Putna Monastery

PUTNA Monastery Adress:   Putna commune, Suceava County. Dedication day:   Assumption of the Virgin - 15 August. The beginnings of Putna Monastery, the most important religious, cultural and artistic centre in mediaeval Moldavia, take us back to the year 1466 when, upon the initiative of Prince Stephen the Great (1457-1504), a church of impressive dimensions was built on a patch of forest cleared for the purpose. The edifice was erected among 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 defence 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 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. In 1653, the church, which had been built in the 15th century, was pulled down to its foundations and replaced in 1654-1662 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. An attempt at reconstituting the plan and spatial structures of the earlier church at Putna proves that even if its characteristic features - the presence of the burial vault and the vaulting of the pronaos more especially - are to be found in other previous monuments, they were to be taken over and adapted creatively to grace other places of worship built subsequently. The new church, having the same triconch plan, was erected among 1654 and 1662. It was almost the size of the earlier monument and its walls rest partly on the old foundations. There are some important alterations in the vaulting system, while the outer wall on the west, built a little back from the former wall towards the interior, was strengthened by two buttresses supporting obliquely the corners of the building. The wall separating the burial vault from the nave has been replaced by two thick octagonal pilasters resting on strong stone pedestals. The only carved element preserved from the 15th-century church is the monumental porch which links the pronaos to the burial vault; it is rectangular in shape decorated with crossed moldings characteristic of Stephen the Great's epoch. The iconostasis richly carved in wood, dates from 1773 and belongs to the period of constructive upsurge- characterizing Metropolitan lacov Putneanul's pastorate. The only edifice dating from Stephen the Great's time which has been preserved whole - the only evidence that at the time of its first erection Putna Monastery was a genuine fortress, the strongest and loftiest of all Moldavian Monasteries - is the treasury tower, built in 1481, standing on the western side of the precincts. To the same earlier period belong the vestiges of the former princely home and its outhouses which archaeological diggings rediscovered in recent times and made it possible to study them. One reaches the courtyard of the monastery by passing under the entrance lower, reconstructed in 1757 at the expense of Prince Constantin Racovitã (1749-1753; 1756-1757), and on the site or very close to another tower erected by Stephen the Great in 1481. Besides the repeated filling and leveling of the steep sloping terrain, widely different initially -in height from north to south, one can notice in the evolution of the precincts of Putna a concern for the preservation of its fortified character and for a correct use of the inner space. The outer walls of the monastery, first erected in 1481, were successively rebuilt in the mid-seventeenth (1654-1662), eighteenth (1757-1760) and nineteenth (1854-1856) centuries, when the constructors built the new walls on the old foundations dating from the 15th century. On the initiative and with the support of its founders, a short time after it was built Putna Monastery - together with some antecedent monasteries, such as Sucevita, Neamt, Bistrita and Moldovita - became an outstanding habitat of Romanian mediaeval culture. As early as 1467, scribes, calligraphers and miniature painters who had learned their craft under Gavril Uric came from Neamt to work at Putna Monastery. Besides skilful 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. They continued valuable Romanian patterns and achieved works of great artistic value which today are the pride of all museums and libraries housing them. 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 tetrapods and of graves, stoles, etc.), many of them on show in the museum of the monastery. A famous school where Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were taught was set up in the latter half of the 15th century and was open all through the 16th century. One of the outstanding scholars who taught at the school was Eustatie, of Romanian stock, who at the end of the 15th century transcribed the music of several psalms and composed many psalms himself. A careful study of the history of Putna Monastery - an important cultural and artistic centre, a refuge and a defence fortress in times of stress, a princely residence and burial place - reveals that, for Romanians everywhere, the monastery is the symbol of a period of remarkable economic, social and political progress, a telling proof of the permanent aspirations and struggle of the Romanian people for liberty, independence and national unity.

SUCEVIŢA Monastery Adress:   Suceviţa commune, Suceava County. Dedication day:   The Lord’s Ascension - Easter.

The first foundation of Movila family, which was made before the current monastic establishment, was a smaller church, dating from around 1581. Under the rule of Petru Schiopul (1582-1591), the Movila brothers, having become the prince’s councilors and growing more affluent, started the construction of the vast monastery. The first structure of the establishment was the church, built between 1582-1584.

