National Museum of Fine Arts in Chișinău

You're standing at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Moldova, the country's main art museum. Take a good look at the building in front of you. It was designed by architect Alexander Bernardazzi, and today it's a listed monument in its own right. But it didn't start life as a museum. This used to be a school for girls, known as Dadiani's girls' gymnasium. Where paintings hang now, pupils once sat at their desks.