Neamţ Citadel

Neamţ Citadel (Romanian: Cetatea Neamţ) is a medieval fortress located near Târgu Neamţ, Neamţ County, Moldavia, Romania.

Lack of reliable information on the origins of Neamţ Fortress had resulted in several hypotheses whose reliability was often questioned. A number of prestigious historians and philologists, as A.D. Xenopol, B.P. Hasdeu, D. Onciul etc., said that - according to the papal bull of 1232 - the Teutonic Knights of Bârsa had built between 1211-1225 on the eastern slope of the Carpathians a castrum muntissimum that only the Neamţ Citadel could be. The Germanic (Teutonic or Saxon) hypothesis was acquired by many of Romanian historians, from the name of the fortress (in Romanian, Neamţ means German).

Later, the hypothesis on the beginnings of the citadel could be reconsidered. Thus, in the material dating from the lowest layer of citadel, revealed by systematic investigations carried out, were identified coins from the reign of Petru I Muşat (1375-1391). This is a definite proof that Neamţ Fortress was built in the second part of the reign of Petru I, during which Moldova has experienced a continuous political and economic development. A monument like Neamţ Fortress is a large building, which required a huge effort and considerable material resources. The only force capable of undertaking such initiatives was provided by the princes of the era of consolidation of the feudal state of Moldova.


The Entrance

Neamţ Fortress was clearly documented a few years later, in 1395, during the expedition of King Sigismund of Hungary in Moldova. Not irrelevant is that "The Neamţ from mountains" is mentioned in the Russian Chronicle that describes the cities to the east of the Carpathians, dated between 1387-1391, which could refer both to the city and the citadel.


The Courtyard

The fortress was built on a rocky triangular spur, with height of about 480 m above sea level and 80 m above the level of Neamţ River (or Ozana). It has a rectangle with unequal sides shape, adapted to the configuration of the terrain. The northern and southern sides are 38.5 and 37.5 m long, the eastern side have a length of 47 m and the western side is 40 m long. Specific for the defense system of the fortress is that the towers of the four corners were not placed outside the walls, but directly into the frame walls, and this because the natural fortifications on three sides not allowed their building outside. In front of the fourth side (N) is a ditch dating from the 15th century. The walls were 12-15 m high and 3 m thick, and are strengthened by 18 exterior buttresses.


Council Hall

In 1475, during the reign of Stephen the Great, on the northern side were added four rounded bastions, 30 m high, and the walls were raised with 6-7 m. The new access road into the citadel is represented by an arched bridge, finished by a drawbridge, and supported on 11 stone pillars with prismatic form. The exterior fortification system included also ditches and palisades.


Weapons Room

The garrison had currently 300 soldiers. The fortress was besieged many times by Hungarians, Turks, Tatars, Cossacks, Austrians, Polish, and had a particular importance in the defensive system of Moldavia. Practically, during the 14th-18th centuries, any major event in the history of Moldavia was linked, in a way or another, to the citadel.


The Prison

In the 18th century, it lost any political or military importance and began to deteriorate. During the reign of Mihail Sturdza (1834-1849) the citadel was protected and in 1866 was declared a historical monument. Between 1968-1972, the walls were reinforced, without the reconstruction of the missing portions. Nowadays, the fortress represents one of the most visited objectives of the region.

Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.

Mihai Eminescu Memorial House in Ipoteşti

Mihai Eminescu (January 15, 1850 – June 15, 1889) was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea (approx. The Youth) literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul (The Time), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party. His first poems volume was published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna to study when he was 19. The poet's Manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14.000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on January 25 1902. Notable works include Luceafărul (Evening Star), Odă în metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects. In general his work was influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

Mihail (as he appears in baptismal records) or Mihai (the more common form that he used) was born in Botoşani, Moldavia, Romania. He spent his early childhood in Botoşani and Ipoteşti, in his parents' family home. In 1850, the family brought an estate in Ipoteşti, 8 km from Botoşani, where was built a house with three rooms: the family saloon, an office and a bedroom. In this house the Eminovici family lived until 1878.


