The Sihla Monastery

The history of the Sihla Hermitage, the holy fathers and the founders has remained unresearched and very poor in data. A history of hesychasm from the forests of Sihla and even from the Sihla Hermitage, due to the secret life that the old hermits and monks led, has proven to be difficult to achieve until today.

In the past, the centuries-old forests of Sihla were very wild, full of thickets, very difficult to access and devoided of any human presence. Only some hermits who loved peace and the wildness of the forest dared to live in complete wilderness, in a cold and inhospitable climate.

Over time, the countless hermits scattered through the vast forests between the Neamt, Secu, Sihastria and Agapia Monasteries, leading towards Hangu, Durău, Ceahlau, a territory recognized as the "Romanian Athos", considered the forests of Sihla to be "the greatest wilderness". Here, only hermits who had reached the highest levels of hesychastic training dared to sacrifice themselves, some of them remaining in complete secrecy for decades.  

The presence of hermits in Sihla dates back to the beginning of the 13th century, a tradition handed down by word of mouth from the old monks. The first written mention appears in a Serbian record from 1326, as in Sihla there is a hermitage belonging to the "White Church" from the Neamț Monastery.