Day 11 (July 16, 2019): Marshrutka to Moldova's Top Sight

The goal today was to take in what is widely considered the top site in Moldova: the archaeological and religious complex at Orheiul Vechi, about 50km north of Chişinău.  Not only is the site historically important, the valley itself is a place of stark natural beauty.  The site occupies a remote, rocky ridge over the Răut River.  There are ruins going back more than 2000 years through the Mongol and Tatar invasions of the early Middle Ages and the time of Ştephen the Great.

The site is famous for its well-preserved cave monasteries. When Christians arrived, the caves were already cut in the rocks by prehistoric tribes who had lived in the area. The Christians used the existing caves but the expansion of monastic life in the later middle ages and frequent Crimean and Budjak Tatar raids forced the monks to go deeper into inaccessible cliffs.

We left the hotel at 8AM and walked to the suburban bus terminal, which is a sea of marshrutkas (a minivan that plies a specific route).  A man came up to us and asked if he could help - he arranged tickets for us and took us to our specific marshrutka, which we never would have found on our own.  A pure act of kindness, as he sought nothing in return.

It took just an hour to reach Orheiul Vechi, and then we started a long walk along the ridge to reach the monastery and continued to walk much of the ridge beyond the monastery.  The view of the valley was exceptional, as you can see from our first photo below.

At noon, we took another marshrutka back to Chisinau, visited the Eternal Memorial Complex, ate lunch, and then crashed at the hotel for a much-needed rest, before heading out for a walk and dinner.

It's difficult to believe our last day in Moldova lies ahead of us tomorrow!


The view of the Orheiul Vechi Monastery, which is shown at the top of the ridge.


The Răut River running through the valley.

An Orthodox graveyard near the Monastery.


The Monastery's bell tower.


The Orthodox monastery is inhabited by a handful of Orthodox monks, who maintain the church, which is dedicated to the Ascension of Mary.  Built in 1905 and recently restored, it was shut down by the Soviets in 1944 and remained abandoned throughout the communist regime.


The Monastery gardens.  The most perfect grass I've ever seen!


The caves are still functional as chapels. They 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.



The view of the valley from atop the ridge at Orheiul Vechi.

Once back in Chisinau, we navigated the trolley bus network to find the Eternal Victory Complex, a large commemorative park built in 1975, featuring Soviet brutalist design to commemorate the Soviet victory in WW2.


The central part of the memorial is a pyramid of five 25-meter tall stone rifles. A five-pointed star with an eternal flame lies in the center of the monument.


The large panels around the park depict the heroism of those who died fighting Nazism.


This monument in the park surprised us - to see a cross in a Soviet-designed commemorative space is simply rare.  It must have been added after the fall of communism.


Rows of military graves are found at one end of the park, most of them showing 1945 as the year of death.


In the second half of the 1960s, the Soviet Union allocated funds for the construction of a circus school and performance space. It took the architects three years to create the design (from 1965 to 1968), but the construction only began in 1978. The Chisinau circus was recognized as the most beautiful and comfortable circus building in the USSR.  (And several Soviet cities had them, including Minsk.)  After the fall of the USSR, the number of performances in the circus decreased. In 2004 it was closed for renovations for an indefinite period.  In 2008 the government signed a 29-year contract with a Cypriot company to finance the renovation and technical maintenance of the circus, but the renovation remains incomplete.


Lunch today was at an Moldovan institution:  Andy's Pizza!  There are Andy's Pizza locations all over Moldova, so not trying it would be like going to Canada and not having a Tim's.  We were not disappointed, by the way.


While more and more North American towns and cities have markets, nothing compares to the markets of Eastern Europe.  Their sheer size is mind-boggling, and they are truly the heartbeat of the typical Eastern European city.  The often have separate buildings for each of meat, fish and cheese.


We saw this in the fish market building and figured it was an attempt at English.  However, as it turns out, "carp" in English is spelled "crap" in Romanian!  We had fun chatting with the two women behind the "crap" counter and bought them ice cream.


The market extends well beyond the formal market space, with individuals selling their garden produce on the sidewalk, from the trunks of their cars, etc.  Notice the amazing black berries, plums, apricots, etc.


After a late afternoon snooze back at the hotel, we set out to explore Str. Eugen Doga, the pedestrian street in Chisinau, and ended up having dinner at Robin Pub along the street, as recommended by Lonely Planet.


We find that the former Soviet countries all have endless numbers of monuments celebrating heroes and special efforts.  This one, for example, on the pedestrian street, celebrates the Olympic athletes of Moldova.


Yesterday's blog showed an innovative approach to public bulletin boards in Chisinau.  Here's another brilliant idea:  a solar-powered "tree" on the pedestrian street, where you can rest and plug in your cell phone!


Chisinau may not be the most tourist-friendly city going, but I have to commend it for its signage of key sights, each with its own bar-code that will show you the sight's exact location on Google Maps, using your phone.


And to show that Moldovans do have a sense of humour, this decal appears on public waste stations, advising people to pick up after their pets.