Ceptura Monastery

Ceptura Monastery lies in Ceptura commune, in the Ceptura wine centre of the Dealu Mare wine region, beside the Gârla Cepturei stream, in what was once Saac county. The skete was built in the first half of the nineteenth century by monks from Căldărușani Monastery, as a dependency of that monastery. Old deeds, a commemoration list and an inscription in the church name Prince Matei Basarab, the founder of Căldărușani, among its founders. Under Decree 410 of 1959, the monks were expelled from the skete. Father Iezechiel stayed on as guard and caretaker until his death. After that, the cells were used to shelter animals belonging to a state farm (IAS), and the church served as a store for barrels and vineyard sprays. A plan to demolish the church was abandoned, but the building remained in ruins until the Archdiocese of Bucharest took it over. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved the re-establishment of the skete in 1996, at the request of the parish priest and the villagers, and in 2009 it was raised to the rank of monastery. Monastic life resumed in January 2010 with Father Teodosie Ciochină, appointed administrator, and on 23 August 2015 Father Augustin Mâzgoiu, who came from Crasna Monastery, became abbot. The old bell, buried by the last monks, was dug up after 1989, taken to Jercălăi and later reinstalled at Ceptura. The monastery is not a listed historic monument. In Ceptura commune, the List of Historic Monuments includes several archaeological sites, the Lina Bărbuceanu house in Ceptura de Jos (early nineteenth century) and a few stone memorial crosses.