Vialo
Orheiul Vechi
Eight stops through two thousand years above the Răut
Premium audio tour, €4.99 · 2 h 20 min · 8 stops · Orheiul Vechi, Moldova
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A stop from this walk, as you'll hear it on the spot. Press play: the photos change with the story.
Welcome to Orheiul Vechi
The Răut valley at Orheiul Vechi
Photo: Julian Nyča, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Transcript
Welcome to Orheiul Vechi, Old Orhei, about sixty kilometres north-east of Chișinău. You are standing near the bridge over the Răut River, at the entrance to one of the most remarkable historical landscapes in Eastern Europe. The whole valley is protected as a cultural and natural reserve, and it is on UNESCO's tentative list for World Heritage status.
What makes this place special is not just one monument. It is the way so many different peoples and periods are layered on top of one another in a single, small valley. Geto-Dacian tribes built a fortified settlement here more than two thousand years ago. In the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde, the Mongol state that ruled the steppes, founded a town here with mosques and bathhouses. After them came the Moldavian town of Orhei, with its stone fortress and its governor. And all the while, monks carved churches and cells into the cliffs above the river.
The exhibition centre beside you displays objects found during archaeological digs in and around Orheiul Vechi. If it is open, it is worth a look before or after the walk. Seeing what came out of the ground helps bring the empty fields and ruins to life.
From here our route follows the river into the village of Butuceni. Then it climbs to the cave monastery and the church on the cliff top, and finally leads down to the ruins of the two medieval towns.
A few practical words. Some paths are steep and uneven, and the cliff edges have no railings, so please keep a safe distance from them. Bring water, especially in summer, as there is little shade on the open ground.
Now walk a little way along the road with the river on your side, to a spot where you can see the valley open up. Our next stop is the great loop of the Răut, the meander that shaped this whole landscape.
About this walk
A walk through Moldova's most remarkable historical landscape, where the Răut River winds through limestone cliffs. See the village of Butuceni, a cave monastery carved into the rock, and a church on the cliff top, then the ruins of a Golden Horde town and the medieval Moldavian town of Orhei.
About 4 km on village roads, field paths and steep steps; uneven in places and not suitable for wheelchairs. Allow 2 to 2.5 hours.
- Place
- Orheiul Vechi, Moldova
- Duration
- 2 h 20 min
- Stops
- 8 stops
- Languages
- EN · RO · RU
- Price
- €4.99 · 3 stops free to try
- Starting point
- Exhibition centre by the Răut bridge
The stops
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Start by the river, where finds from two thousand years of digs tell the story of this valley.
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How the Răut carved a great loop through the limestone, and why people have lived here ever since.
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A traditional village of blue houses and carved gates at the foot of the cliffs.
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The landmark of Orheiul Vechi, built by the villagers of Butuceni in the early 1900s.
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Churches and cells carved into the cliff by Orthodox monks, believed to date back to the 13th century.
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A massive old stone cross at the end of the promontory, and a view over the whole valley.
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The ruins of a 14th-century town of the Golden Horde, with its mosque, caravanserai and baths.
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The medieval Moldavian town with its fortress and governor's residence, abandoned in the 16th century.
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