What city has changed hands more than Chișinău? In just 30 years, the City of White Stone escaped the Russian yoke to become independent, was taken by Romania and retaken by Russia, and once again came under Romanian control in the Second World War. Most are comfortable with this situation: The people of Chișinău largely speak Romanian and enjoy the same standards of living as their brethren in Bucharest, but as a legacy of its history, Chișinău and the surrounding province of Moldova is far more ethnically diverse than the rest of Romania.

Thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, and Bulgarians, as well as most of the world's Gagauz people, call this place home. This uniquely multicultural environment in an increasingly segregated Europe has distinguished the society of Chișinău from that of any other Romanian city.