Museum of History and Ethnography, Mereni village, Anenii Noi

The current museum building is included in the register of state-protected historical monuments. It was built especially for the People's Bank „Rejep” established around 1910-1911 and has a very interesting and unique architecture, for its construction being used a composition of clay, horsehair and bird eggs. There is also a terracotta floor brought from Germany, which can be admired today. The building withstood several attempts: after collectivization it served as a House of Culture, then a gym, a library, then since 1989 in this building is the Museum of History and Ethnography. The museum has several sections, namely: Archeology, History of the Village from 1475, Memorial „World War II”, Deportations 1940-1949, Soviet Period 1949-1990, „Peasant Garden”, „Chamber” with stands, oven, pots of clay and other vessels, „Casa Mare” - arranged with carpets, towels, pillows, „tol” (thick fabric of wool, of hemp or of cotton, used in the country as a blanket, or for bedding) and „laicere” (peasant woolen rug that lies on the floor or with which the walls and walls are decorated in the country), Ethnography - folk costumes for men and women, made in 1900-1940. After a short stop through the village museum, tourists head to the open-air complex. On an area of ​​over three hectares, in the heart of the village, on a plain, are arranged some pieces from the open-air museum complex in memory of the victims of deportations to Siberia. It is about the „Parents' House”, which represents the beginning of the road, the place where people were raised. The premises have a typical Moldovan dwelling where the oven and the big house were not missing. Another module of the complex is represented by three life-size sculptures representing Family, Prayer and Separation. The sculptures are made of white stone, being arranged in a semicircle in front of the parents' house and represent human faces in different stages of life: from the tenderness represented by the birth of a family in the first, to the despair of separation from the house in the last architectural piece. Next is the third module, called „the road to Siberia”. Here is located a freight car specific to the period, to show visitors the inhumane conditions in which Moldovans were transported to Siberia.

Heritage: 

• The museum has a fund of over 10.000 exhibits gathered from the territory of the locality: clay pots, hand-woven carpets and various objects that show the lives of people in Mereni since the time of Stephen the Great. Among the museum's valuables are a Romanian „ie” (is a blouse, part of the traditional Romanian costume, worn by women) (over 100 years old) and a dowry box that belonged to the Plato family.

• The museum specializes in archeology. For example, it has a record number of clay weights (several dozen) for the vertical loom discovered by archaeologists in the area of Mereni village.

Good to know! A special exhibit is a carpet that is unique to Republic of Moldova. It is a special woven technique for the Mereni village. The carpet represents a part of the army of Stephen the Great who, according to a legend, remained to establish the Mereni village. We find on the carpet the flag of Saint George the bearer of victory and the coat of arms of the country from those times.