In the interval 1653 – 1658, Paul de Alep accompanied as a secretary Patriarch Macarius of Antioch in his travel to Wallachia and Russia. Narrating his travel, he made some notes about the Holy Monastery of Comana, as he mentioned in 1657:

"The following morning we left (Gradistea) and travelling on pothole roads and crossing a big gorge we reached a monastery dedicated to St. Nicholas, called Comana, founded by late Serban Voivode, father of the current ruler. It is a small, solid monastery, surrounded by stone walls. In the four corners there are four towers with vaulted galleries all around so that the aspect and walks are more beautiful. One of them looks like one of the towers of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Moscow. The steeple is above the gate. What delighted me most was the sight over the green grassland that stretches in the whole yard of the monastery, with its fresh and clean sweet water fountain, with the monks' cells surrounding it. This monastery is located like on an island, surrounded by lakes and ponds, waters and impenetrable swamp. And there is no road that leads to it, we ourselves crossed them on our ships. They say that if the Emperor (meaning the Sultan) came to start a war against it with his whole army he could not conquer, which seems to be true, as the position is very strong and well consolidated, between places that never freeze, even in the harshest winters..."