Orhei is approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital, Chișinău.

[4] It was the Ottoman-occupied military center of northern Bessarabia until it was ceded to the Russian Empire in 1812.

[citation needed] The word "orhei" was used by local population, meaning "strengthened hill, fortress, deserted courtyard".

[5] The name "Orhei" is, derived from the Hungarian word Őrhely or Várhely, the earlier meaning "lookout post", dating from the 13th century, when Hungarian forces built a series of defences in the area.

[6] Orhei gets its name from Orheiul Vechi, an active monastery near the village of Ivancea.

In 1941, Romania recaptured the town, however, it was re-occupied by the USSR on 6 April 1944, during the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, and was rebuilt after the war.

[14] Orhei was home to many Jews prior to World War II, and has a large Jewish cemetery.