We are a Grand Lodge constituted by The Grande Lodge of Italy at the end of the 1990s. 

Although the Grand Lodge of Moldova is considered relatively young, we emphasize that Freemasonry in this territory has centuries-long roots. The 18th century, when the formal birth of modern Freemasonry is recorded with the creation in London in 1717 of the United Grand Lodge of England, is also the period in which the first Masonic lodges appeared in historic Moldova.  

With the contribution of the Italian Anton Maria del Chiaro, in 1734 the “Loggia di Galazzi” was formed, and a year later, in 1735 in Iaşi the “Loja Moldova” was founded, whose Worshipful Master would have been the ruler Constantin Mavrocordat. The founders were Italians and Frenchmen, and within those workshops Moldovans gradually were initiated, belonging to the great boyar families of the time.  

In Eastern Moldova (Bessarabia), which in 1812 was annexed by the Russian Empire, on 7 July 1821 in Chișinău the lodge “Ovidiu-025” began its activity under the jurisdiction of the Lodge “Astrea” in St. Petersburg, with Worshipful Master General Pavel Pushkin. From this lodge was the celebrated Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, and also Decembrist revolutionaries who rebelled against the tsarist regime under the Masonic motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”. However, the “Ovidiu-025” lodge, as did the entire Freemasonry in Russia, ceased to exist after the decree of Tsar Alexander I of Russia banning Masonic lodges and all secret societies, and Masons in the Russian Empire began to be persecuted. 

Freemasonry, on the territory between the Prut and the Dniester, experienced different periods: some of flourishing, others of decline.

The revival of the Masonic movement in Bessarabia occurred in the interwar period, starting in 1920 when in Chișinău the lodge “Fraternitate” was established, followed by several other lodges, all under the jurisdiction of the Grand National Lodge of Romania. The rule of kings Ferdinand I of Romania (1914-1927) and Michael I of Romania (1927-1930), who generally held a neutral attitude towards Masons, contributed to the flourishing of Freemasonry during this period. However, in 1937 King Carol II of Romania ordered the cessation of Masonic activity in Greater Romania, beginning a grim period when historical vicissitudes led Masons to halt their working. The 1940s were tragic for Moldovan Freemasonry. The Communist regime that settled after the Second World War on our territory caused Masonic activity to cease. The Communists could not tolerate an organization not under their control and Freemasonry was abolished. After the occupation of Bessarabia by the Soviet Army, local Masons were repressed. Some were arrested and sent to concentration camps; others managed to emigrate abroad and continue Masonic activity there.  

The Masonic light on our territory was rekindled through the consecration on 07 June 1997 of the lodge “Alianța-001”. Fate decreed that the lights be rekindled by Italian brothers. In the period 1997-1998 brothers from the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge Regular of Italy consecrated in the Republic of Moldova several Masonic lodges — “Alianța-001”, “Milennium-002”, “Renaștere-003”, “Steaua de Sud-004”, “Unire-005”, forming the District Lodge Moldovan of the Grand Lodge of Italy, led by District Grand Master Anatolie Coman. On the basis of these lodges, in a solemn ceremony led by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Italy, Giuliano di Bernardo, in the presence of guests — Masons from Italy, England, France etc. — the Grand Lodge of Moldova was consecrated as a sovereign national obedience. The Grand Lodge of Moldova initially received the Constitution and Regulations of the Grand Lodge Regular of Italy, which themselves are based on those of the United Grand Lodge of England, and later adopted its own Constitution and Regulations.  

On 15 February 1998, in Odessa, Masons from the Republic of Moldova together with those from the Grand Lodge of Italy participated in the consecration of the first Masonic lodge in Ukraine.

On 9 June 2007, the reopening and consecration of the lodge “Ovidius-025”, which had operated in 1821-1822, took place. In the same time, the ceremony of twinning with the French Lodge “Fraternité Universelle No. 468” from Bordeaux under the jurisdiction of the Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF) was held.

Currently, 19 Lodges are registered with the Grand Lodge of Moldova.  

On 11 June 2005, during the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Moldova, in the presence of representatives of several regular Grand Lodges abroad, the solemn installation of the new Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Moldova, Iurie SEDLEȚCHI, took place.

On 07 December 2024, during the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Moldova, after his election, the solemn installation of the current Grand Master, Aurel BĂIEȘU, took place in the presence of delegations from several Grand Lodges in amity.