................................................................................................. 11
1.13 Challenges and opportunities ............................................................................................................. 11
1.14 Participation in international co-operation (including technical support to projects) ........................... 12

II. THEMATIC MAPS ......................................................................................................................... 14

t.m. 2.1 Location of the town in the context of the Country ............................................................................. 14
t.m. 2.1 Location of the town in the context of the Region .............................................................................. 15
t.m. 2.2 Traffic circulation, transport and access to the town .......................................................................... 16
t.m. 2.3 The main activities/functions in buildings ........................................................................................... 19
t.m. 2.4 New buildings/development/interventions in the historic centre ......................................................... 22
t.m. 2.5 Time periods/epochs of buildings ....................................................................................................... 25
t.m. 2.6 Protected heritage .............................................................................................................................. 28
t.m. 2.7 Building occupation and ownership .................................................................................................... 29
t.m. 2.8 State of condition of buildings ............................................................................................................ 32
t.m. 2.9 State of condition of street and sidewalk ............................................................................................ 35

PTF MO_04 Orheiul Vechi


FOREWORD

The Orheiul Vechi Preliminary Technical File was prepared by the Local Technical Team Ms Mariana
Vasilache, local Co-ordinator and Mr Valeriu Paşa, Director of the Orheiul Vechi Reserve.

The global process was co-ordinated by the National Working Team Dr. Sergiu Musteaţă, PP2 Project Co-
ordinator and Ms Iulia Postică, Project Manager

and overseen by the International Experts Mr. Bernard Bouzou (France); Mr. David Johnson (United
Kingdom) and Mr. Robert Pickard (United Kingdom).



INTRODUCTION

The Pilot Project for the Rehabilitation of Cultural Heritage in Historic Towns is taking place within the
Council of Europe’s Kyiv Initiative Regional Programme. The Preliminary Phase, launched jointly with the
European Commission (Directorate General for Education and Culture) in September 2009, was
completed in December 2011.

The pilot project has been proposed in small and medium-sized historic towns maintaining a close
connection with their surrounding environment to define geographically coherent territories where local
stakeholders face difficulties in improving living conditions, creating social cohesion or engaging in
economic activities. So far, forty five “pilot towns” are mobilised in the five participating countries (Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) to implement the common working methodology.

Each pilot town is being guided in the identification of the main challenges involved in initiating a project
for future development. The process is based on the underlining of heritage resources, including their
importance in creating a sense of place and in safeguarding local identity for the local community, whilst
also considering their present connections with the specific urban problems to be solved in each town.

The pilot project reponds to various shared objectives:

• to develop and strengthen architectural and urban awareness in order to organise its careful
adaptation to modern lifestyles;
• to decide on the priority interventions to be carried out in order to launch a sustainable process for
urban development;
• to facilitate transversal reflections involving all public and private stakeholders towards a town project;
• to create local dynamics inspired by the best European practices;
• to set up a new urban governance through the direct participation of the inhabitants in the debate
about the future of the town.

Urban rehabilitation as another way of organising and managing towns

As part of the pilot project, the basis for the elaboration of the urban project is the enhancement of the
main heritage assets in order to consolidate the attractiveness of each town. By offering each citizen the
possibility to highlight its link to the town or a specific area of the town, the process gives citizens
responsibilities in the complex processes acting on the transformation of the built environment. An intense
local life, animated by an active civil society and supported by the different levels of authorities is a clear
alternative to the urban development logic that has severely marked previous generations by focusing on
demolition rather than rehabilitation, and on the extension of space instead of the reuse of existing urban
areas.

The model of the town envisaged is a compact urban space, with a high quality of life and social cohesion.
Such a town offers direct access to a social and cultural infrastructure with a sense of social justice. It
does not exclude the adaptation of the historic parts to modern necessities, but targets sustainable
development requirements giving priority to the economy of the ground by regenerating existing buildings
and giving priority to housing in order to preserve the populations in all their diversity.

The Preliminary Technical File (PTF): the first crucial step in the process

The PTF was set up during the Preliminary Phase by twenty-three Pilot Towns. It is set up through a
common methodology and is organised on the basis of identical sections and maps for all the pilot towns.
The number of issues considered in this document is voluntarily limited, and therefore necessitates a
selection of information available or collected by the local technical teams set up in each pilot town.



