Mihăileni

The village of Mihăileni is situated on two rather steep hills along the bed of the Ochiul-Alb (White Eye) river. The perimeter of the village estate stretches over a distance of 39 km 388 m, comprising a total area of 6091 ha of farmland, pastures, fallow land, which are not used for agricultural purposes. On the village estate there are also artificial lakes with rather large water mirrors. It shares borders with the villages of Știubeieni, Ciubara, Baraboi, Ochiul-Alb, Ramazan, Rîșcani and Vasileuți. Stone objects have been discovered in these places, which gives us grounds to say that people have lived here since the Stone Age.

Statues of the goddess of Fertility and Femininity have also been discovered in the village of Mihaileni, which indicates the period of the Cucuteni-Tripolian archaeological culture.

To put it in simpler language, this means a time span of over 5000 years BC, or 7000 to the present day. A similar statuette of this goddess is kept in a prestigious museum in Iași, discovered in the Cucuteni locality in Iași county. The Cucuteni-Tripolian culture is characterized by ceramic objects painted with geometric motifs, anthropo- and zoo- morphic clay figurines, some of stone and bone.

The oldest known settlements in the village of Mihaileni were six, but the most historically interesting ones are at Rusca and the Curcovo estate.

Following the historical chronology of these settlements, we can deduce that they came into being at the end of the 17th century. Legends and stories about the establishment and disappearance of these settlements have been handed down from father to son. 

At Rusca, accidentally, without organized archaeological research for scientific purposes, vestiges were discovered, which testify to the ancient human settlement: burnt brick, shards of clay pots, bones, etc. 

Another settlement of historical interest is the Curcovo Monastery. Unfortunately, none of the monastery buildings have survived. 

According to the oldest information on the establishment of the village of Mihăileni, the first inhabitant of this settlement was Ion Samson, who came from the area of Gălășeni. From there, he took his herds of several hundred sheep and settled with his entire family on the estate of the village of Mihăileni, which belonged at that time to the Moldavian ruler Ion Sturza. To this day, one of the village's slums bears the name "Gălășeni neighbourhood". 

Their descendants also bore the following surnames: Gălălășanu, Samson, Scutaru. Later on, the inhabitants of the Rîșcani area settled here in this hamlet. Later on there was the "Brânzeni neighbourhood" - with inhabitants coming from the village of Mărculesti, the "Mustețenilor neighbourhood" - with inhabitants from the villages of Musteața, Scăieni, Ghizdita as well as from Ciubara, the "Zăicăni neighbourhood" - with inhabitants from the villages of Zăicani and Șaptebani. 

Referring again to the historical sources on the founding of the village - it dates back to December 12, 1646 - a document that puts us in the theme that at that time, "inhabitants of the village of Mihaileni participated in a trial in Iași because of the boundaries of the estates. 

''As a now-settled locality we are also reminded of another authentic document. It is the ''Ghica Voda's Census'', in which the village of Mihăileni appears under another, earlier name - Sălcieni, which is approximately Mihăileni. 

From that census document we also learn that 92 households were registered in the village, and 12 households belonged to legionaries from the mountains, coming from the village of Burdujeni, Suceava county (today Mihăileni, Botoșani county). 

From across the Prut originate families like you can still find today in Mihăileni - Ursu, Eșanu, Ciocanu, Lupașcu. 

In 1837, now that Bessarabia had been annexed to Tsarist Russia according to the Peace of Bucharest, the administrative organization of the estate of the village of Mihaileni was made, establishing its boundaries. 

A couple of decades later, Squire Leondar took a more qualified census. At that time it was established that Mihăileni had 187 households and 1333 inhabitants. After 9 years in 1870, a second census was taken and it was established that the number of households had almost doubled - there were already 350, but it is not known why the number of inhabitants had increased considerably, as at that time 2261 inhabitants were registered. 

And there has also been a decrease in population numbers. In the 1910 census 637 households were registered in the village, in the 1923 census - 781 households, in 1910 there were 2663 inhabitants, and in 1923 the number had decreased - there were 2616 inhabitants. 

Another significant page in the history of the village is also the year 1870, when the Russian scientist Vasile Docuceaev, a renowned pedagogue, while researching the lands that were within the parameters of the Mihaileni estate, came to the conclusion that the soils of Moldavia were the most fertile he had ever known. 

The first scholar with higher education was Tudor Musteață. He was a member of the Russian State Duma, and participated in the events of 1917. According to documents, the first mayor of the village was Simion Spataru. 

The Church of the Mother of God in the village of Mihaileni was designed in 1876 by the deputy governor Piche and the architect R. Savițchi. The church is built in the shape of a cross: length - 29 meters; height - 22 meters, with tin roof, two metal crosses. The construction was administered by the Protopriest Ioan Pavel Barbu, the Malakian priest Nichifor Savițchi. In 1883 the church was consecrated and began its work. In 1900 it was in the Bălți county, Chisinau diocese. On April 3rd 1964 the church was closed. In 1986 a museum was opened inside the church. In 1988 the church "The protection of the Mother of God" in the village of Mihăileni was reopened.