One of the oldest monasteries in Moldova, Capriana rises in the very center of the Codri region. The first written mention of the complex was in a royal decree in 1429 under which King Alexandru cel Bun presented the monastery to his wife, Princess Marena.  Another symbol of the monastery’s royal pedigree is a tree known as King Stefan cel Mare’s Oak. The original monastery was built of wood. In later centuries, stone was used to create three churches – the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Sfintul Gheorghe and Sfintul Nicolae. During medieval times the Capriana Monastery was home to Moldova’s largest library. Gifts from royalty were part of the collection, which still exists today. Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni, the renowned metropolitan of Moldova, Kiev and Bessarabia, is buried on the monastery’s grounds.

• Distance from Chisinau: 40 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Condrita Monastery has some features of a fortress, such as walls 1 ½ meters – or five feet – thick. Visitors are amazed to discover that the paint on its ceilings is the original that workers applied in the 19th Century. The complex’s churches were built as the 29th Century was about to begin. The monastery has endured waves of political and military turmoil. One the worst periods was the Soviet era, when authorities destroyed much of the complex to transform it into a camp for young Communists. Legend has it that a number of strange, unexplained events have occurred at the monastery. One tale involves the Soviets putting up a building over graves in the cemetery. When it was demolished after the Soviet Union’s break-up, the story goes, graves that had been maligned during the building’s construction, mysteriously realigned themselves.

• Distance from Chisinau: 25 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The first Cosauti Monastery met an untimely end: An earthquake-triggered landslide wiped it out nearly two centuries ago, in the early 1800s. The Moldovan Orthodox Church reopened it in 1994, after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Although the landslide destroyed the monastery’s church, a small chapel with a lovely dome survived. Hidden in the forest surrounding the monastery is the Chalk Monastery, the quarters of a solitary monk known as Pintilie that were carved out of limestone. Near the Cosauti Monastery is the Soroca Fortress, one of Moldova’s best-preserved medieval stone fortifications.

• Distance from Chisinau: 170 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Curchi Monastery is an architectural gem that includes Moldova’s tallest church spire – 57 meters, or about 190 feet. Considered one of the country’s most beautiful monasteries, the three-century-old complex exudes an aura of peace and quiet. Several churches have been built at the Curchi Monastery over the years. The most impressive is the main house of worship, the Baroque-style Birth of Our Lady Church, inspired by the Church of St. Andrew in Kiev. The Soviets turned the monastery into a psychiatric hospital in 1959. A major fund-raising effort that began in 2005 has returned it to its original glory.

• Distance from Chisinau: 33 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The gleaming white and dark blues of the Frumoasa Monastery’s exterior remind some visitors of churches in Greece. The name Frumoasa comes from a spectacular meadow in the middle of the oak forest where the monastery is located. “Frumusica,” the word from which “Frumoasa” is derived, means beautiful. The Soviets converted the monastery from a religious sanctuary to a multi-use social-services complex. They used some buildings as an orphanage, others as a school for the deaf, and still others as a reform school for delinquent girls.

• Distance from Chisinau: 60 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for nuns

The Hancu Monastery is in a picturesque setting at the base of the Codri Ravine, next to springs where the Cogalnic River originates. A warrior and member of Moldova’s royalty, Mihai Hancu, built the monastery for his daughter, who wanted to become a nun rather than marry one of her father’s military allies. The monastery is a prime example of the Moldovan Architectural Style that flourished between the 14th and 19th Centuries. The complex’s two churches were built in later styles. In addition to the monastery’s lovely setting, visitors like its rich history, which includes tales of invading Tatars burning it to the ground and Russians vanquishing the Tatars, then restoring the structure.

• Distance from Chisinau: 55 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for nuns

The Hirbovat Monastery, which dates to the 17th Century, has had to be rebuilt several times from Turkish sacking and Soviet predation. Sadly, a lot of precious relics were lost when the Turks burned the monastery’s structures several tunes. But an important one survived every fire – the Mother of Our Lord painting. It is a venerated icon, with many people saying they were healed of illnesses after praying to it. The Soviets abetted the monastery’s destruction by transforming the complex into a school for disabled children. It was restored after Moldova became independent in the early 1990s. It has since reclaimed its status as one of the country’s most important spiritual centers.

• Distance from Chisinau: 52 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

Another religious pearl in the heart of Moldova is Hirjauca Monastery, built in 1740. In the beginning it consisted only of monks’ quarters and churches, but by the 19th Century it included an excellent library and school. The monastery was transformed into a spa during Soviet times – a move that reflected communism’s contempt for religion – but it became a religious complex again after the U.S.S.R. collapsed in the early 1990s. The woods surrounding the monastery are a relaxing place to recharge your batteries. Make sure you taste the water from the monastery’s Fantana Tineretii, or Fountain of Youth, which is said to have curative properties.

