Condrita Monastery is a friary. The monastery is situated on the bank of Catargul River at the distance of 25 km from Chisinau. According to a legend, once upon a time, a Hood named Condrea burrowed in a cave in the neighborhood of the monastery; that is why the monastery is known under this same name - Condrita.

There are no precise data about the monastery foundation. It is said that in 1783, hieromonk Iosif along with other monks coming from Capriana were the funders of the Condrita hermitage.

All the documents belonging to Condrita hermitage were kept at Capriana monastery. Bulgarian abbots who ware living there took all the documents and went to Athos Mountain – the reason why there are no precise details about the first founders of the hermitage.

On September 1, 1918 Condrita hermitage was desjoint from Capriana Monastery and already named a monastery. The first abbot of the monastery was hieromonk Daniil Grozavu. After hieromonk Daniil Grozavu, Archimandrite Paisie guided the monastery until 1930.

In 1946, a great part of the monastery building was occupied by the local forestry school. One year later, the monastery was closed; its monks and the last monastery friar were transferred to Capriana and Suruceni monasteries. At those times the monastic complex comprised land, vines, orchards, two mills and lots of animals.

The forestry school functioned until 1960.

After 1960, the monastic complex became a camp, it functioned until 1993.

Condrita Monastery was reopened in 1993.

Assumption of the Holy Virgin temple takes a rectangular plan: 5 small decorated steeples. Initially simple walls disjoint the pronave from the nave, later at the times of metropolitan Gurie Grosu (1921 – 1936), the wall was demolished and the temple balcony was built above the pronave. At the entrance, there is a porch. The thickness of the monastery walls amounts to 1,2m. There is a basement in the monastery. The monastery ceilling takes semicircular shaping, on the each corner of the ceiling; the four Saints Evangelists are painted. The fresco on the temple walls remained the same, because it has been daubed with lime cream. In 1995, the fresco on the temple walls was renewed in accordance with the Russian style. The Rsurrection and those 12 Apostles above the monarchal doors (brought from the Noul Neamt Monastery after 1993, dating from XIX century) and two icons - first of the Holy Virgin with the Infant and the second of the Jesus Christ located on the iconostasis, were brought from Capriana Monastery.

There is an old stone with an unclear inscription and a spaded cross sign on it located on the monastic territory. According to monks, stone indicates the place an old wooden hermitage dating from XVIII century was situated.

Translated from Romanian by Felicia Lupasco, Moldova.ORG

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