Mănăstirea Sihăstria

Sihăstria Monastery is one of the best-known and most beloved monasteries in Moldavia, set in a secluded, peaceful clearing in the wooded massif of the mountains near the town of Piatra Neamț, in the famous land of the Neamț monasteries. The settlement, with origins reaching back to the seventeenth century, developed over time into an important centre of spiritual and monastic life, becoming renowned above all for the great spiritual fathers who lived here, among them father Cleopa Ilie and father Paisie Olaru, key figures of twentieth-century Romanian Orthodoxy, to whose graves many pilgrims come. The main church and the cells blend harmoniously into the natural setting, among conifer forests, in an atmosphere of deep peace and contemplation.

The monastery preserves worship objects and a valuable library. Its proximity to other settlements, such as Sihla and Secu, places it on a spiritual circuit. Visitors are asked to respect the quiet, the proper dress and the rules of an active monastic settlement.