The former Underground Publishing House ‘Iskra’ Chisinau , Museutopia  project 2008

The Underground Publishing House Iskra (Spark) belonged to the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and was established in 1901 by direct order from Lenin while he was still in European exile. The publishing house was used until 1902, when it was discovered and closed by the Tsar administration. In this short time, besides printing the Iskra newspaper for the merging Social Democratic Labor party, the print house also issued various ideological underground publications. In 1960, a museum was opened on Podolski Street at the exact location of the former publishing house. The exhibition consisted of two parts: a museum dedicated to Iskra’s publications and a memorial dedicated to the underground printing house, which was restored to its high days including the camouflaged working tools.
In 1991, the museum was closed by the
government, and its archive was transferred to the National History and Archaeology Museum. These days, the building is used by the editorial
office of The Communist, the Moldovan Communist party newspaper.