was due to the immigrants from Russian Empire. In 1856, Chişinău was the Russian Empire's fifth biggest city, after Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, and Riga. The mayor of Chişinău office was established in 1817 as City Duma and its first mayors there were the captain Anghel Nour (1817–1821). Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni was Metropolitan of Chişinău between 1812 and 1821. The Ştefan cel Mare Central Park was originally laid out in 1818. Industrial age By 1834, an imperial townscape with broad and long roads had emerged as a result of a generous development plan, which divided the city roughly into two areas: The old part of the town – with its irregular building structures – and a newer City Center and station. Between 26 May 1830 and 13 October 1836 the architect Avraam Melnikov established the 'Catedrala Naşterea Domnului'. In 1840 the building of the Triumphal Arch, planned by the architect Luca Zaushkevich, was completed. Since 1983 the National History Museum of Moldova has housed in a building erected in 1837. Initially the building was the headquarters of the City Duma, but in 1842 it became the Gymnasium (High School) for Boys No. 1 in Chişinău. On August 28, 1871, Chişinău was linked by rail with Tiraspol and in 1873 with Corneşti. Chişinău-Ungheni-Iaşi railway was opened on June 1, 1875, in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The town played an important part in the war between Russia and Ottoman Empire, as the main staging area of the Russian invasion. One of the most known mayors of Chişinău was Carol Schmidt, who led the city between 1877 and 1903. Alexander Bernardazzi was an important architect who built St. Teodora de la Sihla Church (1895) and Chişinău City Hall (1901). A statue of Pushkin, who used to stroll the Ştefan cel Mare Central Park grounds in the early 1820s, was designed by Alexander Opekushin and erected in 1885, making Chişinău the second city after Moscow to have a Pushkin monument. Originally funded by the Chişinău inhabitants, it is the oldest surviving monument in the city. Pogrom and pre-revolution In the late 19th century, especially due to growing anti-Semitic sentiment in the Russian Empire and better economic conditions, many Jews chose to settle in Chişinău. Its population had grown to 92,000 by 1862 and to 125,787 by 1900. By the year 1900, 43% of the population of Chişinău was Jewish – one of the