Presentation of the information, focusing on a limited number of maps, proposes a snapshot of the
situation, which offers a simple and clear understanding of the main assets of the towns, organised
around four main themes:

- urban history: a description of the urban structure on the basis of its historical development
underlines the permanencies of the past in today’s town, which are important for inhabitants’
perceptions of their own towns, as well as the emotions the visitors may experience. These
permanencies represent the material resources of that urban heritage, which is the potential which
can support the future development of the town.

- the functionalities of the town: the level of services offered in the historic centre and the quality of
its accessibility allow an assessment of the users’ daily situation, as well as the resilience or the
fragility of the central functions, on a town-wide scale.

- the economic position and role of the town in the surrounding territory: the economic
attractiveness of the town can be appreciated by considering its geographical location, the features of
its associated territory, the quality of the accessibility to major infrastructures, the dynamism of its
industrial and services network and the capacity of the municipality, especially in terms of investment.

- heritage resources: resources can be assessed by identifying the buildings according to their time
period, their situation as far as ownership and occupation are concerned and their state of
conservation, including the level of protection and the effectiveness of the protection regulations as
well as any architectural interventions and urban intrusions perturbing the image of the town.

A step-by-step process based on project building

The publication of the PTFs targets the local stakeholders’ awareness of the richness and diversity of the
urban heritage defining the identity of their town and the level of resources at their disposal. This
document also allows the local and national technicians and urban specialists of all sectors to engage in
the next phase. The aims will be to define a strategic and pragmatic approach connecting heritage and
urban projects in local synergies, and to set up good governance principles and mechanisms, ensuring
the involvement of all stakeholders in the community in decisions about proposed rehabilitation actions.

The Operational Phase will involve the pilot towns in a practical way, through:

- the elaboration of an integrated local development strategy: the Diagnostic will identify the strengths
and weaknesses specific to each town, indicating what could be a realistic ambition for a urban
development project.

- the adoption of operational guidelines: the Strategy will identify a series of key and priority
rehabilitation actions implementable in the short-term and capable, if correctly connected, of
generating a global revitalisation process.

- the design, promotion and funding of the priority interventions on buildings: technical assessment,
feasibility study and business plan (budget estimates, funding, investment partnerships), project
management, conditions of implementation, site management.



Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Moldova Ukraine
AR_01 Alaverdi AZ_01 Barda GE_02 Akhaltsikhe MO_01 Balti UK_01 Bilovodsk
AR_02 Ashtarak AZ_02 Gazakh GE_04 Chiatura MO_02 Cahul UK_02 Ivano-Frankivsk
AR_03 Dilijan AZ_03 Göygöl GE_05 Dusheti MO_03 Leova UK_03 Khmilnyk
AR_05 Goris AZ_05 Gakh GE_06 Gori MO_04 Orheiul Vechi UK_04 Lutsk
AR_06 Gyumri AZ_07 Ordubad GE_07 Mestia MO_05 Soroca UK_05 Medzhybizh
AR_07 Meghri AZ_08 Sheki GE_08 Poti UK_06 Melitopol
AR_09 Oshakan AZ_09 Shemkir GE_09 Telavi UK_07 Pryluky
AR_10 Vagharshapat AZ_10 Zagatala GE_10 Tskaltubo UK_08 Starokostiantyniv
UK_09 Vinnitsa
UK_10 Zhovkva



I. REFERENCE FILE

1.1 General information about the town
Name Medieval town ‘Orheiul Vechi’, Cultural-natural reserve ‘Orheiul Vechi’
Status Town (site) – Trebujeni comuna
Contact person Position Name Address Telephone E-mail
Director Paşa s. Butuceni, Orhei, +373 79 837 pasha_valeriu@yahoo.com
Valeriu Republic of Moldova 134
Mayor Moraru s. Trebujeni, Orhei, + 373 56 236
Tudor Republic of Moldova

1.2 Brief summary
Orheiul Vechi is a unique place in the Republic of Moldova where the past cohabits with the present. It is where the
traditional Moldovan way of living tries to meet the challenges of modern development whilst preserving the
elements that define it. Orheiul Vechi is a large area where contemporary people from three villages – Trebujeni,
Butuceni and Morovaia – live in a historic environment dating back as far as twenty thousand years ago. It is a place
where humans and nature have always coexisted in harmony, complementing each other.

