Cricova Winery

The underground workings for limestone in the hills around Cricova are some of the most extensive in Europe. Some 120 km of roadways link great chambers from which limestone has been extracted since the fifteenth century. Since 1952 the chambers have been used for storing the products of the wine industry that has flourished in the region since the Second World War. The wine centre includes a museum which displays methods of growing grapes and making wine, with examples of the ploughs and carts used in vineyards, and of the presses employed in wine making. There is also a section on the history of the workings, including their role as hiding places for Jews fleeing from persecution during the Second World War. Some chambers are devoted to the celebration of different kinds of wine, and the many awards won by winemakers from Moldova are proudly displayed. Visitors can travel round the site on a narrow gauge railway.