Stone Ravens is the name of the oldest Romanian cave-monastery.
Located about 50 km from Pitesti town, Stone Ravens Monastery is situated in the Arges County, Jgheaburi village. A place of worship built directly into the rock, in a massive of 30 m high, a masterpiece of art in symbiosis with nature, which is also known as the "Stone Church". The Byzantine aspect makes specialists estimate that the establishment was made in the first millennium of the Christian era. This is the only place of worship in Romania with two functional altars on the same nave, each of them provided with a holy table and a cross.
The church has two separate patron saints, one being the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin" received during Neagoe Basarab reign, the second patron saint being "St. Peter and Paul", title received when the Church was consecrated in the first half of the eighteenth century.
This church is architecturally related to the group of cave churches in Cappadocia, the architecture with two altars dedicated to a double patron saint, being characteristic to the Byzantine style. In the same time, the church is known as being founded by the Basarabians, containing the oldest painting ensemble in Romania, made at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century, before the one from the Royal Church from Curtea de Arges. Stone Ravens Monastery also appears in the document from June 23, 1512 as the first documentary attestation of a nunnery from our country.
The traveler climbs a few dozen old steps, to the tiny entrance (less than 1 m high) that connects the outside of the stone wall and the cave that opens inside. At the base of the steps is a small wooden chapel, over 130 years old, with a bell tower.
What immediately amazes upon entering the rock is not only the excessive moisture (95%), but also the advanced stage of paintings degradation on walls. The ensemble is permanently degraded, never being renovated.
The icons on wood are extraordinary, still resisting to the test of time.
Outside, under the rock, there is an open space, the refectory of the monastery (the place where the meal was served) where it is said that Neagoe Basarab kept the judgments when he visited the place.
Stone Ravens Monastery, together with Namaiesti Monastery and Negru Voda Fortress, form a triangle with sides of approximately 20 km. This geometric shape formed by the three places of worship is known as the "Sacred triangle of Arges".
A legend of the place says that this huge rock would be the tomb of a giant and that next to it would have been a place of sacrifice of the Dacians. Above the the monastery rock archaeologists have discovered the traces of the Dacian Fortress Geridava, where the king of the Getae, Dromichete, would have lived for a while.
Above the western wall of the cave church there is a Latin cross with a pyramidal head.
The plateau above the rock can be reached by climbing some rudimentary steps made of wood. There, a beautiful panorama opens over the wooded hills and the surrounding mountains.
The name "Ravens" originates either from the birds that make nests in the rock, or from the monks who lived in the caves (photo below).
Our recommendation is to discover the narrow surrounding places, distinguished by the beauty of nature and the interesting shapes dug in the rock.