Orheiul Vechi preserves cultural and natural features unique not only at a national level, but also at a larger,
regional, European level. Amongst these we can mention many archaeological remains, monuments of vernacular
architecture, traditions and crafts, flora and fauna, and an extraordinary landscape made by the meanders of the
Răut river, uncovering the bottom of the million-year-old Sarmatian Sea. There is something special about Orheiul
Vechi and the people who live there; it is a real matter of pride for all Moldovans and a constant subject of interest
for its visitors.

Orheiul Vechi is a town from the past and a living community of the present, made up of three villages. People have
lived here without interruption for millennia. The locals’ inheritance is of great value to them and is also a great
opportunity for growth, and rural tourism seems to be the natural way for this region to develop.

1.3 Main stakeholders / potential partners
Name Contact
Local Private investors, NGOs, associations and Cultural-natural reserve ‘Orheiul Vechi’
unions, local figures, religious authorities, Paşa Valeriu, Director
the chamber of commerce, foundations. +373 79 837 134
pasha_valeriu@yahoo.com
Moraru Tudor, Major
+373 56 236
Regional Orheiul Vechi District Council
National Ministry of Culture

1.4 Geographic, climatic and/or other physical factors that have influenced the morphology and structure of
the town
The medieval town of Orheiul Vechi is situated in the central part of Moldova, 50km north-east of the capital city,
Chisinau. The landscape is a historical and uniquely natural complex, located in the Raut river gorge, cut into the
reef of limestone in the Central Moldavian Plateau. This river has shaped the plateau, forming a series of limestone
cliffs that have sheltered human settlements and religious communities for millennia, located at the crossroads of
various civilisations that characterised the area from prehistoric times to Moldova during the Middle Ages. The site
occupies seven major headlands, fascinating in terms of landscape. The originality and uniqueness of the resort is
eloquently illustrated by the flora, vegetation and ecosystems. Orheiul Vechiul Vechi holds great scientific
importance because of historical, ethnographic, archaeological, geo-climatic and ecological specificity.

1.5 Historical events that have shaped the town and its identity
The Orheiul Vechi complex was populated and urbanised during the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages. On the surface
of the promontories there are Geto-Dacian traces (fourth to third centuries BC. AD) and medieval towns – Sehr al-
Djedid, which was built by the Tatar-Mongols (fourteenth century) and Orhei, which was built by Moldavians
(fifteenth to sixteenth centuries). The limestone rocks contain Christian cave monasteries, monks, and religious
inscriptions carved in stone by medieval monks. Beneath the limestone cliffs there are the beautiful villages of
Trebujeni, Morovaia and Butuceni, which maintain perfect harmony between man and nature, interweaving
traditional rural lifestyle with the natural environment.



1.6 Socio-economic situation
Population 2,100 people
Migration Around 400 people in the last 15 years.
Key sectors of Agriculture, tourism, services.
local economy
Education level The villages within the reserve territory are provided with enough places at all levels of
education, except for the Trebujeni community, where children may only study until secondary
school.

The problem is with specialised education: professional and educational schools that would
use local human potential and prepare it for jobs specifically for the locality, which could
become a source of wealth for the area.
Educational  Trebujeni kindergarten – 41 children
infrastructure  Trebujeni General School – 161 pupils
 Butuceni General School – 51 pupils
Local and The ‘Cultural Landscape Management Plan for the years 2008-2020 Orheiul Vechi’ represents
regional the practical implementation of the site strategy, being developed in accordance with the
development requirements of the modern management of cultural and natural heritage. The document
policy includes six basic sections: Introduction, Des-descriptions of the site, site evaluation, strategies
and policies, programmes and development projects, and funding sources. The Management
Plan sets out seven strategies that are formulated under twenty-four policies for protecting and
promoting cultural and natural heritage, which themselves comprise sixty-four programmes to
be carried out over twelve years within 213 projects.
st
‘Tourism recovery plan Orhei Cultural Landscape’, approved for practical implementation on 1
January 2008.
Employment 84.8% of the local workforce is engaged in agriculture, 10% in education, 1.9% in the
commerce and services sector and 1.7% in public administration.

