Chișinău has a recorded history that goes back to 1436. Since then, it has grown to become a significant political and cultural capital of South East Europe. In 1918 Chișinău became the capital of an independent state, the Moldavian Democratic Republic, and has been the capital of Moldova since 1991. Foundation of the town Founded in 1436 as a monastery village, the city was part of the Moldavian Principality. Chișinău was mentioned for the first time in 1436, when Moldavian princes Ilie and Ştefan gave several villages with the common name Cheseni near the Akbash well to one feudal lord Oancea for his good service. That year, Stephen III of Moldavia signed the donation to his uncle Vlaicu, who became the owner of the village Chișinău near the well Albișoara. The second documentary attestation (this time about the village Chișinău) dates with the chronicles from 1466. Over the next centuries Chişinău's population steadily grows and at the beginning of the 19th century it had 7,000 inhabitants. Măzărache Church is considered to be the oldest Chișinău, erected by Vasile Măzărache in 1752. It is a monument built according to the typical indigenous medieval Moldavian architecture of the 15-16th centuries; the church was built on the place on a fortress destroyed by the Ottomans in the 17th century. The stone block marking the location of the water spring that gave name to Chișinău is set at the foot of the hill upon which stands Măzărache Church. The name of the spring - "chisla noua" - is believed to be the archaic Romanian for "new spring". During the Russo-Turkish Wars Chișinău was twice set on fire, in 1739 and 1788. Built by the boyar Constantin Râşcanu in 1777, Râşcani Church stands top of the hill overlooking the Bâc River. At the time it was built, the Bâc River was navigable and formed a large reservoir in front of the church. There is a graveyard near the church in which some famous Moldavian personalities are buried. In 1812 Chișinău came under Russian imperial administration. Having got an official status of town in 1818, Chişinău became a centre of the Bessarabian district and since 1873 the centre of the Bessarabian province. If from 1812 till 1818 the Chişinău population had increased from 7 up to 18 thousand people, by the end of the 19th century it had grown up to 110,000. The growth of population