Old Orhei ( ro, Orheiul Vechi) is a

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n historical and archaeological complex located in Trebujeni, which is approximately north-east of Chișinău on the

Răut River Răut, also referred to as Reut (, Ukrainian and (Reut), (Revet)) is a river in Moldova, a right tributary of Dniester. Răut, generally navigable until the 18th-19th century, is navigable today only by small recreational boats. The towns Băl ...

in the

Republic of Moldova A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

History

The ancient city of Orheiul Vechi is a natural and historical complex, located in a narrow bend of the Răut River. The natural landscape of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when ...

rock, eroded by the river, is combined with archaeological vestiges of the ancient Trypillian civilization. As a result of archaeological excavations, cultural layers were discovered from different epochs, such as the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

Eneolithic The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ap ...

. Old Orhei contains traces of different civilizations, including the remnants of earthen and wooden fortresses of Geto– Dacian fortress (6th–1st centuries B.C.), the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmenta ...

fort ''Shehr al-Jedid (or Yangi-Shehr)'' (14th century), a Moldavian fort dating from the 14th-16th centuries, an Orthodox monastery ( 14th century), and the Moldavian town of Orhei from the 14th–16th centuries. The

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

monastery is still inhabited by a handful of Orthodox monks, who maintain the church at the top of the hill. The caves are still functional as chapels. The caves contain an array of historical artifacts and

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...

inscriptions dating from the 1690s, which testify that the

Hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, ...

took shelter in the caves, hiding from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Gallery

Image:Remains of the tatar bath.jpg, File:Orhei Vechi, Moldova - Flickr - Dave Proffer (14).jpg File:Trebujeni.jpg, File:Orhei Vechi, Moldova - Flickr - Dave Proffer (12).jpg Image:Remains of the governor Palace.jpg, Remains of the governor palace File:Orhei Vechi, Moldova - Flickr - Dave Proffer (13).jpg Image:Monastery of Bosie.jpg File:Orheiul vechi3.jpg File:Orheiul vechi2.jpg File:The cross of Orheiul Vechi (182371878).jpg File:Stamp of Moldova md487.jpg, Archaeological research in Old Orhei.

External links

Virtual tourTourist guide "Old Orhei"
{{Coord, 47, 19, N, 28, 58, E, display=title, region:MD_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Former populated places in Eastern Europe Tourist attractions in Moldova Archaeology of Moldova Ancient history of Romania Former populated places in Moldova Dacian towns

History

See also

Gallery

External links