Cheia Monastery, Romanian Orthodox monastery in Cheia, Romania.
Cheia Monastery is a monastic complex on the right bank of the Tâmpa brook, southeast of Cheia in Prahova County. Its brick Trinity church was built in 1835–1839 with help from local peasants and stonemasons, and its traditional murals were painted by Naum Zugravul, with four icons by Gheorghe Tattarescu.
A wooden skete stood here before 1700 by local tradition; a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas was raised in 1770 by shepherds from Săcele and destroyed in 1777, reportedly by the Ottoman Army. A wooden Dormition church followed in 1790. Monastic life was revived in 1835 under Bishop Chesarie Căpățână of Buzău, when hieromonks Damaschin and Iustin Bârsan came from Săcele and built the brick Trinity church with local peasants and stonemasons.
The monastery is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and its name refers to the Bratocea ridge of the Ciucaș Mountains, whose north-south alignment forms a "key" (cheie) for crossing between Wallachia and Transylvania. Four icons in the church were painted by Gheorghe Tattarescu, while the traditional murals were done by Naum Zugravul. In 1850, two monks from Cheia, Orest and Ipatie, established the first fully Romanian monastic cell on Mount Athos.
The monastery is accessible daily to visitors in the Cheia area of Prahova County, though it is wise to check local conditions before arrival. Parking is available, and visitors should dress respectfully to honor the sacred nature of the place.
The sources do not record Nicolae Popoviciu's death here; they state only that the communist regime banished this dissident prelate to Cheia in the 1950s. A more concrete overlooked fact: in 1850 two monks of the community, Orest and Ipatie, founded the first fully Romanian monastic cell on Mount Athos.
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