A heroic bronze of Stephen the Great — the 15th-century Moldavian prince who fought off Ottoman, Polish, Hungarian, and Crimean Tatar armies for nearly fifty years — stands at the main entrance of the central park named for him. Cast by sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală in 1928, the monument shows Stephen in armour, sword and cross in hand, gazing south toward the Romanian border.
The square in front of the statue is the symbolic centre of the country — the place where Moldovans gather for political protests, national day parades, and the ribbon-cutting of every new government's term. Spend ten minutes here and you will see locals laying flowers at the base most days of the year.