1.7 Capacity of action of the municipality
Financial 2 000 000 lei
resources
Expense  Education – 50%
structure  Community services – 15%
 Assuring the functionality of local public administration – 15%
 Organisation of manifestations and events – 5%
 Capital investments - 15%

1.8 Supply and demand for space
Offices There is a cultural house in each of the three villages in the Trebujeni commune and two
libraries in Trebujeni and Butuceni. In Butuceni, there is a permanent exhibition within the
headquarters of the Orheiul Vechi Museum Complex, with information and artefacts from the
discoveries made in the reserve.
Shops/markets There are nine mixed shop/markets in the commune.
Hotels The commune has one hotel and ten agro-tourist pensions.
Houses 1,112 households.

1.9 State of public services
The Trebujeni and Butuceni medical offices provide healthcare services for villages within the reserve. In Trebujeni,
there is a post office, a cadastral engineer and public transport provided by three operators.

1.10 Legal and institutional situation
The judicial status of the Orheiul Vechi reserve is stipulated in a series of official acts and documents:

 Law 251 of 04.12.2008 and Government Decision 228 of 23.03.2009 regarding the foundation of the natural-
cultural reserve Orheiul Vechi.
 The Museum Law of 2002.
 The Law on the protection of archaeological heritage, 2011.



1.11 Cultural heritage
Main features The natural-cultural reserve Orheiul Vechi has an archaic natural landscape, well-preserved
fauna and flora, exceptional archaeological sites, historical and architectural diversity,
traditional rural habitats and ethnographic originality. All these can be seen in archaeological
sites, complex architecture of caves and medieval walls, vernacular architecture, ecclesiastical
architecture, cemeteries and funerary complexes.
Value The objectives of the cultural heritage monument of Orheiul Vechi are of national importance.

1.12 The contribution that the heritage can make to the quality of life and to the social and economic
prosperity of the town
Changes:
 Mentality: to restore relations between the museum and community and the museum and the church, which
will lead to changes in attitude towards the perception of the place and the role of cultural heritage in local
development;
 Awareness: adequate understanding of local communities and visitors of the significance of protecting the
natural and cultural heritage in the Orhei Vechi complex.

Benefits:
 Orheiul Vechi is the beneficiary of financial resources that could be applied to research, protection, heritage
conservation and restoration objectives,
 Local people will get special opportunities to organise and conduct small cultural, ecological and rural tourism
business to obtain new revenue and ensure decent living
 The local community will convey a new national and international image, which will facilitate new opportunities
for obtaining funding for regional infrastructure development and other administrative programmes, educational
and cultural.

Results:
 Authenticity and integrity ensured natural historical heritage;
 Sustainable and responsible partnerships with local public administration;
 Central government, travel agencies, NGO, etc;
 New museum management and infrastructure;
 Improvement of the environmental situation in the microzone;
 Actual policy of protection, preservation, restoration and heritage;
 Concrete research programmes, protection, conservation, restoration and museum education;
 Complex natural, historical and international standards;
 Interest of the local population in pensions;
 Thorough scientific studies on the medieval town Orheiul Vechi;
 International promotion of the medieval town of Orheiul Vechi.

1.13 Challenges and opportunities
Strengths  Exceptional natural landscape;
 Unique cultural landscape;
 Biodiversity;
 Representative ecosystems;
 Historical heritage of all ages;
 Museum complex under the open sky;
 Relevant exhibition spaces;
 It is an integral part of the National Museums;
 Museum complex with representative targets, favourable for scientific activities,
educational, cultural and tourism;
 Favourable conditions for the development of cultural tourism, scientific, environmental
and agricultural.
 Decent hotel accommodation and guest houses;
 The existence of a stable market for the sale of services related to the sphere of
tourism;
 Private interest of residents in developing new business in the provision of tourism
services;
 Favourable location in relation to the capital city;
Weaknesses  Lack of specialised scientific staff;
 Lack of a continuous training system of specialised personnel and auxiliary staff;
 Lack of storage conditions for museum pieces;
 Lack of museum property management;
 Lack of laboratories and workshops, conservation restoration;
 Lack of distinctive competencies in the fields of management, research, development,


