MONUMENTUL OSPITALITATEA

This monument is located at the southeast entrance of the city, next to the municipal cemetery. This monumental white stone sculpture depicts a woman offering bread and salt, symbols of hospitality among Moldavians but also among many Slavic peoples. She is wearing a long dress and a cape. The monument was created by the sculptor Lazăr Dubinovschi (1910-1982) in 1979. Dubinovschi made many sculptures all over the country and in the capital (Mihai Eminescu, Gheorghe Asachi, G. Kotovski, M. Gorki...) during the Soviet period. He has received many distinctions and was a member of the Academy of Plastic Arts of St. Petersburg, as well as an honorary member of the Union of Plastic Artists of Romania. A plaque has been erected in his memory on the boulevard Ștefan cel Mare from Chișinău and in 2010, the Moldavian Post Office issued a commemorative postcard at 1.20 lei illustrated by his portrait of Mihai Eminescu made in 1959.

The style of his statue erected at Bălți is reminiscent of similar achievements of the Soviet period. It stands proudly in the middle of the road which is one of the main accesses to Bălți from the south and announces a welcome to people entering the city.

Romanian speakers call her "Soacra" (the mother-in-law) and Russian speakers call her "Tyotya Beltsy" ("aunt Bălți"). When the inhabitants of Bălţi come back to their hometown, passing in front of this statue, they say "Here is the mother! I'm home! ". She has become one of the symbols of the city.