Republica Moldova

The most prominent building of the architect Chekeruli-Kush is situated in one block from Gcrbovitskaya Community. It is the Organ Hall today but at his time it was the City Bank. It is the visiting card of the city, a lively monument not only of architecture but of culture as well. The contest was announced when the State Council wanted to build the City Bank. This project was established after the construction (by A. Bernardazzi and M. Elladi) the building of the City Hall in 1902. The young architect Chekeruli-Kush won the contest and took bonus funds 1500 rubles. It was a huge sum of money. Though, they have been building it for 9 years because of the finance aspect. The construction froze two times for several years. The City Bank could move into building only in 1911.

The sculpture of Mercury - the god of trade by Mihail Lukashevsky adorned the building. But it vanished nobody knows where. It has to be placed back after the reconstruction. This historical monument has to be restored.

The Bank occupied this building even in the Soviet period till the middle of 1970s. After that time the fate of the creation of Chekeruli-Kush changed completely. Svetlana Bodiul, the daughter of the head of the Communistic Party of Moldova at that period of time (he was the leader and the head of the Republic) Ivan Bodiul, graduated Moscow and Paris Conservatories and became a pianist. The brilliant idea to build an Organ Hall in Chisinau came to her. They have been choosing the building for a long time but specialists said that the best acoustics is in the building of the City Bank. The facility was rebuilt by the architect Jurii Leonchenko. He made auditorium, dressing rooms, etc. The foyer was decorated by the busts of the famous composers made by the sculptor Lasari Dubinovsky. The Organ “Riger-Gloss” made in Czech Republic was installed in the building. On the 16th of September 1978 the first concert was performed in the first Organ Hall in Moldova.

The heritage left by the architect Chekeruli-Kush is invaluable. We spoke only about those creations which are well known and there is information about them. Surely, there are many other buildings in Chisinau built by this talented architect Chekeruli-Kush.