[Visited: July 2021]
- After visiting the Soroca Fortress, we are off to something completely different. Something I had missed on my first visit to the border town. We drive up the hill, and arrive on Dealul Ţiganilor, or Gypsy Hill. Soroca is the Roma capital of Moldova. On this hill, some gypsies who have been successful in life want to display their wealth by showing off with mansions. We already see some big ones, and golden domes, towering above the buildings when we park our car. We soon realise that this is a neighbourhood full of contrasts. The streets are falling apart, with holes in them, missing sidewalks, grass growing between stones, old cars parked on the side. Then you look up, and you see one unique mansion after another. We haphazardly walk through the streets of this special community.
- We see mansions that resemble the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow and the St Peter's Basilica, and many more buildings that have originated in the brains of architects full of fantasy. Bottom line: show off as much as you can that the owner is wealthy. This means that the mansions are like palaces. Some of them could house dozens of people. Many are chock full with decorations. Posh gold-plated gates, statues, columns, towers, decorated details on the roof. It surely is a little overwhelming. We soon notice that many of the gypsy mansions are actually empty, or in need of serious repairs. It seems that the owners actually live somewhere else, earning more money, while their palaces are slowly falling apart. In general, we see very few people on the streets, and it almost seems like a ghost town here and there.
- Then, we walk down the hill, towards one of the largest mansions that towers high above the street. It has many columns, a huge golden dome, and an enormous gate where two statues of lions are guarding the entrance. Naturally, I want to take a picture. Suddenly, a guy who is clearly not the owner of the house, comes after me, and holds his hand in front of my lens. He starts shouting in Russian, cursing, asking for a lot of money, and threatening to send in a dog (I understand just that). After the tranquillity of the neighbourhood, it is a surprise to meet so much aggression. We don't stay too long before we move on. We then drive up the bigger street leading up even higher, and come past even bigger palaces. The most incredible one is a copy of Capitol Building of Washington, DC. When we look closer, we actually see the building has huge holes in it. It is time to descend to the Dniester river again.
