Transnistria Tour&Mimi Wine Castle

This day you will have a full day trip to Transnistria and will learn the history of this self-proclaimed independent and unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic that has its own currency, border guards and policy, as well as find yourself in the gorgeous wine castle of MIMI CASTLE WINERY.

Situated on the banks of the Dniester River, Tighina town (known as Bender as well) is Moldova’s fourth largest city and features an impressive 16th century Ottoman fortress complete with red tiled turrets and thick stone walls.

The old medieval fort of Tighina Fortress was first built in the 15-16’th centuries by the princes of Moldavia. Occupied by the Ottomans in 1538 (in a campaign lead by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent), the fort was strengthened in 1541 and became the center of an Ottoman “raya” (in which were included the surrounding Moldavian villages). Its walls and rounded towers still stand today. The fortress suffered during the Russian-Turkish war of 1806- 1812. In 1818, the Bender fortress was visited by the Emperor of Russia Alexander I, and in 1828 by Nikolai I.

Tiraspol, the self-proclaimed capital, is the second most inhabited city in Moldova and bedecked in monuments to the Mother Land with A.Suvorov, V.Lenin, Y.Gagarin, a T-34 tank and a Soviet jet standing tall against Kirov Square, Pokrov Church and the imposing parliament building. In Tiraspol you will have the opportunity to travel in time back to USSR by walking along the river Dniestr. The city seems to be a ghost of the Soviet past.

Other local sights to visit: Drama and Comedy Theatre, the City Hall, Memorial of Glory, Military Museum, Sheriff Complex, parks and market.

Castel MIMI is a winery with a history that takes us centuries back when the first chateau was founded in Bessarabia by an outstanding personality Constantin Mimi.

The real beauty of the castle has been hidden for many years under a layer of concrete and it has been finally opened for public since September 2016. Constantin Mimi has contributed to modernization of Bessarabian viticulture- he has planted new European varietal, which is more productive and more resistant to diseases such as Aligote.