Râmeţ Monastery

Râmeț Monastery is one of the oldest and most renowned worship places in Romania. It is located in Alba County, Transylvania, in Trascău Mountains (Western Carpathians).

Râmeţ Monastery

It seems that the monastery was founded by two monks, father Ghenadie and father Romulus, in 1214. The great scholar Nicolae Iorga showed that the name "Râmeț" is derived from "eremite" (lonely monk). The painting of the old church is a real chronicle of it's history: the first layer is from 1300, and the second layer from 1310. The third layer, on which a text that dates back to 1377 can be deciphered, was laid on the surface of the arch that is situated between the nave and the pronaos; the fourth layer dates from 1450, the fifth layer from 1600, the sixth layer from 1741, and the seventh layer from 1809. The church was painted again by Grigore Popescu between 1987 and 1988.

The old church

Since 1506, the monastery was protected by ruling prince of Wallachia, Radu the Great. During the reign of Michael the Brave, it was restored by princely craftsmen an painters, as Petre the Armenian, Mina and Nicolae from Crete. The holy establishment was abandoned for one hundred years. On 20th August 1762, the monastery was destroyed by cannons on the orders of General Bukow, because it was one of the most celebrated Orthodox places of worship, as well as one of the most powerful centers of Orthodox spirituality in Transylvania. The monastery ran a school which was also devasted in 1762. During the following years, Râmeţ Monastery underwent extensive repairs and restoration works. Nevertheless, it was again destroyed by the Austrian imperial army on December 23, 1785.

The new church

In 1826, the monastery was transformed into a parish church and in 1932 it became a monastery all over again. The newly acquired monastic status was owed to the persevering efforts of a monk, father Evloghie Ota. In 1955, it was transformed into a female monastic community, but in 1960, it was closed down and turned into a touring chalet. In 1982, the monastery received once again official approval from the local state authorities to resume the religious activities that are regularly carried out in a monastic establishment; yet, the outbuildings designed for monastic domestic uses were still occupied by lay lodgers. In order to regain possession of these outbuildings, father confessor Dometie Manolache, Mother Superior Ierusalima Ghibu and the dedicated monastic residents set about constructing a touring chalet outside the monastery grounds. In 1969 the monastery set up a museum to exhibit icons on wood, icons on glass, old books, and an important numismatic collection. The personalities relating to the existence of the museum include: Nicolae Iorga, Vasile Drăguț and Virgil Vătășianu.

Saint Ghelasie

The need of the believers required the building of a new and larger church. The architecture of this church represents a synthesis of the Moldavian and Wallachian architectural styles. Its construction began in 1982 and was finished ten years later, when the church was consecrated on June 29, 1992, and dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Saint Ghelasie of Râmeţ was father superior of the monastery and the archbishop of Transylvania in the second half of the 14th century, and was canonized the same day. The monastery houses some 95 nuns and sisters who pray and work according to the holy canons of the Orthodox monasteries.

Tismana Monastery

The Holy Monastery of Tismana is one of the oldest, the most important and the most beautiful monasteries in Romania. This monument, built in the middle of nature, is perfect for those who want to gather their thoughts, to be close to God and to know the Romanian Orthodox religion.


Settled on Starmina Mountain, surrounded by wooded, rocky peaks, the monastery took its name from a coniferous tree called “tisa”, that used to grow around here long time ago. On the occasion of some archeological works, there were discovered the ruins of an old Daco-Roman fortress; in the ancient language of the Dacians, the word “tismana” meant “fortified place”.


It was founded in the 14th by Saint Nicodim the Pious, with the financial support of the ruling princes Radu I (1377-1383) and his sons Dan I (1384-1386) and Mircea the Old (1386-1418) from Besserab dinasty. Near the monastery, there was a small church made of the wood of a big “tisa” tree. It was consecrated in August 15th, having the dedication on the Pure Vergin’s Dormition and it is historically attested in a charter of Leader Dan, written on October 3rd, 1385.


The architecture of Tismana Monastery is in the Byzantine style of the 14th century, resembling the churches in Macedonia and Athos, also showing a few Romanian architectural elements. The actual church of the monastery is built directly on the rock, following a triconic plan with steeples on the nave, pronaos and porch. Along the years, it suffered many transformations. The church was painted in 1564 by Dobromir from Tîrgovişte, being financially supported by the great magistrate Nedelcu. The painting is in the post-Byzantine style, in a polychrome fresco, applied on the initial monochrome fresco. In 1732, the archimandrite Ioan restored the painting in the Saint Altar and in the naos. In the pronaos, the fresco from 1564 was not destroyed but there was applied a new fresco in 1766. Beginning with 1955, the paining in the pronaos started to be prickled and placed on the walls of the museum and on the corridors of the hermitages. The first fresco, thje one from 1564, was restored. The porch of the church had been demolished in Prince Bibescu’s time (1842- 1848) and it was rebuilt in 1983, following Saint Nicodim’s plans. In the same period, the whole monastery and all its dependencies were restored, the coordinator of the restoration work being the engineer Ioan Sălăjan, the actual bishop of Harghita and Covasna. In 1994, the porch of the church was painted by Grigore Popescu from Câmpulung Muscel, in a Byzantine style, having an appropriate design and a discrete harmony of colours. The iconographic presentation is also unique, as some newly discovered Daco-Roman saints were painted for the first time.


