2-day pilgrimage to Neamt Monasteries

PROGRAM

DAY 1

• Departure from Chisinau at 02:00.
• In the morning we will arrive at the Neamt Monastery, where we will attend the Holy Mass, after which we will have lunch. Here we will worship the relics of St. Paisie Velicikovski, the unknown St. of Neamt, the head of St. Simeon of the Wonderful Mountain and the miracle-working Icon of Our Lady with the Child of Neamt.
• After the monastery of Neamt, you will visit the Vovidenia Hermitage and the Museum dedicated to the writer Mihail Sadoveanu.
• After that we will go to Secu Monastery, where we will worship at the monastery's shrines.
• After visiting Secu Monastery we will move to Sihăstria Monastery: participation in the evening mass, accommodation and meal.

DAY 2

• Sihăstria Monastery: Participation in the Holy Mass and lunch after the end of Mass.
• After the Holy Mass at the Monastery of Sihăstria we will go to Sihla Monastery. Here we will worship at the sanctuaries of the monastery and then we will visit the Cave of the Virgin Theodora at Sihla.
• Next we will visit Agapia Monastery, a monastery painted by the great painter Nicolae Grigorescu, and worship at the reliquary with relics of several saints and the Icon of Our Lady.
• After the Agapia monastery we will visit the Văratec monastery, where we will worship the relics of Saints Joseph and George the Pilgrim and the miracle-working icon of Saint Anne.
• Departure to Chisinau

DAY 3

• Arrival in Chisinau at approximately 01:00-05:00

DETAILS OF THE TOUR


Place of Departure & Return

33 Circus Street (Circus of Chisinau)


Departure Time

• 02:00

Price Includes

• Tour-return transport
• Theologian guide
• Visit of the monasteries indicated in the program
• Accommodation 1 night at the Monastery (4-6-8 persons in a room)

Price does not include

• Personal expenses

DESCRIBE

Neamt Monastery

12 km north-west of the famous Neamț Fortress, in a wide open plain on the valley of the Nemțișor river, surrounded on almost all sides by wooded hills, lies the Neamț Monastery, the "Jerusalem of Romanian Orthodoxy". It is the largest and oldest monastic settlement in Moldavia and has been declared a historical monument. The monastery is documented since 1407, but the roots of monastic activity go back to the 12th century. The foundation of the monastery is attributed to the voivode Peter I Musat (1375-1391), who built here the first stone church, which has now disappeared. On the site of the monastery, however, there was an even older wooden church called the White Church, built by monks a century earlier. The present church in the monastery was built by the prince Stephen the Great at the end of the 15th century and is dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. In the monastery there are two churches, two paraclises, a bell tower with 11 bells, the Theological Seminary "Veniamin Costache", as well as a museum with a collection of church art and a printing room. Specific is the circular baptismal font in front of the monastery, where water is consecrated at the feast. In the church there is an icon of Our Lady painted in 665 in Israel, a miracle worker. The monastery has the largest and oldest monastery library (18,000 volumes) and has made a special contribution to the development of Romanian medieval culture and art. Stephen the Great's uncle Stephen the Great is buried in the tomb chamber, and in the pronaos are the relics of the unknown saint discovered in 1986 by removing asphalt from the alley.

Vovidenia Hermitage

The Vovidenia Hermitage dates back to the 17th century, having been re-created by Bishop Ioanichie of Roman on the site of the old hermitage called "Slătiorul" or "Spirea", dedicated to "Saint Hierarch Spiridon". Here lived monks who loved peace and quiet from the Neamt Monastery, and it was also here that Ioanichie spent his years of apprenticeship before becoming bishop, which happened in 1747. Not leaving the place of his novitiate, Bishop Ioanichie built a wooden church here in 1749, dedicated to the "Entrance into the Church of Our Lady", or popularly "Vovidenia". Here we will visit the house of Metropolitan Visarion Puiu of Bucovina, which now houses a museum dedicated to the writer Mihail Sadoveanu (1947-1961), a friend of the Metropolitan, who used it as a creative house between 1947 and 1961.

Secu Monastery

Secu Monastery is more than 500 years old, being one of the oldest monastic settlements in Neamt. Here you will worship the miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Cyprian and the ark in which a fragment of the foot of St. John the Baptist was preserved, parts of St. Arch. Stephen, St. Ap. St. Andrew, St. Panteleimon, St. Haralamby and St. John Chrysostom, the relics of St. Varlaam, as well as the tomb of St. John of Rasca and Secu.

Sihăstria Monastery

Sihăstria Monastery was founded in 1655 by Bishop Ghedeon of Huși, on the place called Atanasie's glade. The cemetery of the monastery became a place of pilgrimage, because here are the tombs of Father Cleopa and Father Paisie Olaru, some of the great confessors of Moldavia. In this monastery we will have the opportunity to worship the relics of 30 saints and a small piece of the wood of the Holy Cross.

Sihla Monastery

Sihla Monastery (or Sihla Hermitage) is an Orthodox monastery from the 17th century. The monastery (or Sihla Monastery) is an 18th-19th century Orthodox monastery situated at an altitude of 1000 m in a rocky area of the Sihla Obcinei in the Stânișoarei Mountains, on the forest road that connects the village of Agapia with the monasteries of Sihăstria and Secu. Near the monastery is the cave where, in the 17th century, lived the Virgin Theodora, daughter of Joldea Armașu of the Neamț Fortress, who would be known in the Orthodox world as Saint Theodora of Sihla. The ensemble consists of the wooden church "Nativity of St. John the Baptist" and the wooden church "Transfiguration".

Agapia Monastery

Agapia Monastery is located in the valley of the Agapia-Topolița stream, at the foot of the Măgura hill, 9 km from the town of Târgu Neamț and 3 km from the village of Agapia. Set in the middle of a forest, it is one of the largest monasteries of nuns in Romania. The monastery was founded in the 17th century by the Hatter Gavriil and is known for the painting by Nicolae Grigorescu in 1858. The monastic community currently numbers over 500 monks, making it the largest in Europe. The "Alexandru Vlahuță" Memorial House, the tomb of Father Nicodim Măndiță, the museum, the carpet workshop and a hike to the Agapia Veche Hermitage make Agapia one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Neamt.

Văratec Monastery

Văratec Monastery, the 18th-century foundation of Mother Olimpiada, has about 500 nuns. The monastery museum exhibits icons, manuscripts and valuable tapestries. Here is the tomb of Veronica Micle.