Travel deep dive
Orheiul Vechi, a Monastery in the Cliffs of the Raut Valley
About an hour north of Chisinau, the Raut river winds in a deep loop through a gorge of limestone cliffs, and on the ridge above it stands Orheiul Vechi: a monastery carved into the rock, a church on the hilltop and, below, the village of Butuceni with its whitewashed houses. The valley is one of Moldova's best-known landscapes, an open-air museum of cave cells, old ruins and village life, and it is the place in the country where a night in the countryside is most rewarding.
Updated 2026-10-08
The cave monastery
The monastery is cut into the cliff face high above the river, and a tunnel in the rock leads from the top of the ridge into its chambers: a small chapel and the cells of the monks, with a balcony opening onto the drop and the valley below. Monks still keep the monastery, so visitors come quietly and modestly dressed, women with a scarf for the head.
The ridge and the valley
On the ridge above the caves, a white church with a bell tower looks down on both arms of the river's loop, and paths lead along the clifftops to viewpoints over the gorge. The valley holds older traces too, the ruins of a medieval town and of earlier fortifications, set out as an open-air museum.
Butuceni and Trebujeni
Below the ridge, the village of Butuceni lines the river with whitewashed houses, blue-painted gates and gardens, and several families take in guests in rural guesthouses, the casa rurala, with home cooking and their own wine. Trebujeni, on the other side of the valley, is the neighbouring village. A night here leaves the evening light on the cliffs and a walk in the valley in the cool of the morning.
Getting there
Orheiul Vechi is about an hour's drive north of Chisinau, and it is seen on a day trip by car, with a driver or on a tour, or by minibus to the villages for travellers with time. It combines naturally with the monasteries of the Codru hills on the way.