Wine Cellars & Monasteries

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185

About Tour

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The use of wine in ancient Near Eastern and Ancient Egyptian religious ceremonies was common. Libations often included wine, and the religious mysteries of Dionysus used wine as a sacramental entheogen to induce a mind-altering state.

The world's religions have had differing relationships with alcohol. Many religions forbid alcoholic consumption or see it as sinful or negative. In Christianity, wine is used in a sacred rite called the Eucharist, which originates in the Gospel account of the Last Supper (Gospel of Luke 22:19) describing Jesus sharing bread and wine with his disciples and commanding them to "do this in remembrance of me."

Christian views on alcohol are varied. Throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and used "the fruit of the vine" in their central rite—the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that over-indulgence leading to drunkenness is sinful or at least a vice.

Want to know what is the place of the wine in Moldova? Then travel with us!

1 ^st Day

Between cellars and monasteries

Included highlights:

Start the day with a visit to Curchi Monastery, a real pearl of our religious life. Here you’ll see several churches, and among them - the “Virgin’s Assumption” Cathedral, built by the drawings of genius architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Further drive to the Old Orhei reserve, the most picturesque and amazing site of Moldova. Here you will have the possibility to experience the real village life of Moldova and also photo shooting of local people/life.

Enjoy a visit to the Orthodox cave monastery called “St. Maria Dormata”, which was expanded and modified inside the cliffs by the monks over the centuries ago and preserved in a functional state. You’ll have excursion about this fascinating complex and then transfer back to Chisinau.

Next visit to the world famous Moldovan Cellars - Cricova, which is a real underground wine city with wide streets, warehouses, tasting rooms. The total length of its galleries is 120 km. The constant annual temperature of + 12ºC and 82–95 % humidity are perfect conditions for aging quality wines there. Cricova is also well known for brilliant sparkling-wines produced by the classic French method.

What People Say

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Hello Victoria, Thank you again so much for the tours last week! I had a lot of fun, and you are an excellent guide. Orheiul Vechi was really beautiful, and some of the photos came out very nice. I also really liked Chateau Vartely, so thank you for coming up with the idea to visit there.

Tiraspol was quite interesting and bizarre, and I'm glad we went, even with the cold and rain. The Kvint distillery was very good. I had to resist finishing the whole bottle. I hope I'll be able to visit Moldova again sometime before too long. I will also let you know whenever I come to Romania.

Victoria, Just a short note to say thank you very much for everything on Sunday. Despite the long and tiring journey caused by the road closure in Ukraine, we thoroughly enjoyed our day, and learned so much about Moldova, Transnistria and Ukraine. We particularly enjoyed discovering Tiraspol, as it's such an unusual place and gave us a glimpse of how life was under the former Soviet regime. Because British history is relatively simple, with few invasions and no changes of borders, we struggle to understand the complexities of European history.

We were very impressed with your understanding - and with your excellent English language skills in explaining it all to us. It certainly brought to life our visit to your country. I hope your journey back home was a little easier than the one to Odessa. Please give our thanks to our driver on the day - I'm afraid we do not recall his name but we appreciated all he did to negotiate the way through the border crossings for us and to get us to Odessa as quickly as he did despite the obstacles. Good luck for future success in your career. If you are ever in England and are able to visit our area, do not hesitate to give us a call. We could show you the historic city of Winchester and the busy port and waterside areas of Portsmouth, which I'm sure you would find interesting. Thanks again for everything.

Natalia – is not just the best guide, but a reliable person with whom you never worry about the tour. When we need an English-speaking guide for the program, we never think whom to call. For us the most important thing is to know whether Natalia has possibility for that period.

Only working with her we are sure that the work will be perfectly done. She knows a lot, the tourists are always satisfied.