Mimi Castle- the center of Europe today
Mimi Castle has been associated in recent weeks with the Republic of Moldova and with the most important European meeting, at least this year. Mimi Castle will today host the Summit of the European Political Community (EPC), which will bring together almost 50 heads of state and government and European leaders from across the continent. The location does not appear to have been chosen by chance. Mimi Castle had a similar route to the modern history of the Republic of Moldova - it went through wars, through different governments, was forgotten and turned into an industrial building, only to be reborn and become, for a day, the capital of Europe.
The Mimi mansion, located in the village of Bulboaca, about 40 km southeast of Chisinau, was built in 1900, at the initiative of Constantin Mimi, a politician from Bessarabia at that time. Its architecture was taken from French practice, where Mimi had studied viticulture and winemaking. The Mimi mansion is presented as the first real "chateau" in Bessarabia. Built with two floors of reinforced concrete, the castle was considered a modern edifice not only in the Bender land, but in the entire governorate. The castle cellar had a capacity of 300,000 liters of wine.
In 2011, the renovation of the architectural complex began, which, according to the official page, is included in the top 15 most beautiful wineries in the world, annually hosting 30,000 visitors from over 80 countries.
During the Soviet period, the building was transformed into a wine factory, and the director of the company that currently manages it, Adrian Trofim, stated in an interview for bani.md that he accidentally discovered its historical and architectural value during some repair work.
The "father" of Mimi Castle is Constantin Mimi, a politician from the beginning of the 20th century. He worked in the tsarist administration, being the last governor of Bassarabia. After the union of 1918, he continued his career in Romania, including as a director in the National Bank of Romania.
In addition to political and administrative activity, Constantin Mimi also played an important role in the modernization of local viticulture. For example, he is the one who brought the Aligote variety to Bassarabia. An urban legend also says that he would have played an important role in preventing the tsarist administration from destroying the vineyards of Bessarabia, which his successors were less able to do during the Soviet period. Mimi wines obtained the first international distinctions at the beginning of the 20th century, and today they are to be tasted by those who, in Constantin Mimi's time, would have been considered the "crowned heads of Europe".