The Sucevita Monastery is located on the Sucevita rivulet valley, into the village with the same name, 18 kilometers southwest from Radauti town. The Monastery was built in the last decades of the 16th century at the expense of the whole Movila family (one of whom, Ieremia, ruled in Moldavia between 1595-1606). After his enthronement as the ruler of Moldavia in 1595, Ieremia Movila extended the church with two little porches by the church entrance, on the northern and southern sides. Ieremia Movila added the enclosing walls with towers, making the monastery like a medieval fortress.

A princely house’s ruins are still visible on the northern side of establishment, as well as cells for the monks. In that time the interior and exterior painting of the church have been done. The church, dedicated to the “Resurrection of Lord Jesus”, was built in the Moldavian architecture style which was consolidated under the rule of Prince Stephen the Great and Saint. Actually there is a harmonious blending of elements of Byzantine and Gothic art, extended with architectural elements of the old wooden churches in Moldavia. A characteristic of the painting at Sucevita it its prevailing narrative feature, as it presents complete cycles of the lives of such saints as : St. Pachomius, St. John the New of Suceava, St. Hierarch Nicholas, St. Martyr George, the Life of Moses, etc., depicted for educative purposes. The painters craft and gift are obvious especially in the treatment of elaborate perspectives, of the post-Byzantine artistic space in this part of Europe. The fresco painting was done by two Moldavian painters, Ioan Zugravul and his brother, Sofronie and it is preserved in its original form. The iconography of the interior and exterior painting sticks to the tradition developed in the early half of the 16th century - the time of Petru Rares. It also introduces some new themes, of a dogmatic-theological nature, such as the scenes in the nave shell, representing the liturgical hymn “Thou, One Born…” and other representations of the Holy Trinity. The votive painting, featuring the whole family of Ieremia Movila, unfolds on the left side of the nave door; on the opposite side there is the other votive painting, featuring Metropolitan Gheorghe Movila, who started the building of the church, as well as the father of the Movila brothers, Ioan Movila, who, before turning monk, in his old years, by the name of Ioanichie, had been a high chancellor. The nave painting features “The life of Jesus Christ the Savior- the Miracles and Passions”. The exterior painting of the Sucevita Monastery is the best preserved one of the group of Moldavian churches with exterior painting the only one that preserves its northern side, where “The Ladder of Virtues” is represented the most impressive scene, due to its wide scale and to the contrast between the order of the angels and the chaos of the hell. The scene features the fight between the good and the evil, man’s effort to step up toward perfection, in order to regain his figure, lost through sin. On the walls of the three apses, in seven registers, there unfolds “The Prayer of All Saints”, a singular theme n the Christian Orthodox art, a creation of the Moldavian painting school.  The southern side is decorated with “The Stem of Jesse” which is based on the ancient philosophers, “The Annunciation Hymn”, “The Burning Bush” and “The Veil of the Virgin Mary”. The mural painting at Sucevita, considered by French art researcher Paul Henry to be “the testament of the Moldavian Art”, rounds off the era of the great creations-the 16th century- whose monuments of exterior painting at Humor, Moldovita, Arbore and Voronet, represent masterpieces of the world art. In the burial chamber rest in peace the two brothers and princes, Ieremia and princes, Ieremia and Simion Movila, whose tombstones, carved in Romanian marble of Ruschita, represent artistic values of the Romanian medieval sculpture. The Sucevita Monastery possesses a collection of objects of real artistic and cultural value, on display in the current museum, formerly the monastery’s council chamber, on the western side of the precincts. Among the exhibits, outstanding are several embroideries of an exceptional value, dating from the 15th-16th centuries, from the time of Stephen the Great and Ieremia Movila, made in gold, silver, silk and pearls. The most important pieces are the portraits of Ieremia and Simion Movila and an epitaph with pearls, the Four Gospels in gilded silver binding, a casket donated by Metropolitan Gheorghe Movila. The iconostasis or the shrine screen that separates the sanctuary from the nave was carved in yew, in the baroque-rococo style, in 1801. In the cultural-artistic ensemble of the Sucevita Monastery, the visitor anxious to know the medieval art of the 15th-16th centuries finds also wood and stone carvings, embroideries, illuminated manuscripts and silver objects. Thanks to its complex value and especially to its cultural religious educative role, the fame of the Sucevita Monastery has long gone beyond the country’s frontiers. This splendid gem of the Romanian Orthodoxy stands finely among the world culture masterpieces. The Sucevita Monastery, that has for four centuries stood proof, by the mountain foot, to the Romanians ancestral belief and history, will endure over more centuries, keeping alive the torch of the Romanian Orthodox spirituality.

