Photos of The Gagauzia Autonomous Territorial Unit, Moldova

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The Gagauzia Autonomous Territorial Unit

Gagauzia is an autonomous region in Moldova, made up of four separate pieces of land in the country’s south with a total area of 1,832 km² and almost 135,000 people, mostly Gagauzians, a Christian people speaking a Turkic language. Its capital is Comrat (Komrat in Gagauz), with around 26,000 people.

Government Building, Comrat
 
Moldovan and Gagauz flags
 
Statue of Lenin, Comrat
 
Victims Political Repression monument
 
High School entrance, Comrat
 
Strada Lenin, Comrat
 
Cathedral of Comrat
 
Central Square, Comrat
 
Fast Food cafe, Comrat
 
Strada Victoriei, Comrat
 
Strada Victoriei, Comrat
 
Crucifix, Comrat
 
Ialpugul Mare, Comrat
 
Well, Comrat
 
Wooden façade, Comrat
 
Liberation monument, Comrat
 
Herder with sheep, Beşalma
 
View to Beșalma
 
Farmyard, Beșalma
 
Main street, Beșalma
 
Main street in Beșalma
 
Orthodox church, Beșalma
 
Gagauz crafts, Beșalma
 
Statue of Dmitriy Kara-Çoban, Beșalma
 

It isn’t known precisely where the Gagauz people came from, but it is likely that Turkic people settled in present-day Bulgaria and converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity. When the Russian Empire annexed Bessarabia (eastern Moldavia), Muslim Turkic Nogai people who lived in the south were forced to leave (they now live mainly in the North Caucasus). Christian Gagauz were settled here by the Russians. They have always remained pro-Russian: now, with Gagauz Yeri an autonomous region, they still prefer Russian over Rumanian and Lenin’s statue stands on Lenin Street, the main street in Comrat.

Nineteen kilometres south of Comrat is the village of Beșalma; its name means “Five Apples” in the Turkic Gagauz language. The Gagauz National Museum of History and Ethnography is in the town, founded by Dmitriy Kara-Çoban (1933-1986), the noted Gagauz ethnographer, local artist, poet and educator, who dedicated a large part of his life to rediscovering the ethnographic and linguistic heritage of Gagauzia. It is a fascinating place to visit.