Visiting Transnistria Trivia Quiz

Answer: Moldova

Transnistria is an unrecognized breakaway state that was considered part of Moldova which calls it the "Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester". Transnistria has a capital but no city with an international passenger airport. To visit, you could fly to Chisinau (airport code KIV).

Answer: Russian

Russian is the primary language of Transnistria and it's the first of three official recognized ones. Moldova still has a presence in Transnistria, even after the declared independence, so Romanian is the second of the languages. The third is Ukrainian, which originates from early medieval times.

Answer: Logs

The Dniester River begins in the Carpathian Mountains and flows southeast for almost 840 miles to the Black Sea. It is the main water artery of Moldova and the longest river in Transnistria. It is navigable, even though it has shallow areas and sandbars. It is used heavily for carrying logs from the mountain areas and rafting them downstream.

Answer: Fortress

In the 1200s the site was a small trading fortress build by traders and sailors from Genoa, Italy. Centuries later, the Ottoman Empire expanded and rebuilt the fortress to include eight towers and a moat. The Fortress of Bender witnessed three Turkish-Russian wars, all of which Turkey won and maintained the site.

It was not until 1812 that, during a peace treaty, the fort was transferred to Russia. The Russian Army used it for military storage and a hospital. Restoration began in 2007, and now this is a tourist attraction where people can walk the site, visit a museum, or have a picnic.

Answer: Tiraspol

Tiraspol is the second largest city in Transnistria and was founded by the Russians in 1795. In 1990, the site was the center of a Russian separatist movement and was named the capital of the new territory. In 2015, there was a population of around 133,000 people. It is situated in an agricultural area, but also has a thriving industry of furniture, textiles, and electrical goods.

Answer: Christmas Cathedral

The Christmas Cathedral is the largest church in Tiraspol. Its completion in 1999 was marked with huge celebrations and its image put on postage stamps. The exterior is painted in Byzantine style and its interior is filled with dazzling religious artworks. The church is located in the center of the city proper.

Answer: Ukraine

Transnistria is landlocked and only shares borders with Moldova to the west and Ukraine to the east. Ukraine claims to serve as Transnistria's "window to the outside world" even though it does not officially recognize Transnistria's independence.

Answer: Lenin

Transnistria, throughout its history, has had close ties to Russia. The granite statue of Lenin in front of the Transnistria Parliament is modeled on a monument that used to be in East Berlin. There are multiple statues of Lenin in the country and they are made of different materials with different colors. Several tours of the area feature 'Lenin Statue Counting'.

Answer: Eternal Flame

The Memorial of Glory was built in the 1920s and served as a burial site for officers in the Russian Civil War. In the 1970s it was overhauled and various statues were added. In the early 2000s a Wall of Memory was built to honor Transnistrian defenders.

The centerpiece of the area is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which features an eternal flame. It is dedicated to the memory of all war dead.

Answer: Cognac

The KVINT distillery has been in business for over 100 years and owes much of its success to the climate of Transnistria. The river valley allows for a fertile grape production. The distillery then creates its cognac by distilling the white wine twice using state of the art equipment following strict adherence to French production techniques.

It has won numerous awards over the years. They call their product divin, since they are not in Cognac, France, but the locals, and much of the world, refer to the beverage as cognac.