The Embassy of Poland has announced the conclusion of the fourth season of works to conserve gravestones on the tombs of Polish people who were buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Chisinau. This year, there was restored the gravestone on the tomb of a female representative of the Davidovici family born in 1831 and installed a temporary roof on the Chapel of the Ohanovici family, IPN reports.

In an event held to mark the closure of the fourth season of works on November 19, Poland’s Ambassador in Chisinau Bartlomiej Zdaniuk said many Polish people lived in Moldova in the 19th century and the start of the 20th century and they were buried at the Catholic Cemetery.

“This year we managed to renovate a very beautiful monument. We want to continue this activity next year. For us, the care for the places where Polish people were buried is an important thing as we do not want to eliminate them from our memory,” stated Bartlomiej Zdaniuk.

Director of the municipal Funeral Services Combine Ludmila Boţan said next year they plan to restore five monuments and to carry out an assessment for renovating the Chapel of the Ohanovici family. “For us these works are important so that the next generations see the past, traditions, culture and what we have in common with the Polish people,” she stated.

There are over 3,000 graves at the Catholic Cemetery and about half of them are of Polish people. The works to conserve gravestones are executed as part of a memorandum signed by the Embassy of Poland in Moldova and the Chisinau City Hall on cooperation in the conservation of the Polish cultural heritage that was signed in 2014. Ten tombstones have been restored so far.