Anusta Voronetyaro



Voronetyar was the ruin of an ancient gondorian monastery, located in the high vales of the county of Mierach in the southern vales of the central Ered Nimrais.

The road up from Mierach to Voronet was a good track as far as the shrine or the old daen standing stones marked on the map. From then on it was but a path used only by the few farmers and wanderers who still traveled the high vales. Wheeled vehicles could not pass at all easily. The path got steeper and less distinct until the gorge was reached. Huge cliffs lowered on the far side. On this side the path wound round the spur to a tiny village on a high dale the other side of the peak from Voronetya. Its roofless walls were easily seen from the path, but harder to reach. Some clambering could be necessary. Parts of the path wee marked by steps cut into the rock.

The ruins of Voronetya were smaller than the Anusta Mîrëcalo. A narrow dormitory building was linked by two walls to the shrine making a rectangular cloister. The whole structure wa built upon a narrow shelf on the sloping hillside; around were the broken remains of other terraces where fruit trees, vines and other crops had been grown to support the brethren. The dormitory building had lost its roof but the gables walls still stood, if somewhat crumbled. The older shrine was in better condition. Nothing of interest could be found in the dormitory or cloister areas, save the feet that many of the weeds and plants growing there were less than welcoming: nettles, deadly nightshade, pale lilies and mad wort. By the walls of the shrine in contrast pimpernel, edelweiss, boneset and vervain could be found. In the shrine, the walls had retained their marvellous paintings, although slightly laded from their original glory. Nothing remained of the furnishings. There were niches in the solid walls which had once held candles or lamps, and detritus littered the floor. If the far end of the shrine was inspected one could notice that the altar stone (one large block) had been split in two and there were signs of charring...