Mănăstirea Frumoasa

A monastic ensemble with a princely palace, south of the centre of Iași, towards Nicolina. It belongs to the group of fortified monasteries on the hills around the former Moldavian capital, but sits in a setting less trafficked than Cetățuia or Galata — which, for a visitor, is rather an advantage. The exact location is on the map on this page; public transport gets you there from the centre in a few stops, and a CTP ticket costs 4 lei, valid 120 minutes. Worth combining with Restaurant Odeon and Pizza Nico, in the same quarter. Editorial context in the churches and monasteries guide; the rest of the selection, in all attractions.

The name — "the beautiful one" — is not a figure of speech: the complex was conceived as a residence, not merely a place of worship, and the princely palace standing beside the church is what sets it apart from the city's other monasteries. Because it draws fewer visitors, it is also the quietest of Iași's monastic sites — you can spend half an hour there without meeting an organised group, which is no longer true of Cetățuia on a summer Sunday. As at every working monastery, dress matters: shoulders and knees covered, phone on silent, photographs outside only unless you have explicit permission. It fits naturally into the monastery route.