The Monastery of Tismana had an extraordinary treasure, now lost because of the numerous hardships that came over the monastery during the centuries. A great part of the valuable objects of the monastery are now at the Art Museum in Bucharest. Among these objects, the most valuable is The Saint Nicodim’s Gospel – a complex work of art, valuable by the beauty of its writing and the miniatural ornaments. Its covers are made of golden silver. This is the oldest Romanian manuscript and the oldest silver cover. The museum also has a rich collection of mural paintings (taken from the pronaos in 1766), old icons on wood, religious objects, old books and clerical robes.


Inside the church there is a holy silver coffin, made by Gheorghe Stoica. It contains three pieces of holy relics of: Saint Nicodim, Saint Ignatie Theofor and Saint John the Golden Mouth, together with the cross worn by Saint Nicodim. On the cover and inside the holy coffin these saints are presented in medallions. On the exterior there are some life scenes and some miracles made by Saint Nicodim. In the porch of the church there is Saint Nicodim’s tomb, watched by an ever burning candle.




The Holy Monastery of Tismana is a special place not only for its wonderful position but most of all for its spiritual mission that was given to it in the life of the Romanian people. It is a holy place where we can feel close to God and His saints, it is a place where miracle is present every day. It cannot be otherwise, for when Saint Nicodim was on his dying bed, he promissed to give his love and help to all those who would come here, to Tismana (from www.manastireatismana.ro).

Antim Monastery

Antim Monastery is an architectonic, sculptural and pictorial complex that represents the synthesis of an artistic evolution in art and one of the 18th century’s most representative monuments of Romania. The Antim Monastery is located in Bucharest, on Mitropolit Antim Ivireanu Street, no. 29. The monastery was erected between 1713 and 1715 by the metropolitan bishop of Wallachia, Antim Ivireanu.


Sacred to "All Saints", the church was built after architectural plans drawn by Antim Ivireanu himself, a connoisseur of the arts of drawing, sculpture, architecture and printing. Two of the monastery plans, executed on paper and parchment, can be admired in the State Archives nowadays. Because of his artistic skills, it is assumed that the frescoes of the Antim church were executed under his direction, after his drawings, or that he took part in the painting of the ensemble, along with the artist Preda Zugravul. A testimony to this assumption is Antim Ivireanu’s manuscript, located at the Romanian Academy, where hundreds of painted medallions of biblical characters prove his talent as a painter.


Between 1860 and 1863, due to earthquakes, floods and poor maintenance, Antim Monastery entered a complex process of restoration, including the conservation of the interior mural painting. Next to significant architectural interventions such as the reconstruction of the two towers, the addition of a neo-gothic rosette in the narthex and the iconostasis replacement, the original mural painting was removed due to its advanced state of degradation and the church was redecorated with oil paintings by Petre Alexandrescu. The scene "Descent from the Cross" by Petre Alexandrescu is a copy of Daniele da Volterra’s famous painting, made in 1541 in the Trinita dei Monti chapel in Rome. By comparison, almost no distinction can be found between the two artworks in terms of design and general composition.


The most recent restoration of the church took place between 2004 and 2006 and focused on the conservation of the interior paintings. The restoration was based on a project made by conservator-restorer Gabriela Stefăniţă and the works were coordinated by architect restorer Claudiu Moldoveanu. The monastery also hosts a museum with religious objects and facts about the life of Antim Ivireanu. (after e-conservation magazine)

Govora Monastery

The monastery was partially constructed during the reign of Vlad Dracul Voivode (ruling prince), to the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century. In 1440, during the reign of his son, Vlad Ţepeş Voivode, it was devastated by boyar (noblemen) Albu cel Mare, and thereafter reconstructed during the reigns of Vlad Călugarul Voivode and Radu cel Mare Voivode between 1492 and 1496.


The exterior of the church was craftsmanship decorated and the windows were embellished with elegant frames made of sculpted stones. The paintings inside the church were executed by master-painters Iosif, Hranite, Teodosie, and Ştefan, under the earnest care of Monk Paisie, the spiritual adviser of the monastery. The iconostasis is an exquisite piece of inestimable value; the icons were painted having a golden background.


The monastery underwent thorough repairs and alterations during the reign of Matei Basarab Voivode between 1640 and 1645. These restorations were made including for installing the printing press that had been donated to the monastery by Petru Movilă, Metropolitan of Kiev. In 1775 the refectory was constructed. The belfry tower and the monastic outbuildings, which are situated on the northern side of the holy establishment, were constructed at the beginning of the 18th century and several significant enlargements and structural modifications were made in the 19th century.


