Crișan-Vaca Monastery

Frequently mentioned in reviews: Top-rated.online cuts through the clutter, highlighting only the reviews that are most helpful, earn the most likes, or come from the most active contributors. A very beautiful place... Foarte frumos Foarte frumos Doamne ajută Hands of a good landlord make the difference. This is an impressive place to visit. The icon of Holy Mother with... three hands. The Crișan is a new monastery, rebuilt in year 1992 on the site of the former old called Vaca (Vaca means "Cow" in romanian language. The is located between 2 hills and there are two roads from the main road to the monastery: the first is closed to traffic, it is only for pilgrims and ends in 100 stairs before the and the second, about 100 meters further down from the first, it is newly paved and has some very steep and quite dangerous sections. The parking lot is large, and can accommodate about 100 cars and a few coaches. The complex consists of 4 buildings: the first building, next to the parking lot, I assume is intended for monks - so it is a of monks as you find out just now - , the second building contains the dining room where they can feed about 80 mouths at once and has rooms, on the first floor, probably also for pilgrims; the third building is the of the and the fourth building is the bell tower, the belfry, at the base of which is the shop with holy things for sale and the place to put diptyches and light candles. We got there on an autumn Sunday morning, quite chilly, but the courtyard was full of parishioners listening to the service. At first, I thought they were staying outside intentionally and I went in, I mean we wanted to enter the church. Although, from the outside, the seems quite big, inside it cannot "crowde" more than 200 souls, if they stick to each other, like fish in a can. It was the same when we tried to enter: the people were sitting in the small church, soul to soul, not body to body, and when we opened the door to enter, we were greeted by several angry faces that we were going to crowd them in even more. But we were lucky that 3 "believers" came out and so we managed to get 5 "sinners" in. The is very nicely painted, in typical Orthodox style, using dark colors which makes it not too bright. There is a box in the with 40 relics, arranged in groups of 4 on a small disc, the size of a coat button, from old style, visible to senior parishioners only with the help of glasses. But the main thing is to worship and believe, it doesn't matter how big or small the relics are, in my opinion. The icon with the Holy Mother is on the right side in the church, and the third hand in the icon is painted at the bottom. This is the hand of a believer, saint John Damascene, who was punished for his faith by cutting off his hand and the legend says that the Holy Mother put her hand on him back. That's the reason why that 3-rd hand appears in the painting. In the front of the is a lake with many water lilies. The recommendation is not to jump into the lake, even if you see that the water is turbid, because you will not escape alive from diseases or sins, but maybe fate will be against you and the end will be unhappy gor you. It is by no means a wonderful or healing lake, although it is quite beautiful, full of water lilies and surrounded by flowers. The souvenir shop is quite big and the holy ones displayed are much less than the available space but you can find almost everything you want, from books to bracelets and myrrh. Next to the gift shop is where the candles are lit, mislabeled DEADS instead of SLEEPINGS as if judgment has already been done. Behind the there are some of the ruins of the old and the toilets wich are - very clean. Also there is the alley with the many stairs that lead to the main entrance of the monastery, to the main road. The landscape is beautiful and if it is sunny, the of the may resemble a bride, painted in bright white bathed by the sun's rays. Almost every Sunday pilgrims come by coach or coaches and that is why, that days it is very crowded. If you want to visit the in peace, to meditate on the holy things in the silence of the place, which is very beautiful, avoid visiting the on Sunday mornings or on holidays. Have a nice visit! Very nice surroundings, the service was held outside under the trees in the shadow. New road with a big parking very close to the monastery. O locatie perfecta pt turismul ecumenic si nu numai. Locuri superbe. Biserica noua si veche. La 4.5 km, casa Crișan. Love it! Ok Beautiful place and peaceful ❣️ O manastire foarte frumoasa Great place for silence. Raiul pe pământ. Mergem acolo de ani buni. Liniște și starețul Nifon este un om extraordinar, cu un har deosebit, de o modestie și o spiritualitate ieșite din comun. Glory to God in the middle of heavenly nature! Un loc superb. Mănăstirea si împrejurimile merita vizitate! Beautiful water liles O mânăstire relativ mică dar pregătită să primească mulți pelerini. Un loc magic,plin de liniște sufletească ! 🩷🩷🩷 Superb. Website change monitoring Monitor any webpage for changes – get instant email alerts when prices drop, new jobs are posted, products come back in stock, or competitors update their sites. See how the number of reviews and average review scores have changed over time. Museum