Tiraspol is the capital and main city of the de facto Republic of Transnistria.
Tiraspol, although with modern buildings, seems to have come out of old stock photographs. Between a statue of Lenin and a monument in the shape of a hammer and sickle, time seems to have stopped before the fall of the Soviet Union.
The city is the center of political power with the Palace of Soviets and the Government Palace. The Palace of Soviets, with its unmistakable Soviet style, is one of the most representative buildings of the city. Built in 1953, today it is the seat of the municipal administration.
Lenin statues are almost everywhere, but perhaps the most characteristic ones are the one in front of the Government Palace (the Supreme Soviet) and the bust in front of the Town Hall (the Soviet House).
The main street of the city is the Boulevard 25 October and on its sides are the Embassy of South Ossetia and that of Abkhazia.
On the sides of boulevard 25 October are also the Memorial of Military Glory, the Chapel of St. George and Suvorov Square.
In the Memorial of Military Glory are the War Memorial and the Eternal Flame. The Memorial also commemorates the local liquidators used after the Chernobyl disaster.
At the end of the Memorial, just a few steps from St. George’s Chapel, there is a Soviet-era tank.
Suvorov Square, the most important square in Tiraspol, is characterized by the equestrian statue of the legendary Russian general Alexander Suvorov, founder of the city, as well as one of the most valiant generals in Russian history. Here every year, on 2nd September, the annual celebrations with the Transnistrian Independence Day parade take place. In this square are located all the flags of the municipalities of the Republic of Transnistria and the flags of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, the only countries that have recognized Transnistria.
