Underground, north of Chișinău, lies one of Europe's most unexpected wonders: Cricova, an entire city made of wine. That's not a metaphor. The Cricova winery spans more than 120 kilometres of galleries carved into the limestone, tens of metres deep, with streets that have names —Cabernet, Pinot, Feteasca— and that you travel along by car or on a small electric train. It's one of the largest underground wineries in the world and one of Moldova's great sources of pride, a country that is one of the planet's wine powerhouses.
Going down into Cricova is a one-of-a-kind experience: endless tunnels at a constant 12-14 degrees, stone walls, bottles stacked by the million, lavish tasting rooms carved into the rock and a historic collection that includes extremely rare wines, some of them decades old. The winery even holds a famous 'collection' of bottles of huge historical value, and it has welcomed heads of state and celebrities. Everything is visited with a guide and ends, of course, with a tasting of the sparkling wines Cricova makes using the traditional method, its speciality.
This practical guide tells you how to visit Cricova: the different packages and prices, how to book, how to get there from Chișinău by bus, taxi or tour, what to expect from the underground tour and a few tips (starting with the most important one: don't drive if you're going to taste). Along with Mileștii Mici, it's Moldova's must-do visit and the best way to understand why wine lies at the heart of this country's identity.
The history of the Cricova winery is tied to the limestone quarried for centuries from beneath the area to build Chișinău and other cities. As the rock was dug out, huge underground galleries took shape which, thanks to their natural temperature and humidity, turned out to be ideal for storing and making wine. In the mid-20th century, in Soviet times, these cavities were turned into a large state winery: the 'Combinatul de Vinuri Cricova' was founded in 1952, and from 1954 it began using the tunnels to produce and age wines, especially sparkling wines made by the traditional method (champenoise). Over time, Cricova grew into one of the largest wineries in the world, with more than 120 km of galleries, and into an emblem of Soviet and later Moldovan wine. Its cellars hold historic collections of great value, including extremely old bottles and legendary wines gathered over decades; tradition has it that part of a wine collection linked to the Second World War was kept there. Cricova has welcomed many leaders and public figures, and today it is part of Moldova's National Heritage and one of the country's main tourist attractions. The full story is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓Underground, Moldova hides the largest wine cellar labyrinths in the world: hundreds of kilometres of tunnels where millions of bottles are stored and tasted.
Read the history of The wine cellars →A local guide tells you in half an hour what no sign at the site will ever explain. We look ours up on Civitatis: guided in Spanish and booked online with no fuss. There are not many in Chisinau, but the ones there are worth it. And there are free tours here: you book without paying and tip the guide whatever you think at the end, so trying one costs you nothing. Tap the cards below and have a look.
They depart from Chisinau, 13 km away. If you book from this link we earn a commission and you pay no more.
No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Cricova's story doesn't begin with wine, but with stone. For centuries, the ground beneath this area north of Chișinău was worked as a quarry: the limestone used to build Chișinău and other towns in Bessarabia was cut from here. As the quarrymen hauled out blocks of rock, they left behind a void that grew year after year: kilometre upon kilometre of galleries and chambers dug deep into the earth.
Over time, someone noticed that these cavities had a remarkable quality. Tens of metres below the surface, the temperature stayed steady at around 12-14 degrees all year round, with high, stable humidity. Without anyone planning it, these were ideal conditions for storing and ageing wine: cool, dark, quiet, and free from the swings of the weather outside. What had been nothing more than a hole left by stone extraction hid enormous winemaking potential.
That combination (a huge network of tunnels already dug and a microclimate perfect for wine) is where it all began. Moldova also had a very long winemaking tradition, the legacy of centuries of growing vines on its gentle hills. All that was missing was to bring the two together: the wine from above ground and the galleries below. That would happen in the mid-20th century, giving rise to one of the most astonishing wineries on the planet.
