Chisinau Spring Monument, Chisinau

While the actual origin of the city name – Chisinau – is subject to a debate, some historians reckon it can be attributed to the expression "chisla noua" which is the archaic Romanian for "new spring". The presumed site of the water spring from where Chisinau started – at the foot of the hill crowned by the Mazarache Church – is marked by a memorial foundation stone. They say, Russian poet Alexander Pushkin frequented this spring when visiting the church during his exile to Moldova in the early 1800s.

Chisinau itself was first documented, along with the spring by Mazarache Hill near the Bic river, in a deed drawn on July 17, 1436 in Vaslui (today's Romania). According to this document called the Royal Book of Reinforcement, the lords of Moldova – Ilie and Ștefan the Great – established place for the nascent town of Chisinau with the houses to be built on the right side of the Bic, “in the valley by the spring where there is an opening near the forest.”

Presently, the Foundation date of July 17 is usually overshadowed by that of October 14, which is the official Day of the City of Chisinau, a religious holiday celebrated each year.

The commemorative stone was first installed in 1986 and originally bore inscription in the Cyrillic script. Following Moldova's Independence, 20 years later the stone was renovated with the inscription changed into the Latin script.