quality of service, commercial, etc;
 Lack of well-established co-operation with local authorities and the district;
 Lack of co-operation with the Church and the monastic community;
 Insufficient community support;
 Insufficient budgetary funding;
 Lack of monitoring system for cultural heritage objectives;
 The absence of a system for the assessment of services provided and staff
performance.
Opportunities  Development of new museum system;
 Possibilities of integration of the Orheiul Vechi complex with the process of
modernisation and computerisation;
 Interest in and priority to the cultural heritage of the Orheiul Vechi national public
authorities, public organisations, research institutions, environmental NGOs and the
scientific and cultural environment;
 Connection to the requirements of modern legislation in the field;
 Integration of the Orhei complex in national educational projects;
 The Orheiul Vechi complex is of special interest to international bodies and cultural
heritage institutions (UNESCO, etc.). Possibilities for inclusion in the List of World
Heritage sites and the integration of Orheiul Vechi in international projects for scientific,
cultural, educational and natural heritage protection and historical-cultural activities.
 Opportunities to join European structures and international museums;
 Accelerated development of tourism in Moldova, the surge in number of tour agents.
Possibility of integrating the Orheiul Vechi complex in the international tourist circuit and
broaden interest in the site, given national and regional cultural tourism development
and scientific and agro-ecological areas;
 Expanding the network of international institutions from Chisinau and increase their
interest in natural and cultural landscapes. Authentic opportunities to develop new
relationships and common cultural and tourist projects.
Threats  The organic catastrophe of acid rain;
 Earthquakes;
 Excessive heat and periodic droughts;
 Turnover of research staff, poor wages;
 Lack of proper living and working conditions for the museum;
 Insufficient financial resources;
 Lack of investment programmes for the Orheiul Vechi complex;
 Lack of training or methodical documentation for certain areas;
 Lack of overall vision for the future of the rural Orhei complex composition;
 Lack of interest of APL in CMOV;
 Illegal acquisition by the Metropolitan Church of Moldova of the Christian cave complex,
their anti-scientific interventions in CMOV, damaging the condition of these
monuments;
 Part of the population’s failure to acknowledge the importance of measures taken to
protect natural and cultural heritage objectives and the economic advantages offered
by the complex historical and cultural landscape.

1.14 Participation in international co-operation (including technical support to projects)
Type of project or  Sacred rock architecture in the context of South-East European civilisations:
area of main International Scientific Seminar;
activities (urban  List of projects is attached.
rehabilitation,
art/culture,
transfrontier
collaboration, etc.)
Donors  The Soros-Moldova foundations;
 US Embassy in Moldova;
 UNESCO;
 UNDP Moldova;
 Culture Promotion Fund (UNESCO);
 National Ecological Fund;
 World Bank;
 Youth and Sport Department of the Moldovan Government;
 ANTREC;
 National Agency of Employment;
 Papyrus-Studio Plastic Artists Association;


 Information Bureau of the Council of Europe in Moldova;
 Polish Foundation for Rural Tourism;
 Literatura si Arta.
Partners  CCARM - The Archaeological Research Centre of the Republic of Moldova;
 ULIM – Free International University of Moldova;
 ANTIM – National Association of Young Historians in Moldova;
 ANTREC – National Association for Ecological, Cultural and Rural Tourism;
 ‘Museion’ Cultural-Scientific Association;
 SEM – Society of Ethnology in Moldova;
 UMP – Folk Artists’ Union;
 NGO ‘Era Nova’;
 AFPMDD – Women’s Association for Environment Protection and Sustainable
Development;
 AFSSI – Association of Women with Higher Education ‘Imperativ’;
 CAC KSA:K – Contemporary Art Center KSA:K;
 UAPM – Plastic Artists’ Union of Moldova;
 AAPPS - Papyrus-Studio Plastic Artists Association;
 ARS DOR Association.



II. THEMATIC MAPS


Preliminary Technical File Orheiul Vechi, MOLDOVA

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