Vatra, Moldova
Vatra is a town in Chișinău municipality, Moldova, located about 6 km north‑west of the capital and covering roughly 8 km². It gained city status in the early 1990s.
Economy and Infrastructure
Vatra has a kindergarten, a high school with Romanian and Russian instruction, a local clinic, and several enterprises including the Vatra stone quarry, marble processing, and alcoholic beverage production. The town is crossed by the national R1 road, which connects Chișinău to the country’s western districts. North of the Vatra railway station lies the protected 'Cazacu' Quarry area.During the Soviet era, a bus line linked the town to the capital, and plans were made for a metro connecting Chișinău International Airport with Vatra. The town celebrates its patronal feast on October 14, like Chișinău, and offers recreational areas along the artificial Ghidighici Reservoir, created on the Bâc River floodplain in the 1960s–1970s.