Tighina-Bender Fortress – (Re)Inventing a Museum

This article discusses the case of the transformation of the Tighina-Bender fortress in a historic museum and tourist attraction site. The fortress is one of the most important medieval fortifications in Eastern Europe and is a national monument registered in the State Register of Protected Monuments of the Republic of Moldova. Paradoxically, but the fortress has not benefited from serious historic and archaeological research so far. It must be because during the Soviet era the fortress was a military base and it was closed to the public. Its recent transformation into a museum, the launch of a rehabilitation project, and ensured access inside this fortification inspire us for the possibility of transforming this site into one of the most attractive tourist places in the Republic of Moldova. But for better interpretation and presentation is strictly necessary to understand the history of the place, its role from regional and European perspectives, the relation of historic place with the local community, etc. (Re)inventing a museum needs, in, first of all, a vision and, secondly, a strategy of museum sustainable development.