Moldova: Rascov develops tourism potential with EU and UNDP support

On 28 September, a monograph on the archaeological investigations of the ruins of a church on the left bank of the Nistru River was presented in Rascov, Moldova.

The archaeological investigation took place in autumn 2022 as part of the project ‘Historic Rașcov: research and conservation to improve tourism potential together’. The project was supported by the European Union’s ‘Confidence Building Measures’ programme, implemented by UNDP. 

The research was conducted both outside and inside the church, revealing a number of unknown facts about the construction and history of the site. The research aimed at identifying the construction layers of the church and confirming the existence of older structures on the same site, as well as the cultural and chronological attribution of these findings.

During the research project, a new archaeological site belonging to the Cucuteni-Tripolia archaeological community and the oldest Christian necropolis of the 17th-18th centuries in the region were unexpectedly discovered. In addition, remains – several teeth and small fragments of the lower jaw of an animal – were discovered. They belonged to a young elephant of the genus Mammuthus, which lived in these places about 100,000 years ago.

All the information and archaeological findings from the period of research have been included in the presented monograph ‘Historical Rașcov’. It is expected that the results of this research will have a positive impact on the development of the tourism potential of the area.

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Press release