Căpriana monastery

Căpriana is an Orthodox monastery 40 kilometers northwest of Chișinău within the wooded hills of the former Codrii Lăpușnei region. The complex includes several stone buildings, among them the sixteenth-century Assumption Church and the larger nineteenth-century Saint George Church, both whitewashed and enclosed by monastery walls.

Alexander I of Moldavia founded the complex in 1429 as a princely monastery and endowed it with surrounding villages and mills. Over the centuries the site was destroyed and rebuilt several times, including after a fire in 1962 during Soviet rule.

The monastery church holds the relics of Gavriil Banulescu-Bodoni, who served as metropolitan in Chișinău during the early 1800s. Pilgrims light candles before his icon and pray for his intercession, especially on his feast day in October.

Religious services take place regularly and visitors are welcome daily, with guided tours offered in Romanian, Russian, and English. Access is by road from Căpriana, and sturdy shoes are advisable in wet weather as parts of the grounds are unpaved.

An embroidered epitrachelion from around 1427 to 1431 depicts the earliest known portraits of Alexander I and his wife Marena. This liturgical vestment was likely created for the dedication of the first church and is considered a rare example of princely portraiture in late medieval Moldavia.