Orhei Vechi Monastery - Capriana Monastery - Hancu Monastery - Milesti Mici winery

Route: Chisinau - Orhei Vechi Monastery - Capriana Monastery - Hancu Monastery - Milesti Mici winery - Chisinau
Duration: 9 h
Our first stop of our tour will be at Orhei Vechi Monastery. Old Orhei contains traces of different civilizations, including the remnants of earthen and wooden fortresses of Geto-Dacian fortress (6th-1st centuries B.C.), the Golden Horde fort Shehr al-Jedid (or Yangi-Shehr) (14th century), a Moldavian fort dating from the 14th-16th centuries, an Orthodox monastery (c 14th century), and the Moldavian town of Orhei from the 14th-16th centuries. The Orthodox monastery is still inhabited by a handful of Orthodox monks, who maintain the church at the top of the hill. The caves are still functional as chapels. The caves contain an array of historical artifacts and Old Church Slavonic inscriptions dating from the 1690s, which testify that the Hajduk took shelter in the caves, hiding from the Ottoman Empire. Our next stop will be at Capriana Monastery. Capriana Monastery is one of the oldest in Moldova, located on a bank of the river Isnavat. The first official document to contain information about Capriana Monastery is Alexandru cel Bun's royal charter dated April 25, 1420. A royal legacy charter dated February 10, 1429 is the second document to mention the monastery. Initially, the monastery was named after Vasnavet, which is a river flowing near the monastery. Later it was renamed Capriana, in honor of Chiprian, who was the first Superior of the monastery. The Grigore Ureche (the chronicler) papers say that Petru Rares, the ruler of Moldova (1527–1538, 1541-1546) built Capriana’s first stone church, the Church of the Virgin's Assumption. Today, the monastery complex consists out of three churches: Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1545, medieval Moldovan style), St. Nicholas (1840), St. George (1907, late baroque style). The complex also includes the abbot's house, refectory, and monk's cells. The summer church, Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is the oldest one preserved on the territory of Moldova. Metropolitan G. Banulescu-Bodoni is buried here. The monastery also holds the biggest religious library in Moldova, preserved in the monastery along with gifts from different kings. Next stop will be at Hancu Monastery which was built in 1678 by the Great High Steward Mihail Hancu after one of his daughters expressed a desire for the religious life. In the middle of the 18th century, when the Tatars invaded, the nuns left the convent. After the Russian army arrived in Bessarabia under the command of Field Marshall Rumeantev in 1770-1772, the Hancu family successors asked the monk Varlaam from the Varzaresti Monastery to take care of the abandoned convent. Varlaam, together with a group of monks who came with him, took care of the household and repaired the cells, and in time the monastery became a living place for the monks. Our last stop on our tour will be Milesti Mici winery which is the world's largest and one of the most famous underground wine complex. Mileşti Mici is a titleholder in the Guinness World Records as the largest wine collection in the world. It is composed of 250 kilometers of subterranean galleries (only half of which are used) that reach as far as the edge of Chisinau. The collection holds over 1.5 million bottles of wine. After we will back to Chisinau.
Price: per person