Mihai Eminescu Memorial House

The poet's mother, Raluca, brought for 250 gold coins a little church, that became the family's private chapel. Behind this church are the tombs of Gheorghe and Raluca Eminovici (Eminescu's parents) and of two of his brothers, Iorgu and Nicu. Here is also a symbolic tomb of Mihai Eminescu.


The bedroom

The house where Mihai Eminescu lived remained unused for years and became a ruin. In 1934, the house was rebuilt on the same spot, and was transformed in the first memorial house of this great poet. This house didn’t respected the original structure and was demolished and rebuilt in 1979 after the original projects, on the old Eminovici house foundation. The furniture is partly original, partly from the middle of the 19th century.


The study room

The Memorial contains: the Childhood House, the Eminovici Church, the village church founded by Nicolae Iorga and Cezar Petrescu, a peasant house that belonged to the last owner of the estate - Dr. Papadopol, a library and a museum.


The dining room

The Ipoteşti Memorial has a rich cultural patrimony with many items belonging to the Eminovici family (furniture, crystals, porcelain, silver covers, and old house items). The library contains 32 photo-prints of the poet's manuscripts, letters to Veronica Micle and Titu Maiorescu and many valuable books. Also at Ipoteşti is placed the Eminescu bust made by Gheorghe Anghel.


The private chapel


The church (outside)


The church (inside)

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Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.

Agapia Monastery

Agapia Monastery (Romanian: Mănăstirea Agapia) is a Eastern Orthodox monastery located 9 km west of Târgu Neamţ, Neamţ County, Bukovina, Romania.

The name of the monastery comes from a monk named Agapie who founded a wooden church long time ago. It was named "Old Agapia Monastery" or "Agapia of the Hills Monastery". Elena Doamna, the wife of ruling prince Petru Rareş, decided to build a stone church in 1527 at this location. The church underwent renovation during the reign of Petru Şchiopul at the end of the 16th century. Unfortunately, within a short time it collapsed because of the sloping ground. As a consequence, it had to be re-founded by Gheorghe Duca Voivode, but it was afterwards destroyed by the Eteria militants in 1821. In 1832, Mother Sevastia Munteanu founded a new wooden church on the premises, but it burned down in 1934. The church which exists now at Old Agapia was constructed of stone and wood and was erected before the 1939.

Agapia Monastery ("New Agapia" or "Downhill Agapia") was built between 1642-1647 by hatman Gavriil Coci, the brother of Voivode (ruling prince) Vasile Lupu. The Church dedicated to the Archangels Michael and Gabriel was designed by the court architect of Vasile Lupu, a certain Ionasc (or Enache) Ctisi, possibly originating from Constantinople. The Metropolitan of Moldavia, Varlaam Moţoc, officiated at the consecration ceremony, which Vasile Lupu himself attended. On this occasion, hetman Gavriil donated to the monastery a Gospel book written on parchment and decorated with miniatures of the Evangelists, as well as a silver gilt filigree cross with eight arms.

The inscription on the wall of the church says: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I, slave of God hetman Gavriil and my wife Liliana, made and endowed this Agapia Monastery again, during the days of the right believer and lover of Christ Prince Vasile Lupu. And the construction started in the year 7150 (1642), October, the 15th day, and was completed in 7152 (1644), September, the 3rd, and was consecrated in 7155 (1647), September, the 12th". After the consecration, many of the monks of Old Agapia moved downhill, and little by little, a real monastery was built around the church.

The monastery was attacked and damaged by Turks and Tartars in 1671-1672, robbed by Tartars in 1674-1675 and by Polish in 1680, damaged again by the soldiers of king Jan III Sobieski of Poland between 1689-1693.

