The Polovragi Cave

In the North of Oltenia, not far from Polovragi Monastery, the valley of Olteţ River develop in the Jurassic limestone from the South of Parâng Mountains and of Căpăţânii Mountains a very abrupt relief about 200-300 m, which shelter the beautiful Olteţ Gorges. The gorges, with parallel walls, at 3-4 m distance in the lower part and 10-20 m in the upper part, let pass only a little light, but one can see many erosion levels, with many caves, most of them inaccessible.


The biggest and the most interesting of the caves from Olteţ river is The cave of Pahomie from Polovragi, cut in the left side of the gorges at 200 m from the entrance. The name Polovragi comes from an ancient plant, called Polovraga, in the Carpathian Mountains, used by the ancient Dacians as a panacea in their medicine. Pahomie, a monk from the nearby monastery, lived here in the XVIIth century and made a few drawings on the walls.

A wall painting known as "The Death", or "The Grim Reaper".

Cornel Bălosu, a specialist from the Oltenia Museum, says that from the 5th century to the 17th century, the left side of the body was considered the devil's side, (this survives in English in the word "sinister" which derives from the latin for "left") so the image above keeps the scythe in the left hand. This image made in white on black is painted in simple colors, because in all paintings from the middle ages in churches, the colors used were white/yellow (for the bones) on a black background, the fearsome color of death. Also, the painting of Pahomie's Death keeps its head to the right, because the tradition is that if the left part of the body was evil, the right part was for the forces of good. So when someone died, the head was turned to the right, with force if necessary, when the body was placed in the coffin.

Photo by Sorin (Panoramio)

It is a long cave, over 27000 m (900m electrified), having the main gallery mostly horizontal from which starts some lateral galleries most of all clogged by alluvia. Along the gallery three sectors are distinct. First till the Gallery of the Pillar, and starts with two little side galleries the important one being the right one named Bats Gallery. The electrified gallery continues with 2-8 m height and around 10 m width. There are frequent falls, flows from the ceiling, chimneys; here are opening little secondary galleries adorned with lime.


The ogiva sector, bordered by the Pillar Gallery and the Suffocated Gallery, starts at approximately 400 m from the entrance. Have the same width, but its height vary from 0.5 to 2 m. Concretion rate is reducing. The last sector, the Suffocated Gallery at the Northern end of the gallery continues the cave till a clogged whirlpool. Here the height and the width are reduced, and the stalagmite formations are more frequent at the end of the sector. The cave is relatively warm, wet and without air currents. The biospeleology of the cave is not very interesting, having a poor fauna and single troglobiont specie: Trachysphera spelaea. The cave is interesting especially from geomorphologic and landscape point of view.

The Polovragi Monastery

The Polovragi Monastery, Gorj County, is one of the most important religious and artistic monuments which attracts the admiration and the appreciation of the visitors from our country and from abroad. It is a convent for nuns and its dedication day is “Assumption of the Virgin”, 15 August.


The most recent researches based on two Slavonic inscriptions, establish the building date of the Polovragi Monastery about 1505. It is attributed to Radul and Pătru, Danciul Zamona's sons, which are mentioned in a document issued by Prince Basarab the Young (1477-1481), on 18th January 1480. This document is also the first documentary attestation of the village of Polovragi. The founder of the present church of the Polovragi Monastery is the chancellor Danciul Pârâianu of Mileşti, according to the document issued by Prince Matei Basarab (1632-1654), on 16th July 1648. He built the church on the old foundation preserving only the lower part of the walls, which were in a better condition. When it was finished, its founder Danciul Pârâianu dedicated it to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The great voivode Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714) redeemed it in 1693 and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Hurezi Monastery. Consequently, the voivode ordered a start to be made on the complete renovation of this establishment.


The church is built in the Byzantine style on a trefoil plan. Its interior is divided into several sections: an ante-nave, a nave and an altar, which are specific of the Orthodox churches. The painting of the church is particularly important both from an iconographic point of view and its technical execution, with particular characteristics. The paintings inside the church were made between 1703 and 1712 by the renowned master-painters of the painting school of Hurezi (Horezu). In the porch, on the east wall one can admire the two iconographic representations, unique in our country, of the monasteries from the Mount Athos, as well as images from the two Testaments and from the Lives of the Saints. The interior painting is preserved in the original form. It is about 250 years old and it has a particular artistic value. The coloring on the blue background is harmonious and sober. The iconostasis is a real masterpiece of the old Romanian wood carving. Its rich ornamentation strikes by its fineness and brilliancy.



The church is surrounded by the buildings of the Monastery. They date from Constantin Brâncoveanu's epoch and form a stronghold where there are cells, the workshop, the refectory and other dependencies. On the northern side of the precinct of the Monastery there is the Infirmary Church built in 1732 by abbot Lavrentie. It is in Byzantine style, and the interior walls are covered by a delicate painting.



The Polovragi Monastery has a very interesting collection of vestments, epitaphs, icons, crosses, censes, musical manuscripts and religious books. Here we can see too Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu's iptych.