Orheii Vechi

The archaeological complex lies in the Raut Orhei valley, a right tributary of the Dniester, 60 km north-east of Chisinau, in an area of great historical and geographical importance. At Orhei, nature and human civilisation have blended organically, forming a perfect whole. The Orhei museum complex is a system of historical monuments and natural landscapes set on the promontory formed by the winding bed of the Raut between Trebujeni and Butuceni. The promontory has an irregular oval shape, oriented from west to east, about 2,000 metres long and a maximum of 700 metres wide, surrounded on three sides (north, east and south) by the water of the Raut, with steep, rocky edges rising up to 100-120 m, which makes it a natural fortress.

The promontory is wonderful from a landscape point of view and has a unique archaeological flavour, showing at every step ancient earth and stone fortifications, the sacred complex of underground caves and other ancient relics that surprise and overwhelm every visitor. In the central part of the promontory stands an Orthodox Christian church, Saint Mary, built in 1904. Today, as in ancient times, a road crosses the promontory from east to west.