Stephan the Great the Saint Monastery on the Burcel’s Hillock, Commune Micleşti, Vaslui County

Burcel’s Hillock is found approximately 4 km north-west from the small town of Micleşti, on DN 24, 25 km north of Vaslui. It is documentary confirmed in 1498 as the property of the seneschal Purcel. According to the legend, Stephan the Great gave the hillock as a gift to his soldier Burcel, after the battle with the Turks at Vaslui (1475). In 2004, the legendary hillock was declared historic site (code: VS-IV-s-A-06917). A valuable botanical reservation is found on the slopes of this hillock, consisting in more than 270 species of flowers, especially Pontic, rare species for the Moldavian flora.

In 1997, the archimandrite Ştefan Guşă, the prior of Saints Constantine and Helen Monastery in the small town of Codăeşti, Vaslui County, erected on the hillock’s top, at 383 m of altitude, a wooden chapel patronized by Saint Thomas, to remember the outstanding voivode Stephan the Great, the hermitages, holy-water font, and the home for the elderly were subsequently built. The church patronized by Stephan the Great the Saint is currently under construction. Religious and cultural-artistic activities take place here every year on the patron’s day devoted to the monastery’s patrons and the memory of the Lord of Moldavia, Stephan the Great (1457-1504).