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Țipova Cave Monastery
Seven stops along the Dniester cliffs
Free audio tour · 1 h 40 min · 7 stops · Țipova, Moldova
Listen to a stop
A stop from this walk, as you'll hear it on the spot. Press play: the photos change with the story.
Above the cliffs
The monastery church on the plateau
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Transcript
Welcome to Țipova. Right now you are standing on a quiet plateau, among monastery buildings and a church. Just beyond the edge, though, the land drops away in steep limestone cliffs to the Dniester River. Carved into those cliffs is the largest cave monastery in Moldova, and one of the largest in Eastern Europe.
The monastery is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God. What you see up here is the living part of it, where the monks pray and keep the monastery running today. The heart of Țipova, though, is below your feet: three churches and dozens of rooms, passages and galleries cut by hand into the rock face, on several levels, over many centuries.
Nobody knows exactly when the first hermits came here, or who they were. A history written in 1919 already said that it was not known when, or by whom, this hermitage had been founded. Historians date the oldest rock church to around the eleventh or twelfth century. That means monks may have been praying in these cliffs for close to a thousand years.
Why here? Imagine this landscape without roads or cars. The cliffs offered shelter, silence and safety. A cave cut into the rock stays cool in summer and is protected from the wind in winter, and from the openings in the rock face a monk could look out over the river and the endless sky.
The whole area around you is also a protected landscape. As you walk, look out for the gorge, the springs and the waterfalls, as well as the monastery itself.
A word of caution before we go down: the path to the caves is steep, and many of the steps are carved straight into the rock. Take your time, hold the railings where there are any, and watch your footing, especially after rain.
Now follow the path that leads from the monastery towards the edge of the cliffs. Our next stop is a viewpoint over the river.
About this walk
Moldova's largest cave monastery, carved into the limestone cliffs high above the Dniester. Walk down from the monastery on the plateau to three rock churches from different centuries, then on to the gorge and the waterfall linked with the legend of Orpheus.
Steep, uneven paths and steps cut into the rock, slippery after rain. Wear good shoes; not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers. Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Place
- Țipova, Moldova
- Duration
- 1 h 40 min
- Stops
- 7 stops
- Languages
- EN · RO · RU
- Price
- Free
- Starting point
- The monastery above the cliffs
The stops
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Where the walk begins, on the plateau above Moldova's largest cave monastery.
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A viewpoint over the Dniester, on the steep path down to the rock churches.
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The oldest of Țipova's rock churches, dated to the 11th–12th centuries.
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The second rock church, carved around the 14th century.
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The largest rock church at Țipova, carved between the 16th and 18th centuries, and the legend of a princely wedding.
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From Saharna's dependency to Soviet closure and the return of the monks in 1994.
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The gorge of the Țipova stream, its waterfalls, and the legend that Orpheus is buried here.
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