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Meridiela.

Hârjauca Monastery

A monastery in the Codru hills with a spring and a nineteenth-century sanatorium beside it.

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WhereCălărași
Nearest cityCălărași
Best seasonApril to October
Time to allowTwo hours
Getting thereAt Hârjauca in the Codru hills; road from Călărași
EntryFree; donations welcome

Hârjauca was founded in the eighteenth century in the wooded Codru hills, and its Ascension church of the 1830s is a substantial classical building with a bell tower, unusual in Moldova for its scale and style. A mineral spring on the site led to a sanatorium being built beside the monastery in the nineteenth century, and the two have coexisted since. The surrounding forest is among the better preserved stretches of the Codru. The monastery also had a period as a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Soviet years, which is how the medical buildings on the site came to be there.

What you actually see

  • The Ascension church - the classical building of the 1830s with its bell tower.
  • The mineral spring - the water source that brought the sanatorium here.
  • The sanatorium - the nineteenth-century establishment beside the monastery.
  • The Codru forest - the well-preserved woodland around the site.

When to go

April to October is the pleasant season with the forest in leaf. Autumn colour is good in October. Winter is cold.

Honest expectations

The sanatorium buildings are dated and detract from the setting for some. Dress rules apply at the monastery. The road in is winding.

Nearby

Călărași is west, and Căpriana is southeast.

What to pack for Hârjauca Monastery

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Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.

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