Day 4: Discovery of Prutul de Jos (Lower Prut) Nature Reserve and Beleu Lake
You will start the day by travelling to Prutul de Jos (Lower Prut) Nature Reserve and Beleu Lake. The reserve was founded on a swampy land of a former estuary of the Prut River. It was created in 1991 to protect the flora and fauna of Beleu Lake and the Prut River surroundings. Beleu Lake occupies about one third of the Nature Reserve, and the rest of the territory is made up of a network of ponds that together form a unique ecosystem of national and international importance. Beleu Lake is a relict of the Danube – at around five to six thousand years old – and is therefore of great interest as a monument of immense scientific, cultural and aesthetic value. In the nature reserve you can find almost all the species of water plants and animals native to Moldova. Here you will see many species of birds including cormorants, white storks, swans, glossy ibises, white kingfishers, little egrets, big egrets, herons.
Next, you will be transferred to La Gura Cuptorului guesthouse and Bread Museum in Valeni village where you will enjoy an excursion and lunch. The Bread Museum is the most “delicious” museum of Moldova. This amazing museum of bread pleases its visitors with delicious “specimens” and thus has a huge success among the visitors, who promise every time to come again. Besides the tasty bread, the visitors of the museum can witness traditional ceremonies at a makeshift Moldovan wedding. The villagers of Valeni village are proud of their unique museum that holds about 20 types of bread products.
After lunch, you will visit the Museum of History and Ethnography in Valeni village. By its creation, the Town Hall of Valeni village has proposed to keep the traditions and history alive. In the museum, there are exhibited valuable carpets in which the women from the village put their soul. The Peasant House and Casa Mare (Big Room – a traditional room in each rural house where people feast together) were rebuilt and exhibited in the museum. Next to the Museum of History and Ethnography is the village church, sanctified on 25 December 2016. The two institutions form a cultural complex worthy of being included in the national and international circuits in the South of Moldova.
In the evening, you will take a ride to Milestii Mici winery located at a depth of 40-85 m in Milestii Mici village. Measuring about 200 km, all underground streets make up the largest network of caves ever dug by a human being, which appeared after the extraction of limestone deposits. The winery holds an impressive collection of more than 2 million bottles. The "Golden Collection" of Milestii Mici winery, which has over 1,5 million bottles, is the pride of the whole country, as in August, 2005, it was registered in the Guinness World Records as the biggest wine collection in the world. You will feel like a king/ queen here, admiring the beauty of this place, tasting wines in which you will feel the fire of sun and vigor of earth and enjoying national cuisine dishes.
After visiting Milestii Mici winery, you will be transferred to the hotel in Chisinau.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Prutul de Jos (Lower Prut) Nature Reserve ,
La Gura Cuptorului guesthouse ,
Museum of History and Ethnography in Valeni village ,
Milestii Mici winery