The monastery became a convent for nuns in 1803, by order of ruling prince Alexandru Moruzi. He founded also here a school for nuns. On 16 September 1821, the monastery was seriously damaged by a fire, but it was restored soon. It was restored and enlarged between 1848 and 1858 (when the church underwent several notable modifications), between 1858-1862, in 1882, 1903 (after the fire of 23 July) and 1968. It was painted by the great Romanian painter Nicolae Grigorescu, between 1858-1861.

The museum housed within the monastery shelters a valuable art collection as well as a precious collection of liturgical objects. It also shelters the deposit of old book of the County of Neamţ and the “Alexandru Vlahuţă Memorial House”. The library of the monastery incorporates fifty thousand volumes.

Attracted by the beauty of the landscape and the surrounding sights, as well as by the peacefulness of the spiritual life of the holy establishment, many writes and cultural personalities visited this monastery particularly in the summertime. It was here that they could rest and work in peace, far from the maddening crowd. Today, it is one of the largest monasteries of nuns in Romania, with 300-400 nuns and being second in population after Văratec Monastery. The Old Agapia Skete is affiliated to the monastery.

Sources: Romanian Monasteries, 100 Romanian Monasteries.

Bogdana Monastery

Bogdana Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the town of Rădăuți, Bukovina, Romania. Its church is the oldest still standing religious building in Moldavia. The monastery was built by Bogdan I of Moldavia (1359-1365) somewhere around 1360.

It was to become his and some the Muşatini ruling princes (Voievods) necropolis. Here are buried all the rulers of Moldavia from Bogdan I to Alexandru cel Bun. There are ten graves inside the monastery's church. In the naos were buried Bogdan I; Laţcu Voievod; an unmarked grave supposedly Maria's (Bogdan I's wife), or Ana's (Laţcu's wife); Ştefan I; Roman I; Bogdan, brother of Alexander the Good; Bogdan, son of Alexander the Good. In the pronaos are the graves of Doamna Stana, wife of Bogdan III the One-Eyed and the mother of Ştefăniţă Vodă; Anastasia, daughter of Laţcu; Bishop Ioanichie (?-1504).

The grave were attended to, and marked properly by Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great). The rocks on top of the graves were created by Jan (ca. 1480) at the order of Ştefan cel Mare, in a style that is different by principle from the oriental decorative sculpture. They are decorated with Byzantine-oriental ornaments like palmetto – a stylized palm leaf, and local motives like leafs of beech, ash tree leafs, elm tree leafs.

The beginnings of Bogdana Monastery and St. Nicolae Church are lost in the darkness of time, in the time of Moldavian feudal state’s birth. During the years, this exquisite architectural monument bared an historic, religious and cultural role. Despite the harsh times, the church resisted for centuries to the Tartar and Turkish invasions, plunders, wars, and Habsburgic domination, being along the time a proof of national Romanian spirit.

During Alexandru cel Bun, the church became a bishopric place, the bishops having their residence in the monastery. Some historian claim that Bogdana Monastery was a metropolitan residence until July 26, 1401, when the Moldavian Metropolitan Church was officially recognized by the Constantinople Patriarchy and the metropolitan seat was moved in Suceava.

Except the porch added by ruling prince Alexandru Lăpuşneanu in 1599, the monastery, carved in raw rock, maintained its initial shape of basilica adjusted to the orthodox cult. The first internal painting of the church is from the times of Alexandru cel Bun (14th century). In 1558, Alexandru Lăpuşneanu started the restoration of the original painting. Other restorations were performed in the 18th and 19th centuries: between 1745-1750, in the time of Bishop Iacob Putneanul and in 1880 when Epaminonda Bucevschi, a Bukovinean painter, painted in tempera the current fresco.

