St Andrew's Cave

About St Andrew's Cave

St Andrew's Cave is a small limestone grotto hidden in a forest in southern Dobruja, on the edge of the commune of Ion Corvin. Christian tradition holds that the Apostle Andrew sheltered here while preaching the Gospel in Scythia Minor in the 1st century, and that he baptised the local people with water from a nearby spring. There is no historical or archaeological evidence for this link, and historians point out that the story only spread in the first half of the 20th century; for believers, however, the place is one of the most important in the country.

The grotto was cleared and fitted out as a place of prayer by the theologian Ion Dinu and consecrated in the summer of 1944, then abandoned during the communist years. In December 1990 two monks from Neamț Monastery revived monastic life here: first as a skete, and from 1994 as a monastery for monks under the Archdiocese of Tomis. The chapel of the Protection of the Mother of God was consecrated in 1995, and the large church, begun in 1994, was completed in 2000 and painted between 2003 and 2006.

Since 1997 St Andrew has been the patron saint of Romania, and on his feast day, 30 November, a public holiday since 2012, the monastery is the goal of a pilgrimage that brings thousands of people every year.

Information verified on 21 October 2026.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: the cave is ~10 km west of Adamclisi, near the DN3, the road between Constanța and Ostrov. From Constanța it is ~80 km (~1 hour 30 minutes), from Bucharest ~200 km (~3 hours), on the A2 motorway and then on the roads of southern Dobruja. From the edge of the commune of Ion Corvin, a sign shows the ~3–4 km side road through the forest to the monastery. It combines easily with Tropaeum Traiani at Adamclisi.

Public transport: no regular connection to the monastery is confirmed. Without a car, the realistic options are a taxi or an organised pilgrimage; for the feast day, agencies and parishes run coaches from all over the country.

Where to park

The monastery publishes no parking information. On ordinary days you can usually park next to the monastery; on the feast day, when thousands of pilgrims come, expect to leave the car further away along the access road and walk.

Fees & discounts

The monastery publishes no prices; Orthodox monasteries do not usually charge for entering the precinct.

Rules

Modest dress: shoulders and knees covered, women with their heads covered in the church and the cave. Quiet in the precinct, phones off during services; do not take photographs in the church or the cave without the monks' consent. Keep your place in the queue at the cave entrance. Pets are not allowed in the precinct.

Facilities

church shop with candles and small icons · the spring near the monastery · the cave is cramped and has steps at the entrance, hard to access with a wheelchair