Over 55 km west of Chisinau, there is a very picturesque spot, which the great Russian poet Pushkin was so fond of, and which he often visited during his exile in Moldova (1820-1823). Here he got closer to native traditions and culture, and started a friendship with the Ralli-Arbore Family, in whose mansion lived.

 In 1881 in Hancesti (some 36 kms west of Chisinau) in the middle of a park there was built a Hunting Lodge and a Palace on the estate of a famous personality from the beginning of the XIXth century, Manuc Bei, the so-called "Prince of Georgians". For the record, in Manuc Palace in Bucuresti a peace treaty was made between the Turkish and Russian Empires, which put Basarabia under Russian protection.