The Monument of Stefan cel Mare was designed by architect Alexandru Plămădeală in 1923. The monument was completed in 1927 and opened on 29 April 1928 (to replace the monument to Alexander II of Russia, destroyed by the Romanian authorities in 1918), marking the 470th birthday of Stephen the Great. The total cost of the monument was 4.000.000 lei. A few days before 1940 Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the monument was relocated to Vaslui, and its pedestal was blown up by the Soviet troops. On August 25, 1942, the monument was returned to Chişinău and taken back to Romania in 1944. In 1945, the Soviet authorities ordered the restoration of the monument to Chişinău. On 31 August 1989 the monument to Stephen the Great was returned to its original location, chosen by Alexandru Plămădeală in the 1920s. The initial inscriptions were restored. Flower-laying ceremonies are regularly performed at the pedestal of this monument on each national holiday and on days of official top and high level visits. The statue of Ştefan cel Mare in the centre of Chisinau commemorates Moldova's greatest national hero. Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) was born in 1403 and was Prince of Moldova from 1457 until his death in 1504. He became famous for his many victories against the Ottoman Turks and was seen as the defender of Christian Europe against the invading Muslims. Hence in the statue he is depicted holding up a cross. He won 34 of the 36 battles he fought and following his victory in the Battle of Vaslui, where 40,000 Moldavians defeated 120,000 Ottoman troops, Pope Sixtus IV honoured him as true Champion of the Christian Faith.