The plan of the church has Romance and Gothic influences, without towers, typical for the early Moldavian architecture. The external walls are consolidated by buttresses and decorated with one plank of niches in the higher part. It constituted an important model for the development of the Moldavian architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Here there were placed also the basis of the religious education in Moldavia, by the establishment of a new school. The schoolmasters were monks, and among the monks apprentices there were people who learned the science of writing to become boyars of the princely Chancellery or teachers needed by the bishop’s Chancellery. Because of the cultural activity that took place from its first years, of the monks’ school and of the printing house that spread its books along Maramureş and Transylvania regions, Bogdana monastery proved to be a real cultural center, maintaining the nation, tongue and faith of the Romanians.

Sources: Wikipedia, Cultural Romtour, Destinaţii turistice.

Putna Monastery

Putna Monastery (Romanian: Mănăstirea Putna) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery, one of the most important cultural, religious and artistic centers established in medieval Moldavia; as with many others, it was built and dedicated by ruling prince Stephen the Great. It is situated about 30 km northwest from the town of Rădăuţi, near the Putna River. The story goes that it was built in a general area picked out by Stephen's advisor, Daniel the Hermit. The exact position of the church was left up to God when Stephen went to the top of a hill and fired an arrow— wherever it fell the church would be built. A section of tree trunk containing the arrow hole is still kept in the monastery museum and a cross marks the spot from which the arrow was shot. Apparently, a forest was cleared for the building of the monastery.

Right after Stephen the Great won the battle in which he conquered the Chilia citadel, he began work on the monastery as a means to give thanks to God, on July 10, 1466 - the church was to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The terrain on which the monastery is built is believed to have been previously occupied by a fortress. A chronicle of the time mentions that Stephen bought the Vicovu de Sus village in exchange for 200 zlots, and awarded the land and revenue to the treasury of the monastery. The edifice was built between 1466 and 1469 and consecrated in 1470; to it was added a few more buildings: a princely home standing on the southern side, outer walls and defense towers; all of them completed in 1481. A few years only after the completion of the buildings and fortifications, a dreadful fire destroyed most of the church, the outer walls and the princely home. The following years, the prince and founder rebuilt the church that soon recovered its former lofty appearance. In 1536, another conflagration seriously damaged all the buildings; there followed a new restoration completed in 1559, on the initiative and at the expense of ruling prince Alexandru Lăpuşneanu (1552-1561; 1564-1568).

Despite subsequent restoration work, partial or complete, time, earthquakes and landslides caused a lot of damage to all the monuments Putna Monastery consists of leaving their indelible marks on them, so that the church more especially required renovation and repairs. It was destroyed again in 1653 by the Cossack army of Timuş Hmelniţchi, the son-in-law of Prince Vasile Lupu. In 1653, the church, which had been built in the 15th century, was pulled down to its foundations and replaced in 1653-1662 by ruling prince Vasile Lupu and his successors, by a new building which, with slight alterations, has lasted to this day. In this period, the princely residence and the precinct walls were also enlarged and repaired. However, this important restoration did not last more than three quarters of a century, for in 1739; Putna Monastery was destroyed by a powerful earthquake, which made it necessary to start ample restoration work between 1757 and 1761, upon the initiative and with the endeavors of Metropolitan Iacov Putneanul.

Another important stage in the building of the monastery in the past was marked by the restoration work effectuated from 1854 to 1856, when the precincts were enlarged and new walls were erected, 23 m to the north of the previous ones. New cells were built parallel to the wall; the old princely residence was demolished, a new building - including a kitchen, a refectory and cells - was erected, together with a new abbey on the western side and a chapel on the north side. Restoration work on the monastery was started again towards the close of the 19th century, under the supervision of the Austrian architect K.A. Romstorfer.

Ample scientific restoration work was under way in 1969, when the church, the treasury tower, the entrance tower and the belfry - built in 1882 to replace a 15th-century tower - were restored in succession. Between 1974 and 1977, the former abbey standing on the western side of the courtyard was replaced by a wooden building, a museum housing art collections, while the cells built in 1854-1856 on the northern side were replaced and renewed.

