Every step in Vaslui County tells a story
Each county of Romania is unique through its local history and legends, as well as through the traditions preserved from long ago.
We invite you to visit all the counties included in Attractive Romania, and for the experience to be complete, we present the stories and customs of each area, so that your trip is unforgettable!
Next we stop on the lands of Moldova, in Vaslui County. Here you will discover sacred religious objectives in the area, included in the route of monasteries that you will be able to admire and where you can pray in silence.
✴️ One of the greatest humanists that Vaslui County gave was the teacher of Tsar Peter the Great
Rarely in the same context is there any talk about the great humanist, diplomat and passionate traveler – in an era when dangers lurked at every step – Nicolae Milescu Spătarul from Vaslui. The first Romanian who reached the court of the Emperor of China, traveling on the ancient silk road, was born in Milesti.
In his traveler's portfolio there are both the East and the West, because in the times when only caravans embarked on roads that could last even months, Nicolae Milescu reaches Berlin, Paris and Stockholm, but also Istanbul, Moscow and Beijing. How many still know today that the scholar from Vaslui, Milescu Spătarul was Peter the Great's teacher and that he is the one who translated the Old Testament into Romanian for the first time, an important part that later formed the basis of the Bucharest Bible of 1688?
✴️ The legend of the place where Petru Rareș dreamed of becoming ruler of Moldavia
Like all Moldavian lands, Vaslui has many places of worship (churches and monasteries), some of them linking their name to the great voivode Stephen the Great. However, the origin of Grăjdeni Monastery is linked by legends to one of the illegitimate sons of Stephen the Great. It is said that Petru Rares, before being ruler of Moldavia, would have crossed by cart from Galati to Suceava and would have spent the night near some stables that served as a stop for the horses' food and rest. Here he would have fallen asleep under a tree and had a beautiful dream, in which the two hills in front were made of gold and worshipped him, and a swarm of bees came out of his mouth. In the morning, Petru told the dream to his fellow travelers, and they happily interpreted it to him, saying that as soon as they arrived in Suceava, they would sell all the fish at a very good price. Resuming his journey, close to Crasna, he was greeted by a group of horsemen who came to bring him the news that the princely Divan, headed by the metropolitan of the country, had elected him ruler of Moldavia.
As gratitude, on the place where he would have dreamed, Petru Rareș built the church. The hard times that the place went through left behind only an icon of the Mother of God hidden by the monks in a hollow. The icon is still in the church today and is said to be a miracle worker.
We invite you to discover the history of Grajdeni Monastery, but also of other places of worship such as Floresti, Malinesti, Fastaci – considered by all those who have crossed its threshold "a jewel of the spirit", which preserves to this day the atmosphere of the spirit in which it was created, or the Dimitrie Cantemir Monastery, built by the famous scholar voivode.