Cover picture © iStock/BalkansCat
Cover picture © iStock/BalkansCat

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Hotel Cosmos, the USSR patrimony in the heart of Chisinau

2 minutes to read

Chisinau, a former part of the USSR, maintains the look of the modern European city alongside the tradition and memory of the past times. Just like the City Gateways at the entrance of Chisinau and the old, but captivating State Circus, the Hotel named "Cosmos" remains another important patrimony, situated in the heart of Chisinau. They say that the Soviet buildings will live more years, than all of us. Is that true? Let's find out how the Hotel Cosmos manages to "live" and why it's still popular among the tourists.

The surviving USSR buildings

The old Soviet hotels, as well as the other buildings of that time, still stand on the territory of each former USSR republic. Their style you could never confuse with anything else - enormous buildings, that look like they survived all of the cataclysms of the whole humanity. Since the break of the USSR, those "monsters" of communism are still situated at the same places they were built. The Hotel Cosmos is not an exception. Being one of the surviving buildings, the state has no reason to demolish it - tourists like the atmosphere of the former times, especially the ones from the CIS countries. There is another reason - the lack of funds to take it down and built something else. It is too problematic to turn such a hotel into a modern and fashionable resort with exciting architecture because its surroundings maintain the same original atmosphere as many years ago. 

A monument dedicated to Grigory Kotovsky 

In front of the hotel, you can note the monument dedicated to a Russian revolutionarySoviet military and political figure, and the participant of the Civil War, Grigory Kotovsky. It was established in 1954, on the square of the same name, in honor of the 36th anniversary of the Soviet Army. The Kotovsky Monument was the first one to appear in post-war Moldova. The monument has three interesting things to mention! The first one: in the last century, Grigory's horse was named as one of the top three statues of horses in Europe! Second one: the horse is not real. Kotovsky didn’t have a horse at all, as the whole Russian Army didn't use horses. The third feature of this historical monument is that it is a popular place for modern inscriptions like “Anna, I love you”. This, for example, is classic vandalism, but pay attention - maybe you will find there some interesting stories of the locals.

© Wikipedia/Zserghei
© Wikipedia/Zserghei

The Hotel Cosmos is situated not far from the Chisinau Railway Station - only 5-10 minutes away on foot, and if using a car, you can get even to the Chisinau Airport in less than 15 minutes. In general, Cosmos has a significant advantage because of its location, as this USSR patrimony is located right in the heart of Chisinau, close to everything. The hotel offers more than 150 rooms on 22 floors: from single up to three-room apartments. There, as in the usual hotel, you will be provided with the bath/shower, air conditioning, TV, telephone, refrigerator, Wi-Fi, and even radio! In addition, you can have a free of charge guarded parking place, laundry, and luggage storage, anytime you need, because it works 24/7. If you want to have a walk, you should visit the center of the city and the Stefan cel Mare Monument, and the local market only 5-10 minutes away. And do not forget to take photos! Where else will you see such exciting old Soviet decorations at the comfort of a typical 21st-century hotel?

© locals.md/Александр Лапшин
© locals.md/Александр Лапшин
Hotel Cosmos, Chisinau
Hotel Cosmos, Chisinau
Bulevardul Constantin Negruzzi 2, Chișinău, Молдавия




The author

Vladlena Martus

Vladlena Martus

My name is Vladlena and I am originally from Moldova. Currently I’m based in Saint-Petersburg where I study journalism. I love writing, traveling and taking photos, trying to enjoy my life as much as I can!

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