The size and complex plan, the rich decorations (carved stone, terracotta and paintings)as well as the appearance for the first time in the ecclesiastical architecture of Moldavia of the exonarthex and of arches arranged slantingly in the vaulting of the pronaos are the basic characteristics of the earlier church of Putna Monastery, making of it a brilliant prototype in which the most important achievements of the previous epoch perfectly combine with the valuable renewing contribution of Stephen the Great's master builders who erected the monument.

The church was unusually large for its time, but the explanation was that it was built to be the burial place of Stephen the Great, his family and his successors. The thick walls are made of massive blocks of stone, and twelve buttresses support the walls. Originally there were only six, and the other six were added during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although the present church follows the ground plan of a typical 15th and 16th century Moldavian church, it has many architectural and decorative features that are typical of 17th century churches. The exterior walls are not the smooth façades of earlier times, but two rows of blind arcades go around the building, smaller ones above the twisted stone cable, and tall ones below it. The tall windows of the exonarthex, three on the west façade and one each on the north and south façades, follow the shape and size of the tall blind arcades. Their upper parts are decorated with intricately carved stone tracery. All the other windows are much smaller, with pointed arches and square carved stone frames. It had been usual to have only one window in each of the three apses, but here there are three windows in each apse, another late influence. It seems that the church was initially painted both on the inside and on the outside, but unfortunately, none of the frescoes could be preserved.

A short time after it was built, Putna Monastery became an important center of Romanian medieval art and culture. As early as 1467, scribes, calligraphers and miniature painters who had learned their craft under Gavril Uric came from Neamţ to work at Putna Monastery. Besides skillful calligraphers and miniature painters, many embroiderers, icon makers, weavers, silversmiths, sculptors in wood and book-binders toiled on in the quiet atmosphere of the monks' cells at Putna. Special mention should be made of the sumptuous and elegant Four Gospels created here, adorned with miniatures in which perfect drawing combines with a motley color scheme in which gold prevails, as well as the fine embroideries (epitaphs, iconostasis curtains, coverings of tetra-pods and of graves, stoles, etc.), many of them on show in the museum of the monastery.

Sources: Wikipedia, Braşov Travel Guide, Romanian Monasteries.

Humor Monastery

Humor Monastery is located about 5 km north of the town of Gura Humorului, Bukovina, Romania. It is a monastery for nuns dedicated to the Dormition of Virgin Mary, or Theotokos. It was built in 1530 by Teodor Bubuiog, high chancellor of ruling prince Petru Rareş. The monastery was closed in 1786 and was not reopened until 1990. The monastery is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

The ruins of the first church of Humor Monastery, or Homor, as it was known at that time, are about 500 m down the road. A document issued by ruling prince Alexandru cel Bun in 1415 confirmed that Judge Ivan (Oană) had built a monastery in Homor. Judge Ivan was a wealthy boyar who also had houses and a stone church in Tulova. The ruins show a small monastic church with three apses, and possibly a dome above the naos, as indicated by the massive supporting pilasters in the corners of the room. A square pronaos was added to the structure some time later. The church was built of massive blocks of stone, decorated outside with enameled ceramic discs and painted inside, as fragments of paint recovered by archaeologists show.

The church is smaller than other churches of the painted monasteries and does not have any cupolas. Otherwise, it preserves the same traditional three-cusped plan proper to most other painted monasteries. Humor is protected by a wooden stockade rather than a stone rampart, and lacks the characteristic spire - indicating that it was founded by a boyar, not the ruler. The belfry with a belvedere was erected in 1641, under Vasile Lupu's rule.

The particular element is the open porch with arches, an innovation for that time. The open porch is separated from the nave by three columns connected through broken arches which have crossed vaults. The windows frames are Gothic. The open porch with arcades was the first of its kind to be built in Bukovina, an innovation influenced by both the local building tradition (veranda, terrace) and the foreign Renaissance (the lodge found later in the Brâncovenesc style). Another innovation is the tainiţa, a hidden place above the burial-vault, where precious objects were kept in harsh times.

