Ciuflea Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Ciuflea) is a

Moldovan Orthodox Moldovan and Moldavian refer to something of, from, or related to Moldova or Moldavia. In particular, it may refer to: * Moldovans, the main ethnic group of the Republic of Moldova *''Moldavians'', the inhabitants of the historical territory of t ...

monastery located in Chișinău,

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

. It is dedicated to Saint

Theodore of Amasea : ''For another Saint Theodore, see: Theodore Stratelates or Saint Theodore (disambiguation)''. Saint Theodore Tiron ( grc-gre, Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος Τήρων) is one of the two recognized saints called Theodore who are venerated as ...

History

The monastery was financed by Anastasie Ciufli (1801 - 1870) to respect the last will of his brother Teodor Ciufli (1796 - 1854). The two brothers were Aromanian merchants who emigrated from

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...

in 1821. Anastasie was authorised to start the construction of the church for his brother in 1854, it was finally consecrated on June 6, 1858. Teodor's remains were placed in the south wing of the building, his brother eventually joined him in their final resting place after his own death 11 years later. In 1962, many churches of the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

were closed or their purpose changed. The main church of Chișinău, the

Nativity Cathedral Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Campin), a 1420 panel painting by ...

suffered the same fate by being transformed into an exhibition building. Thus the head of Moldova Church had to be moved to the then monastery of Ciuflea, which was granted of the status of cathedral and renamed according to its benefactor. In 2002, about a decade after the breakup of the Soviet Union, it became a monastery.

Sources

*
Catedrala episcopală Sf. Teodor Tiron

Gallery

Image:Catedrala Sf. Teodor Tiron.jpg, The monastery at night Image:Ciuflea.jpg, File:Ciuflea Monastery, Chișinău - interior.jpg, Interior {{Portal bar, Geography, , Europe, Moldova Former cathedrals Christian monasteries in Moldova Churches completed in 1858 Buildings and structures in Chișinău