• Distance from Chisinau: 70 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Japca is the only monastery in Moldova that has functioned continuously as a religious sanctuary from its founding, even during Soviet times. Its setting is special because it is near the Hermitage on the Rock, an ancient cave church that offers a marvelous view of the Dniester River. Monks lived in the cave before building the monastery.  The Japca Monastery is one of Moldova’s oldest, dating from the 17th Century. Its most impressive piece of architecture is its uniquely designed Church of the Lord’s Ascension.

• Distance from Chisinau: 160 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for nuns

One of the joys of touring the Noul Neamt Monastery is that the monks love sharing their centuries-old crafts-making skills with visitors. The complex is an offshoot of the Neamt Monastery in Romania, so its spiritual traditions are a mixture of Romanian and Slavic. The Noul Neamt includes an array of features that make it more intriguing than most Moldovan monasteries. It boasts four churches, an impressive library and a museum. It also has workshops for creating sculpture and icons – paintings of Jesus and the saints. And it has a carpentry workshop. All are open to guests.

• Disanta de la Chisinau: 77 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Raciula Monastery, an hour from Chisinau, offers visitors an experience that few Moldovan religious enclaves do – a chance to live like a nun for a few days. So if you are looking for inner peace in a simple setting, consider staying in the soothing atmosphere of Raciula for awhile.
The monastery’s massive gates are always open. The 70 nuns live in a small cluster of old houses and gardens. The Raciula is one of four Moldovan monasteries built in the shape of a cross. The others are Frumoasa, Hirbovets and Hirjeuca.

• Distance from Chisinau: 45 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for nuns

The Saharna Monastery, which sits in a steep, wooded valley, is a magnet for religious pilgrims because of a legend about the Mother Mary. The story goes that centuries ago a monk saw a shining figure of Mary on the top of a cliff overlooking the monastery. When he reached the lookout point, she was gone, but he found a footprint of hers, according to the legend. The area around the monastery contains the Church of the Annuciation, which was carved into a rocky hillside. The annunciation was the Angel Gabriel’s disclosure to Mary that Jesus had returned from the dead. Also near the Saharna Monastery are 30 cascading streams and waterfalls, an Iron Age archaeological site and a Geto-Dacian fortress. The Geto-Dacians were an Eastern European tribe who fought Greek and Roman encroachment.

• Distance from Chisinau: 110 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

Tipova is Eastern Europe’s largest cave monastery and Moldova’s oldest religious sanctuary. Monks began carving it out of limestone before the medieval state of Moldova was formed. Located at a dizzying height, the complex has been transformed into an open-air museum of amazing beauty. Legend says this is where King Stefan cel Mare met his wife Maria Voichita and where the Greek poet Orpheus spent the last days of his life. Visitors can also explore hundreds of other caves around the monastery.

• Distance from Chisinau: 100 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Tiganesti Monastery near Chisinau was built in 1725 by a member of the Moldovan aristocracy, Lupu Dencu, and freed serfs. Tatars and other invaders destroyed it many times over the centuries, but it has risen from the ashes in every instance. A stark reminder of the battles waged on the monastery’s grounds are the graves of hundreds of Romanian, Russian and German soldiers lost in World War II. After the war, in 1945, Red Army soldiers arrived to close the monastery. The chief monk, Ioachim Burlea, was so hospitable, and the monks’ piety so touching, that the soldiers left without closing it. In 1960, Soviet authorities finally forced its closure, burning its books and relics except for a painting of Patelimon, a miraculous healer whom the Romans killed for being Christian. The same year, the Soviets converted the monastery into a psychiatric hospital.

• Distance from Chisinau: 30 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Varzaresti Monastery is steeped in history. It is Moldova’s oldest monastery, and its prayer altar the oldest in the Dniester River Valley, which runs through Moldova and neighboring Ukraine. One of the monastery’s treasures is its icon painting “The Miracles of the Virgin Mary.” Another is a small piece of wood reputed to be from Jesus’s cross. The monastery also contains 19th and 20th Century living quarters for nuns and the remains of several saints. Perched on a hill with a sweeping, idyllic view, the complex looks like a sentinel guarding the area’s tranquility.

• Distance from Chisinau: 70 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for nuns

The Veverita Monastery, built in the early 1900s, offers an interesting juxtaposition of architectural styles. The buildings on its left wing are Gothic and on its right wing Russian. The monks’ quarters are one of the largest you’ll see at a Moldovan monastery, and its church one the most stunning of any of the country’s religious sanctuaries.

• Distance from Chisinau: 70 km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks

The Zabriceni Monastery in northern Moldova is one of the few religious sanctuaries where visitors can hear Byzantine church music. It also has a modern side – a store where guests can buy organic food. The sanctuary was modeled after the Mount Athos monastery in Greece, which means that its Greek-rooted music fits. Prayers for monks begin at 4 a.m. and for other Christians at 8 a.m. Byzantine music accompanies the services. The Zabriceni Monastery is so proud of its organic vegetables and fruit that it obtained a European Union Certificate for Organic Agriculture. It sells these products in its BioCamara store.

• Distance from Chisinau: 220km
• Visiting hours: Monday – Sunday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Type: Monastery for monks