Humor was one of the first of Bukovina's painted monasteries to be frescoed and, along with Voroneţ, is probably the best preserved. The dominant color of the frescoes is a reddish brown, completed nevertheless by rich blues and greens. The master painter responsible for Humor's frescoes, which were painted in 1535, is one Toma of Suceava.

The subjects of the frescoes at Humor include the Siege of Constantinople and the Last Judgment, common on the exterior of the painted monasteries of Bukovina, but also the Hymn to the Virgin inspired by the poem of Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople relating to the miraculous intervention of the Theotokos in saving the city from Persian conquest in 626. The Persians are, however, depicted as Turks which is a common device in these monasteries, their paintings being used in part for political propaganda in addition to their spiritual meaning.

The tombstone of Teodor Bubuiog is situated under his portrait and that of his wife’s. Petru Rares and his wife are both buried in the monastery church as well. Humor Monastery held for many years the valuable 'Humor Gospel', a book dating back to 1473, painted by monk Nicodim and displaying a famous portrait of Stephen the Great. The monastery houses a valuable collection of icons dating back to the 16th century. The monastery, underwent several restoration works, in 1868, 1888, 1960-1961, 1967-1970, and 1971-1972, when the paintings were washed.

Stephen the Great, miniature in Humor Gospel

Sources: Wikipedia, Romanian Monasteries, Orthodox Photos

Arbore Monastery

Arbore Monastery is located in the northeastern part of Romania, in the Bukovina region, about 30 km from the town of Suceava. Arbore Monastery is among the famous painted monasteries in Romania and it was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

The monastery was built between the 2nd of April and the 29th of August 1503, by Luca Arbore, in the village of Soloca, that he owned. He was one of the important boyars of Ştefan cel Mare, being since 1486 the gatekeeper of Suceava. He defended bravely the Suceava Fortress in 1497 against Polish attacks. Five month later, he erected the monastery, next to his private residence, meant as a family chapel and cemetery. Luca never saw the paintings of his monastery completed because he was beheaded along with two of his sons, having been falsely accused of treachery. The church was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.

The church has a rectangular plan at the outside without a tower. The extremely elegant silhouette of the building is emphasized by the wall extension to the west by about 2,5 meters, and their union above, through an arch; originally thought as a space for the steeple, a new architectural element in Moldavia of the time.

It has remarkable fresco paintings against a predominant green background. The green is in five shadows and 47 hues combined with red, blue, yellow, pink and ochre. Unfortunately the secret of combining colors held by the painters of Arbore is now lost. However, scientists were able to identify thirty substances, including animal size, vinegar, egg, gall and honey. Restorers can now only stabilize what has been left of the frescoes. The interior paintings were seriously damaged in the 17th-18th centuries when the church remained without its roof.

The paintings were made by a team led by Dragoş Coman from Iaşi. The artist proves to be a genius: a widely-traveled man, he innovates, has a new vision different from the one of his predecessors, he succeeds in making a bold synthesis of oriental and western elements, well integrated in tradition though. Most of the paintings represent scenes taken from the Genesis and the Saints' Lives. They are delicate and vivid, whereas houses are drawn in perspective. The best preserved frescoes are found on the relatively sheltered south and west walls.

Among the most valuable scenes one may see are The Hymn of the Prayers to the Virgin, The Siege of Constantinople, The Last Judgment, The Prodigal Son and many others. The Siege of Constantinople is a syncretic representation of the attacks of Persians, Avars and Slaves upon Constantinople in 617. The Journey of the Magi, the Holy Virgin and other scenes show the painter's disposition to rocky landscape against a predominantly green background, like in the Last Judgment where he finds his own solutions to render the characters' movement fluid. In the Prayer of All Saints on the apse, Christopher, the defender against death, with Baby Jesus on his shoulder is also among the martyr saints, it is a unique and unusual image for Moldavia, influenced by the mural painting in Catholic countries.

