Documentary Evidence Regarding the Architectural-Urban Development of Bălţi City (19th Century – Early 20th Century)

Abstract

The article makes use of any archive documents to describe the architectural-urbanistic evolution of the city of Bălți in the period of time: the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century. The first systematization project of the city of Bălţi was developed by the cadastral engineer K.A. Pomorţev in 1839 and approved by Tsar Nicholas I on February 9, 1845. After a devastating fire, in 1888, the systematization plan of the city of Bălţi was drawn up again. In 1894, the importance of Bălţi grew with the appearance of the railway station in the suburb of Slobozia, belonging to the Rezina-Ocniţa railway. As a result of the activities of the new authorities, the physiognomy of the Bessarabian cities is changing radically. The new “exemplary cities” are intended to demonstrate to the entire Balkan world the superiority of the way of life in the composition of the Russian Empire. There is, on the one hand, an undeniable urban development, and, on the other hand, a break with the historical past and the previous urban culture.