More than 200 pilgrims from towns across Romania walked hundreds of kilometers to take part in services at Ceahlău Monastery, located at around 1,800 meters in the Carpathian Mountains.

This year’s pilgrimage in honor of the “Niamț” saints took place for the 12th time. It began with the departure of 110 young people from Iași. Over the course of a week, they completed the route from Iași to Niamț Monastery, then to Ceahlău, and onward to Sihla Monastery—covering about 35 kilometers each day. Additional groups joined along the way from Botoșani, Piatra Neamț, and other cities.

Organizers said each day started with prayer and the Divine Liturgy. Pilgrims visited churches en route and spent the night in parishes that hosted participants.

“Pilgrimage is a meeting with people, with places, and above all with God,” Archimandrite Nicodim Petre told the young pilgrims before they set out.

The main goal of the journey was Ceahlău Monastery—described as one of the most unusual Orthodox monastic communities in Romania. Set high among rocks in the mountains, it is considered among the country’s highest-altitude monasteries. The monastery was founded in 1992 at the initiative of the future Romanian Patriarch Daniel, and its church was built in 1992–1993. The church was consecrated on August 28, 1993. The monastery’s two patron feasts are the Feast of the Transfiguration and the commemoration of Saint Stephen the Great.

On the day of the Transfiguration, the monastery held a solemn service attended by hundreds of pilgrims, many of whom climbed to the monastery on foot along mountain trails.

“The mountain is an image of spiritual ascent. No one reaches the summit without effort,” the bishop said, adding that the uphill path mirrors the Christian journey—requiring patience, prayer, and inner work.