The two heavy slabs of stone preserved near the church since the time it was painted, have fifteen small holes which used to serve as containers for the mixing of colors. Traces of pigment corresponding to the frescoes have been found in the hollows on their surface.

In the narthex, which also functions as a burial chamber, one may find the tombs of the church founders, Luca Arbore and his Polish wife, Iuliana, decorated with unusual Gothic stonework that bears a strong Polish influence. The icon screen dates from about the same time as the church itself. It is heavily encrusted with smoke, but paintings underneath are intact, preserved by the very grime which obscures them. Inside the monastery, an ethnographic museum with a rich display of the region's most valuable assets is worth visiting. The monastery was restored between 1909-1914 and 1936-1937.

Sources: Braşov Travel Guide, MarvaoGuide, CreştinOrtodox.

Moldoviţa Monastery

Moldoviţa Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox monastery situated in the commune of Vatra Moldoviţei, Suceava County, Bukovina, Romania. The Monastery of Moldoviţa was built in 1532 by ruling prince Petru IV Rareş, who was Ştefan III cel Mare's illegitimate son. It is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

Alexandru cel Bun built the first monastery in Moldoviţa on the banks of the Moldoviţa River at the beginning of the 15th century. The site chosen was far from other villages, in the middle of the forest. He donated lands and Tartar slaves to the establishment, and the first community around the compound was created. The monastery is mentioned for the first time in a document of 1402, and successive other documents tell of new donations. There is no record of how, or when, the monastery was destroyed, but possibly an earthquake ruined it at the beginning of the 16th century. Only low stone ruins remain of the first church. It was built of rough blocks of stone on a triconch plan, with three apses. Originally, it had only a chancel, a naos and a narrow pronaos. When the monastic community increased in size, a second, much larger, pronaos was built to the west end of the edifice.

The Moldoviţa Monastery, the one we can see today, was rebuilt on safer ground. The monastery consists of a fortified quadrangular enclosure with towers, thick walls (6 m high, 1.2 m wide) and brawny gates, with a magnificent painted church at its center. The second (after Humor) and the last church with open porch, hidden place above the burial-vault, recesses in the apses and niches under the cornice - elements specific to the monuments of Stephen the Great's period.

The church is built on the usual triconch plan of three apses used for all monastic establishments. The church is rather long, as it has, besides the obligatory chancel, naos and pronaos, a burial chamber and an exonarthex. A graceful octagonal lantern tower with four windows stands above the naos, and a hidden treasury room was built above the burial chamber. The open exonarthex with large openings is its most distinctive feature. The long façades are smooth, except for a row of small niches that surrounds the whole church. The three apses are decorated with tall niches that reach almost to the eaves. The four big pronaos windows have pointed Gothic arches and stone tracery in the upper part. The other five windows are much smaller, with slightly pointed arches and a square frame of crossed rods.

The church was painted in 1537 both inside and outside. It is said that Moldoviţa's frescoes were painted by Toma of Suceava in 1537, but the significant stylistic differences between various scenes indicate that there must have been several painters at work in Moldoviţa. The exterior painting of the Church of the Annunciation is the best preserved among all the painted churches of Bukovina. Especially on the south and east façades, there are paintings that have not been faded by the passage of time, and that are able to suggest how bright the decorated façades were during the reign of Prince Rareş.

