The Jewish cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova.

Its a historical monument of national category located on Milano street, in the Buiucani sector. It has been operating since 1887, although the first graves are attested from the beginning of the 19th century, and other sources attribute its age from 200 to almost 300 years.

The Second World War brought considerable damage to the eastern part of the cemetery. In 1958, the territory was divided into two parts, one of which was later transformed by the authorities into an agricultural market.

By 1960, the eastern part of the cemetery was demolished, and the gravestones were crushed and then used for the construction of the fence for the western part, but also for other cemeteries in Chisinau, as well as for paving the alleys in the current park "Alunelul", adjacent to the cemetery. On the territory once occupied by the cemetery, tennis courts and residential blocks were also set up.

Different sources differently expose the dimensions of the preserved part of the cemetery. It would spread over an area of 11, 12 or 15 hectares and would have around 24 thousand or over 40 thousand graves.

In the cemetery there is a monument dedicated to the victims of the pogrom in Chisinau, next to which is the grave of Rabbi Leib

Yehuda Tsirelson, the most prominent rabbi of Bessarabia during several decades.

Also here is located a funeral synagogue, unique in Moldova, now ruined. In the cemetery there are a lot of graves and monuments that are more than a century old. A monument with a propeller is installed at the grave of an aviator, which is still rotating at the present time.

Burials in the cemetery are still held today, only in the period 1978-1993 they were prohibited. In 1993, a memorial was installed in the park "Alunelul", which records the pogrom of 1903.I

1903.In 2015, 70 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Chisinau City Hall announced that the cemetery could be restored. And if we look more closely at the tombs we can see inscriptions each conveying a special meaning

A cemetery with thousands of graves, covered with stone and monuments that leave on its side because of time, trees that have fallen or make their way among the Stones, struck by the indifference of people and authorities.

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Wandering among the destroyed graves we have an oppressive feeling of sadness, sipping from the silence around, which is pierced by The Distant Barking of some dog or the rustle of leaves through which squirrels rummage.

On the wall at the entrance to the cemetery we find the tariffs that those who want the graves to be taken care of should pay, otherwise the others are forgotten monuments as if in a forest.

In fact, you have the impression that you have come across a forest on which they lie on the ground, glued to each other or hidden under branches some graves on which you read the messages of loved ones for the one who left…

The Jewish cemetery has been operating since 1887 and is included in the list of monuments of history and art of national category.