Monastery fortress Negru Vodă (Mănăstirea Cetățuia Negru Vodă)

 

Yesterday, 1st of August was a very important day for the Romanian Orthodox, the first day of the Virgin Mary's fast. So I decided to go to a monastery, also being Sunday. I have been doing some research of what to do in Arges, one of the Romanian counties, and i found a place i ve never heard of: The Monastery Fortress Negru Voda, the so called "Romanian Meteora". This tiny monastery is one of the oldest Cave monasteries in the country, and it is located on the top of a rock (from here the name) and surrounded by forest.

It all seemed easy and very beautiful, so we decided to give it a go and see this place with our own eyes. Jumped in the car, drove from Pitesti to Campulung, stopped for the mass at the Negru Voda Church, continued with a stop at the Namaiesti Church, another monastery in a rock, where we got lucky to touch the Virgin Mary's icon, which is making wishes come true. We felt blessed.

I remind you it is August, so it was very hot, already mid-day, so we planned to hike to the Monastery Fortress Negru Voda in the afternoon, so we started wondering on the small mountain roads in Namaiesti. Here we stopped by the river, had some lunch served by mother nature (berries straight from the bushes) while breathing the fresh, cool air. Especially during this pandemic just breathing in fresh air without a mask is a blessing. 

Then we kept going, set the GPS to Monastery Fortress Negru Voda, and off we go. All good and easy way up to one point. The GPS said turn left and in 800m you ve arrived at your destination. It seems sketchy from the start when we turned left since it seemed like we are driving into someone's backyard, but we kept going till some kids started running towards us screaming. Got a bit scared to be honest :)))

Apparently the GPS is wrong, and all the tourists make the exact same mistake. They told us to get back to the main road and keep it straight until we see the Store (Magazin), we should park there and then we can find the path to climb the rock to the monastery. You cannot miss this Store, there wil be cars and maybe buses parked right across the street. 

We parked the car, walked behind the store, crossed the bridge and then turned right behind a big rock. You should keep the path going up and there you are, on Via Crucii (The Cross route). Honestly it is not a very long way up, as i ve heard, but it is challenging. Quite sandy, also many boulders around, roots to step up and quite steep. However you will see so many elderly people, and even you cannot anymore, you still can a bit :))) You do not want to be overpassed. Kept walking, passing by the 12 Crosses where there are candles burning, and in the end we could see the new and the old Monasteries.

The old, cave Monastery is very well maintained, the paintings on the wall are still colorful and clear. In the new Wooden monastery you can still find parts of the remains of Saint Ioanichie.

If you walk around the new monastery you will be lead to the Wish Cross, all the way up on top of the rocks. There is a notebook, where you can write your wish, you can leave something on the cross (there are many scarves and bracelets) to bring you luck and make your wish come true.

Please also take a minute to look around you. It is an amazing landscape from there, you can see the valley and the hills around. It is stunning.

PRO TIPS:

- Wear comfortable, closed shoes (I had my hiking sandals on, but it is quite steep and hot and sweaty so my feet were slipping forward :))) I could barely get down from the Wish Cross.

- Remember the GPS is wrong, 800m before the destination DO NOT turn left, keep it straight until you find the Store (Magazin) park there, cross the street, then cross the bridge and turn right behind the rocks

- Bring water, lots of water, especially in summer. It is very hot

KIND REMINDER:

- It is very hard to get down all the trash from there, so please better keep the plastic bottles in your bag and throw them away once you get back to the city