Just under the eaves are 105 niches, each painted with an angel. On the western pillar, just to the left of the entrance and the tall opening of the south façade, there are three Military Saints on prancing horses and with either a lance or a sword in hand. Farthest up is St. George, then St. Demetrius and St. Mercurius. On the south façade is the Akathistos Hymn as usual. The 24 stanzas of the Hymn cover four registers. First come the twelve historical stanzas that recount the birth of Christ: The Annunciation, The Conception, The Virgin Mary Meets St. Elizabeth, The Doubting of Joseph, The Birth of Christ, The Way of the Three Magi to Bethlehem, The Adoration of the Magi, The Return of the Three Magi, The Flight to Egypt, and The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

The inner painting is faithful to the tradition, but The Crucifixion (placed in the naos) is considered the most valuable work on this theme from the churches of Bukovina. In the apse of the altar, the scene from The Last Supper presents Jesus Christ in the center. The richness of the figurative and decorative elements is impressive, what the painting of Holy Mary is concerned, placed in the arch of the pronaos. The same can be said about the Gracious Mother of God, painting placed in the tympanum of the portal. The color specific to Moldoviţa Monastery is yellow.

The small museum in the north west corner, which houses several fine tapestries woven from pure gold and silver thread. It also preserves 15th-century manuscripts in which important references are made to the way the monastic school was organized, to the cultural activity in general. The Tetra-Evangelistary (1613) and a Psalter (1614) were written in a decorative hand here. Petru Rareş' princely throne (16th century) is the most valuable work of this kind in Moldavia. Of utmost value are also the embroideries donated by Stephen the Great (15th century). There is also a silver-chased Evangelistry presented by Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, which has not only a highly artistic and religious value, but also an intrinsic one, as each and every page of this book was made from the skin of an unborn lamb.

Sources: Wikipedia, Braşov Travel Guide, Romanian Monasteries.

Suceviţa Monastery

Suceviţa Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox convent situated in the Northeastern part of Romania. It is situated near the Suceviţa River, in the village Suceviţa, 18 km away from the city of Rădăuţi, Suceava County. It is located in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina. It was built between 1581 and 1584 by Gheorghe Movilă, Bishop of Rădăuţi, and finished by ruling prince Ieremia Movilă, his brother, and ruling prince Simion Movilă. Both the Movilă brothers are buried at the monastery.

Suceviţa is the largest and also the last built of the painted monasteries of Bukovina. The first foundation of the Movilă family, that preceded the present monastery complex was a more modest church, dating from around 1581. During the reign of Petru Şchiopul (Peter the Lame), the Movilă brothers became counselors of the ruling prince enjoying a prosperous economic position, and such began erecting an ample monastery.

Suceviţa was a princely residence as well as a fortified monastery. It is surrounded by thick, fortified walls. The enclosure walls and towers give the monastery the aspect of a medieval citadel. Ieremia Movilă added to the church two open porches (to the North and to the South); he also built massive houses, the surrounding walls (6 m high, 3 m thich) and defense towers on each corner. The legend has it that an old woman had been working there for thirty years, carrying in her ox wagon stone for the construction of the monastery. This is the reason why a female head is carved on a black stone in the monastery's yard. The church architecture has harmonious combination of the Byzantine and Gothic art elements.

Like all the painted monasteries, the church, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, is frescoed inside and out. Yet, the Western Wall is blank. Legends say that the artist fell off the wall scaffolding and was killed, so it remained undecorated. Frescoes are painted in purple red and blue against an emerald green background and are the work of two master painters, Ioan and his brother Sofronie from Suceava. The inside painting is represented on the all available surfaces, according to the traditional iconographic program, but enriched by theological themes less customary in Moldavia. The two most outstanding frescoes are the Ladder of Virtue, showing the saints ascending to heaven whilst sinners (depicted as Turks) fall down to be taken by demons, and the Last Judgement, which was left unfinished when its painter fell from the scaffold and died. Another painting of note is that of the Siege of Constantinople, showing the degree to which this event affected the Orthodox Christians of Moldavia.

Suceviţa Monastery was first inhabited by monks in 1582. During the communist era, only nuns over 50 were allowed to stay at Suceviţa. Today it is a nun convent, the sisters living a simple life in daily prayers, and growing their land. The monastery museum keeps one of the richest and most valuable medieval art collections of Moldavia. Suceviţa Monastery is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sources: Wikipedia, MarvaoGuide, Braşov Travel Guide.