Saon Monastery

Saon Monastery lies in Niculițel commune, Tulcea County, about 10 km north of Niculițel village and 11 km from Tulcea, on the shore of Saon marsh, in the Danube floodplain on the edge of the Delta. It is an Orthodox convent, and the silver towers of its church can be seen from afar, from the road between Tulcea and Isaccea. It was founded in 1846, under Ottoman rule, as a dependency of Celic-Dere Monastery, by the monks who left Celic-Dere after it became a convent. It became independent after 1878, when northern Dobruja passed to Romania. The old church, dedicated to the Ascension, was built of timber, woven wattle and earth; a block of cells from the same period also survives. Under Abbot Filimon (1889-1905) a fire damaged the hermitage, but the old church was spared. In 1909 the hermitage came under the jurisdiction of Cocoș Monastery, and on 1 September 1909 the foundation stone of the new church was laid. The monastery was closed in 1959, reopened in 1972 as a dependency of the Archdiocese of Tomis and the Lower Danube, and became independent again in 1990, as a convent. Today visitors can see the old church and the masonry church, dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God, white with towers clad in silver sheet metal, in a precinct with gardens close to the water. It is reached by car from Tulcea, on the road to Isaccea, then on the access road to the monastery; on the water, route no. 4 of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority runs from Tulcea (Lake Câșla), along the Somova channel, to Saon Monastery (Lake Telincea) and back. The DDBRA access permit is needed for the water routes in the reserve. Saon Monastery is a category B historic monument, LMI code TL-II-m-B-06012 (dated 1881, 1912). Did you know that the new church had a long road to its consecration? Construction began in 1909, was interrupted by the First World War, and the towers collapsed in the 1940 earthquake. They were rebuilt only after 1956, and the church was consecrated in 1959, the very year the monastery was closed by decree.