The winery as we know it was born in the middle of the Soviet era. In 1952 the Cricova Wine Combine (Combinatul de Vinuri Cricova) was founded, and from 1954 the old quarry galleries began to be turned into a large state winery devoted to producing and ageing wine. It was an ambitious project, in keeping with the monumental scale typical of many Soviet enterprises.
The tunnels were fitted out, organised and put to work for wine. From the start, Cricova specialised in sparkling wines made by the traditional or champenoise method (the same one used for French champagne), in which the second fermentation takes place inside the bottle and the bottles then mature for years in the cellars. This prestige product made Cricova one of the most highly regarded wineries in the Soviet world, and its sparkling wines reached tables right across the Eastern Bloc.
Over the decades, the winery kept growing, extending its galleries to more than 120 kilometres and organising them like a real underground city, with 'streets' named after wines and grape varieties: Cabernet, Pinot, Feteasca. Cricova thus became an emblem of Moldovan wine tourism and winemaking, a colossal undertaking that brought together the legacy of the quarries, the country's wine tradition and Soviet industry's taste for the gigantic.
Beyond its production, Cricova became famous for its collectors' wine library, one of the most important in the world. Deep inside the galleries, over the decades the winery gathered hundreds of thousands of bottles of rare, old and highly valuable wines from different countries and eras, kept in the perfect conditions the cellars provide.
Among these treasures, the winery's tradition mentions truly exceptional and very old bottles, genuine winemaking relics. One of the most widely told stories says that Cricova looked after part of a wine collection linked to the Second World War, bottles of great historical value that are said to have ended up stored in its depths. Whatever the exact details of each story, these treasure galleries make the winery a heritage site for both wine and history.
With prestige came distinguished visitors too. Over the years, Cricova has welcomed many heads of state, politicians, diplomats and celebrities, entertained in its lavish tasting rooms carved into the rock. The winery gradually took on an aura of a unique and somewhat mythical place, somewhere wine, history and power met underground. That prestige, built up during the Soviet period, would survive the fall of the USSR.
Moldova's independence in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, opened a difficult chapter for the whole country, and for its wine industry too. The loss of the guaranteed markets of the Soviet bloc, the economic crises of the 1990s and, later, trade tensions with Russia (which at various times imposed embargoes on Moldovan wines) hit the sector hard, and a large part of the national economy depends on it.
Cricova, however, managed to hold on to its place as one of the country's jewels. The winery kept producing its sparkling and still wines, preserved and expanded its collection, and increasingly turned to tourism as a source of income and international visibility. Welcoming visitors from all over the world, showing them the galleries and tasting rooms, and selling them the house wine became an essential part of its business, helping to make Moldovan wine known beyond the country's borders.
The Moldovan state recognised the winery's exceptional value by declaring it heritage of national importance. Cricova became one of the country's calling cards, a place Moldova is proud of and that features prominently in all its tourism promotion. In a small, little-known country, the 'underground city of wine' became a recognisable symbol and a driving force behind the young international tourism industry.
Today, Cricova is, together with Mileștii Mici, Moldova's must-see visit and one of the country's great icons. Its more than 120 kilometres of galleries 60-80 metres underground, its 'streets' named after wines, its tasting rooms carved into the rock and its legendary collection draw travellers from all over the world, curious to discover one of the largest and most spectacular wineries on the planet.
The visit, always guided and booked in advance, lets you tour the tunnels by electric train or by car, learn how the sparkling wines are made by the traditional method, admire the bottles in the collection and finish with a tasting in the famous underground halls. Different packages, from the basic 'Underground City' to the premium experiences, suit different budgets and interests, and the winery shop lets you take home a liquid souvenir at cellar-door prices.
Beyond the tourist anecdote, Cricova embodies something deep about Moldova: its status as a major wine power, with wine woven into national identity, the economy and everyday life. Going down into its galleries means understanding why this small, little-known country takes its wine so seriously, and why wine tourism is its strongest card for drawing in the world. In the cool half-light of its tunnels, with millions of bottles quietly maturing, Cricova tells the story of a land where wine is not an occasional luxury, but a way of life.
