The Chisinau City Museum is located in the historic center of the capital, on 60 A. Mateevici str. It is a monument of history and architecture of national category, with no. 195 in the Register of Monuments of the Republic of Moldova, protected by the state. It is known as the Water Tower, where the main exhibition activity takes place, where the offices of the administration and the museum's workers are also located.
        The museum, of local category, is on the balance of the City Hall, subordinated to the Culture Directorate of the Chișinău Municipal Council. The museum heritage consists of approximately 26 thousand storage units (objects), of which 1075 units are exhibited in the permanent exhibition. The rest of the objects are kept in the Museum Archive, located at 68 Bucharest str., in the building of the Culture Directorate of Chișinău City Hall.
        The museum is known as the Water Tower, because the drinking water supply institution of the city was based here in the beginning. The building of the tower dates back to the end of the 19th century, as a component of the city aqueduct, located on the highest point of the city at that time. Along with the construction of the aqueduct, the first sewage network in Chișinău appeared, designed during the administration of Mayor Carol Schmidt. The system supplied water to the central area of the city and had a capacity of 200 thousand buckets of water per day. From 1892 until 1940, the building served as a water tower, as long as the aqueduct worked, and from 1940 it was used as a fire tower, with the fire department located next to it. The height of the tower, up to the cornice, is 27 m. Inside the tower, the metal staircase, in the shape of a spiral, manufactured at the „Ștefan Sârbu-Serbov” Ironworks, has been preserved. The walls were built from limestone, from the Dniester River, and have a thickness of 2 m at the base and 0.60 m - at the top level, the total area constituting about 240 square meters.
        There was a time when the building was handed over to the Chișinău State University, being used as an observatory.
        In 1979, by the Decision of the Council of the City Executive Committee, an idea primarily supported by the vice-president Elena Apostol, it was decided to open an urban museum. However, the idea took shape only in 1985. Inside the tower, the spiral staircase was maintained, and a modern innovation was the elevator, installed in 1985. The building was damaged during the earthquakes of 1977 and 1990, and for this reason, construction was abandoned for a while. In 2000, the museum reopened, but two years later it was closed again for renovation. Since 2013, after major repairs, the edifice has been open to visitors.
        Currently, the Chisinau City Museum hosts the permanent exhibition „History of the city”, whose exhibits date from the 15th century until 20th century. Also, on the top level, in the Panoramic Hall of the building, exhibitions of paintings, photographs, openings, concerts, etc. are organized.