Sihăstria Monastery
 
 
 
Continuing our itinerary, only 3 km away, we come across one of the most blessed hermitages of the area, where the hermits secluded here from the Neamţ and Secu monasteries spent their life in humbleness and prayer, seeking peace and solitude.
Later on, the bishop Ghedeon of Huşi commissioned a hermitage in 1655, which was rebuilt between 1824 and 1826, of river stones and bricks owing to the efforts of Veniamin Costache, the Metropolitan Bishop. The then newly built church, dedicated to The Virgin’s Birth, was built in the classical …

 
Secu Monastery
 
 
 
The beginnings of the old monastic settlement in the commune of Vânători-Neamţ are connected to the hermitage Zosima the hermit settled here in 1530. The small church of the hermitage was commissioned by Prince Petru Rareş (1527-1546), on the site of the current church in the monastery graveyard. Then, Nestor Ureche, the high “vornic” [Minister of Internal Affairs] and father of the chronicler Grigore Ureche, commissioned a new church, in 1602, dedicated to St John’s the Baptist Beheading, and part of the households implements necessary to the monastic community.
The …

Vânători-Neamţ Nature Park
 
Stretching on a surface of 30,818 hectares, of which 26,300-hectare forestry fund, the park encompasses remarkable cultural and historical values partly highlighted on our way. Three natural reserves, shrouded in legend and natural charm, welcome the visitors: “Codrii de aramă” (common oaks), “Pădurea de Argint” (white birches), and “Dumbrava” Oak Reserve, which contains secular oaks, between 150 and 200 years old, the only oaks grown in Romania at an altitude of 450 m.
“Dragoş Vodă” Bisons and Carpathian Fauna Reserve
Once an iconic component of the Carpathian wildlife, the bison …

 
Neamţ Monastery
 
 
 
In the commune Vânători-Neamţ, 15 km north-west from Târgu-Neamţ, the visitors may find the oldest and most important monastic establishment in Moldova. Over the centuries, its founding fathers were the voivodes Petru I Muşat (1375-1391), Alexandru cel Bun (1400-1432), and Ştefan cel Mare (1457-1504), the last having commissioned here the most beautiful of the churches built during his reign, when visitors can admire the miracle-making Virgin Mary icon, painted in 665 in Israel [???].
Within the large and strongly fortified precinct of the monastery, there are two churches (The Ascension …

Neamţ Fortress

 
A watchtower over River Neamţ valley, built under the rule of Petru I Muşat, the voivode whose main interest was to resist the Ottoman invasions. During the first stage of the fortress, a central fort was built protected by 12m-high and 2-3m-thickwalls. There was also a fountain in the centre of the premises. Later on, Stephen the Great extended and consolidated the entire fortification by adding a new belt of walls and four semi-circular defence tours. He also commissioned the increase of the wall height, the defence moat, the …

The beginnings of the museum date back to 1940, when the first exhibition organised displayed artefacts unearthed during the archaeological research at Neamţ Fortress. The museum itself was set up in 1957, within the ceremonies celebrating 500 years from the ascent of Ştefan cel Mare to the Moldavian throne. The current venue, housing the museum since 1978, is the building where the well-known Princely School (built in 1853) was opened. Among others, Ion Creangă and the future-to-be great philosopher Vasile Conta, born in Grumăzeşti, close to Humuleşti, went to this …