The Japca Monastery is situated in the Soroca district, in Moldova. The Japca village is located at 160 km at the north of Chisinau, and it is well known to all monasteries visitors in this area, because it was the only nuns monastery in the district, and the only one functional in the soviet period. 
Nobody knows about its creation/construction. Situated at the 45 km south of Soroca, on the rock border of Nistru, this monastery has at the beginning a base dig in the rock.
According to the local legend, the monastery founder was the monk Izechiil, born in Lvov, that travel throw Basarabia that soothe the Japca locals, that were not able to have a church cause of the tartar invasion. The monk proposed them to build the church on the rock that was very close to the village. With the time, close to the church, they carved cells and therefore Ezekiel begins to gather up the monks together. In 1963, Ion Turba, donate his estate to the monastery, recordable in a judge court in the XVIII century. The monastery tradition and some history sources considered the monk Jezechil as the first founder of the monastery in a rock that came from the hermitage Deleni, which is situated on the right border of the Nistru, at the end of the XVII century.
Later, in the 1770, the hegumen Feodosie built a wood church at the foot of the rock. In this way, the monastery becoming larger next to the rock monastery, and in this way building a large area of monastery cells and annexes and around to the 1812, there were two wood churches and a wood belfry, which was built above the entrance tower of church.
In the 1829 in the middle of the court it built the “God Ascension” church, that in 1912 was rebuilt in the eclitical style and also the belfry was rebuilt but this time above the entrance gate. In 1849, it is immure the church “Archangel Michael”, but using another style the classicism. In the right next years, the hermitage Japca, thanks to the prosperous situation of the bishop G. Banulescu-Bodoni, acquire statute the monastery, and in the XIX century the wood churches together with the belfry were rebuilt from stone. The initial location, in the rock of the monastery was also changed and renovated in 1852. The Japca Monastery continues to exist today on the same rock base, having improved only the superficial constructions, which were rebuilt or renovated from stone. This monastery suffer in the soviet period, but with all changes and problems this monastery rest open during all communism administration, nobody can closed it as were all others monasteries.
The militant workers of the party did not have any chance to close it thanks to the monastery nuns sacrifice, even some constructions were cleaned out, inclusively the church complex and the both rock cells. Actually, the rock church after renovation 4 years ago now is functional and everyday the priest make the religious service. The Japca Monastery is one of the prosperous and arranged monasteries in the all country. So, as we can see by all explained above a great interest is dedicated to the rock church study. The church structure/architecture and planimitrical study was realized first time by the Historical and Archeological Society from Basarabia at the beginning of our century.
As conclusion, having a descriptive character is noticed that the church is composed from three compartments unequal of the plan that is outside of the altar. This stone halidom denote clearly the characters of the additional system elongated of the Romanian church known for the first time in the wood church architecture. The general presentation of these woods churches from the oldest times, some plan compartments, added one next to other, separated initial by a full wall, pierced, probably by a door, the rock church from Japca express an architectonical program from the wall religious architecture. Enough personalized in the Moldova, the additional type elongated known here as maximum development, inclusively by the contribution added to the plan compartments.
The church ceiling is vaulted, in semi cylinder, and if the first compartment, beginning to the door, and the semi cylinder tower is above the length, in the second is above transverse of the construction. These are the characteristics that are preserved from the last renovation. Comparing the Moldavian churches with the semi cylinder vault, oriented transversal, was the same as of the grave. In this way, the building with four plan compartments is realized by their correct number by the follow example: altar, nave, and the third compartment represent the tomb room from classical buildings of the large churches from monasteries.
Studying the others compartments structure, we can identify that the last one was the longest and has two more windows. Exactly as the mentioned churches pronaosul, the tomb room is the most little, initial it has one window, but recently was closed and the naosul is most wide than other compartments, similar with the altar semicircular, with a triconc plan.
In this way we considered at Japca a rock church that reproduce the large monasteries churches plans from the religious architecture of the Moldavian state from the XV century; the tomb room, called also as the graves room, that appear during the king Alexandru the Best leadership. The tomb room is a stone room that does not need any other description. Any other cases with tomb rooms inside the churches were not found in Moldova. This kind of room are difficult to build cause of very little dimensions saint building at the Japca, only 14 m length, in comparison with other large churches that have more than 30-40 m.
The large monasteries churches type was established in the historical country Moldova in the XV century, as we already mentioned that the tomb room was made during the Alexandru the Best reign. The rock church from Japca, inclusively in the first term of the monastery function it was realized in the time of the Stefan the Great, before the 1484, or during the Alexandru the Best reign. At all of these conclusion it need to added that looking at the all construction in rock, the plan can be made by another way, the verandah can be made as a continuation of the building.
In all components similar with the wall architecture and the altar vault that is similar with a quarter of the sphere and as an essential staff, its passage to the vault of the naos by multilevel arcs. An ingenious element in the Moldavian architecture style, but without any responsibility in our case, and accomplishing a decorative role.
As a part of decorative plastic the rock church from Japca it is look like a monument in a folk style, with very sober decorative style.
To all of this characters of the rocks church, it need to added that the niches from the south part of the naus denote in fact that at this church were realized many renovation and construction work at the middle of the XVII century, because there were replaced the lateral concile of the naosului with some short niches inside, realized by little rezalite by the outside part.
The monastery Japca foundation in the evolution period at the tomb room establishment in the monasteries church until the verandah apparition that was the Alexandru the Best or Stefan the Great reign, before the 1484. Around the middle of the XVII century the church “The Saint Christ Ascension” had have supported some changes in the south part of the naosului, and all doors, that are requested by Moldavian church to pass from one compartment to another one, were replaced by large arcs in the XIX century, when all compartments of the interior space are unified.
In our days this church has three altars: “The God Ascension”, “The face Changing of the God”, and the “Saint Christ”. The monastery can be visited daily:
