Republica Moldova

The cloister is situated on the top of the hill. So, if you are in neigh¬borhood you can see cupolas of the church. I’ve seen the cloister in bad weather, when the sky was covered with clouds and strong breeze howled in the branches of trees. The cloister looked like churches painted in the pictures of Caspar David Friedrich if you look at them from the foot of the hill in a bad weather. It was like something unreal… It attracted my attention. I wanted to know what’s within the walls of the cloister and what history it can reveal.

The cloister of St. Peter and Paul is situated in the village Bocancea-Skit of Singerei District. Standing on the hill you can see a lake and a river as well as the village situated on the other hill. The history of the foundation of the cloister begins in 1865 with the monastery Hirjauca (Hirjauca of Calarasi District) when the Sacred Governing Synod per¬mitted to sell the woods from 400 dessiatinas in the course of 3 years. The money from the woods had to be spent on other uninhabited lands Ciuciueni about 1032 dessiatinas.

These lands were called Antonovka in honor of archbishop Antony who managed the purchasing of lands. He gave a permit to build a church made of stone at this place in 1869. The church was consecrated by the bishop of Chisinau and Hotin Pavel on the 29th of June 1872. It was called in honor of St. Peter and Paul. A refectory and the cells for monks were built near the church after some time.

Priest Dimitrie Mikshunescu in the book “Visiting Bessarabia and Bucovina Cloisters” published in Bucharest said that monks from Hirjauca monastery were sent to the hermitage Bocancea, who watched over the hermitage. There was a lot to do. The cloister had a great livestock population, a steam-mill, and vineyards. The latter gave thou¬sands buckets of vine every year. The steam-mill worked till 1915 and it was destroyed by the fire. The last father superior Eshanu of the mon¬astery Hirjauca had to hide himself over the river Prut (on the Romanian territory) before the Soviet authori¬ties closed the monastery. The her¬mitage Bocancea was left alone – all the time it had submitted to Hirjauca monastery. It was hard to save any¬thing. The property of hermitage was confiscated as well as its lands. Peasants from neighborhood tried to rebuild at least the church in 1958 but the authorities forbade them to doit.

For years the hermitage was the shelter to the stray dogs. You can hardly believe the story today: well-groomed flower-beds, paths, a summerhouse, and half-restored cells and church. A new crucifix was made and put on its place because the old one was destroyed. The gales are in form of an arch and the cross is at the top of them. And such a gor¬geous view from the hill…