Old Orhei is famous for the cave monasteries located there. This zone was ideal for the primary monasticism of early Christian community. It was isolated from the outer world. At the time when Christians came here there should have been smaller and bigger caves in the calcareous rocks cut by pre-historic tribes living on this territory. The Christians probably used existing caves and penetrated “inside the rocks” in order to “become a rock”. Christian life in the Old Orhei caves became eternal and saint. In the medieval period monastery life intensification made monks to deepen the caves. There also appeared new caves. Nowadays some caves are preserved well. Others were damaged, mainly by earthquakes which are frequent in this area. The researches show that tens of monasteries fell into waters of Raut River. However still many complexes are in good condition.
At the Old Orhei there are several monumental stone constructions which attract attention of both scientists and common people. The oldest fortified construction at the Old Orhei is the Gaetic fortress. It is situated on the Butuceni promontory. Its territory has oval prolonged form oriented from East to West. The fortress is connected to the surrounding area by narrow passage. It's easy to block if something happens. So, the place was ideal for building a fortress. The fortress was left at the end of III century BC.
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