The “Holy Trinity” Monastery of Saharna, situated about 110 km north of Chisinau on the right side of the Nistru, is considered one of the biggest centers of Moldovan religious pilgrimages. Here can be found the unique relicts of St. Cuvios Macarie, and on the top of the high cliff, according to a legend, there is a footprint of St. Maria. The legend says that a monk from the monastery once saw the shining figure of Saint Maria on the top of a rock. When reaching that spot the monk saw a mark of a footstep on the ground. This vision was considered to be a divine announcement and evidence of the holy purity of this place. Near this spot, a new wooden church was built in 1776, but less is known about the cave monastery, whose date of foundation is uncertain. Later the wooden church was replaced by a brick Church of the Holy Trinity built between 1818 and 1821, it became the main temple of the monastery. In 1857, the cave monastery was restored. But in the 1960s, a psychiatric hospital was opened by the Soviets on the premises of the former monastery. The monastery was reopened in 1991.
Parking location – Saharna: 47.696347N 28.968361E