Between 1636 and 1642, in the printing house of the Govora Monastery, there were printed (in the Slavonic language) the following remarkable liturgical books: The Psalter, which was printed in 1637, The Small Book of Religious Rules and Regulations, which was printed in 1640, and the Govora Book of Rules and Regulations – which was the first code of religious regulations written in the Romanian language, subsequent to the printed works of Deacon Coresi (which had been published in Braşov, in the southern part of Transylvania). The rooms of the old printing house have been preserved until now.

The monastic complex was thoroughly renovated in 1957 and in 1969. (from 100 Romanian Monasteries)

Căldăruşani Monastery

Căldăruşani Monastery lies 30 km. from Bucharest to the north-east, on the shore of the lake with the same name. The monastic establishment was founded by ruling prince of Wallachia Matei Basarab (1632-1654). The monastery was built on the location on which, in 1638, there had existed a wooden skeet. Initially, there were constructed three sides of the monastic cells and the eastern defense wall of the holy establishment. The fortress was provided with a watch-tower, which now has become the belfry of the monastery. Worthy of note is the fact that the church building was erected in just one hundred days. It was finished on 26th October, 1638. The beautiful church, which was constructed of bricks and of river stones, attracts the attention of the visitors by its uniqueness.


From the point of view of its architecture, it is three-cusped, being in fact a combination of the architectural styles that are characteristic of the architectural pattern of the princely church of the Curtea de Argeş Monastery, as well as of the church of the Dealu Monastery (which is located in the town of Târgovişte). The paintings inside the church were reconditioned over the succeeding centuries, in 1778, 1817 and 1911. Master Belizarie repainted the church in the third decade of the 20th century.


A school for church painters was founded here in 1778. The renowned Romanian painter Nicolae Grigorescu attended this school within the period 1854-1856. Moreover, in 1825, a painting house was also accommodated within the monastery grounds. Between 1950 and 1958, major extensive repairs and restoration works were initiated by His Beatitude, the Patriarch Justinian and by Father Gherasim Cristea (the abbot of the establishment at the time). Archimandrite Lavrentie Gata set out to rebuild the Abbot's house and added a storey to it; he also supervised the introduction of modern facilities, the central heating system, as well as the construction of several additional outbuildings for monastic domestic uses.



Subsequent to the disastrous earthquake that struck Romania on 4th March, 1977, the church was restored and thoroughly consolidated. The cellar to the right hosts nowadays the Thesaurus, where religious items are kept. The monastery shelters one of the most valuable museum collections of the Patriachy, comprising liturgical objects, sacerdotal attire, icons, old printed books, as well as six icons that were executed by the renowned painter Nicolae Grigorescu. The resident monastic of the Căldăruşani Monastery respect the religious rites of the Holy Mount Athos, performing the divine service of the Seven Lauds round the clock.

Snagov Monastery

40 km North from Bucharest, the traveler arrives in an oak forest, which was once part of a vast forest that covered up until the 18th century the whole Romanian Plain. Well hidden by the forest, a magnificent view of the Lake Snagov unfolds at one’s feet. No use. People have discovered it all, the area being already conquered by hundreds of weekenders. No wonder – its popularity is sustained by the King’s Castle and by Ceauşescu’s somewhat bigger castle.


An island stretches out in the lake at some distance from the shores. It houses Snagov Monastery, a rustic cloister from 1364. The monastery is built in Byzantine Style: walls are built of alternating rows of stones and bricks, the church itself is built in the form of a cross with a semicircular altar. The roof is very much unlike the Byzantine way of building: because of the lower temperatures during winter than in the Greek area, the roofs are steeper, so that the snow can fall down.


When visiting the monastery, something makes you shiver, especially, if you see every now and then, somewhere far away, one of the few monks walking in front of you. Dressed in their black robes and black hoods, they seem to be servants of an evil force. Just enter the church and you shall see why. Inside the monastery one can see the largest assembly of medieval frescoes from Wallachia, dating from the XVIth century.


Snagov village was built around the Snagov monastery. Archeologists confirmed human presence of inhabitants since 400 BC. The first written record of it is found in a document from the court of Mircea cel Bătrân and dated 1408. The name is of probably Bulgarian origin, from the word sneg (meaning "snow"). It might also derived from the Bulgarian snaga, meaning "human body".


The Wallachian Ruling Prince, Vlad Ţepes (known as Dracula), is is supposed to be buried here, after being killed in the nearby forest by the Janissaries during a battle between Wallachian & Ottoman forces. In the middle of the church a thumb has been discovered, with bones of a man in precious clothes. In the Chronicles of the time, he is depicted as a ruthless ruler, who executed his enemies employing the most terrible torments. The same fate had also the thieves. This is why all commercial roads of the country were safest at his time. People say, one could let a carriage full of gold unattended on the road, no one risked stealing even a small piece of gold.