Zhapka cave monastery, Moldova

According to legend, the founder of the monastery Zhapka was hieromonk Zhezekil from Lviv, who traveled around Bessarabia. In the consolation of the villagers, who, due to the invasion of the Tatars, could not afford to build a church, the monk proposed to build it on a rock near the village. Over time, cells were carved near this church and, thus, Zhezekil began to gather monks who lived right in the rock. In the following years, the monastery of Japka, thanks to its prosperous position, received the status of a monastery from Metropolitan Benulescu-Bodoni.