Voronet Monastery

VORONEŢ Monastery Adress:   Voroneţ village, Suceava County. Dedication day:   Saint George - 23 April. Through the prayers of Sf. Pious Daniil the Hermit and the zeal of the good and faithful Voievode (Prince) Stephen the Great, the Voronet Monastery was raised up, between the 26th of May and the 14th of September in the year 1488, with St. George the Martyr as its patron saint. In 1547, under the supervision of the Metropolitan bishop Grigore Rosca (whose tomb can now be found here), the porch was added and all the exterior paintings were carried out. From the very beginning of its history, the monastery was blessed with monks of extremely high spiritual caliber, and in the time of St. Pious Daniil the Hermit it was a true example of Romanian hermitage. Monastic life at Voronet was interrupted in 1785 due to the annexation of Bucovina to the Hapsburg Empire, and it became a working monastery again only in 1991, with the arrival of a community of nuns. Under the abbacy of their Mother Superior Irina Pantescu, this new community strives to harmoniously combine a religious life of prayer and workshop with housekeeping and farm work, running a painting workshop and providing guided tours of the monastery for visitors. The paintings in the porch represent the Christian Orthodox Calendar. Many of the icons here bear graffiti-names and scratches- the scars that remain after the 206 years of the monastery’s disuse. Above the entrance, in the narthex, lies a superb icon - "Dulcea Imbratisare" (“the Sweet Embrace") and directly above it, an inscription in stone names the monastery’s founded and the date it was raised. The tomb of St. Pious Daniil the Hermit, who became the first Abbot of Voronet monastery, can also be found in the narthex, watched over by a burning flame. The monastery’s votive painting is found in the nave, were His Majesty Stephen the Great and the Holy along with Lady Maria-Voichita and Bogdan, his heir, are depicted in the act of giving, through the mediation of St. George the Martyr, the Monastery ot our Redeemer Jesus Crist, as a token of gratitude for divine aid given in the battle against the Turkish invaders. Gazing at this votive picture whilst listening to the ringing of the bells which were given to the monastery by its Voievode at the very beginning - bells which now, pulled by our young nuns, seem to call out the name of its founder: Stephan the Grand, back through the centuries, like an eternal requiem - we feel a close affinity to our forerunners, bound to them by invisible threads. A piece of artistic value to be found within the church is the gilded iconostasis, fashioned from Yew-wood, its imperial doors being a true masterpiece of sculpture in wood. Also of a great value is the throne of the Metropolitan Bishop Grigore Rosca, Voronet is considered by many to be the "Sixtine Chapel of the East", due to the magnificent frescoes on the west wall, a representation of the "Last Judgment". In addition, "Voronet Blue" has been added to the lexicon of art alongside colors such as the "Titan Ted" of Rubens and "VeroneseGreen", by specialists who consider it unique. On this blue background can be found the "Tree of Jesse", or the genealogy of Redeemer Jesus Christ. Greco-Latin philosophers are depicted in the borders to the left and right: Aristotle and Plato being amongst the better known philosophers that can be found there, and to the side on the apse the eye is drawn to a beautiful representation of St. Onufrie the Hermit. On the left of the entrance door lies the haloed image of St. Pious Daniil the Hermit. The beautiful "Diesis" Icon rests above the door; it depicts Redeemer our Savior Jesus Christ, the most Perfect Judge, keeping watch over all those who set food across the threshold of our Church, with the Mother of Our Lord and St. John the Baptist to His right and left, mediating on our behalf for mercy. St. George the Martyr, the patron Saint of our monastery, can also be found painted on the buttress to the left, and on the first row of this series of paintings, the prayer "Acatist" of St. Nicholas (above the window) and, lower down the prayer "Acatist" of St. John (Ioan) the New of Suceava. The paintings in the nave and at the Holy Altar are blackened from the smoke of hundreds of years of burning candles, and are awaiting restoration. Tests have already been carried out by art specialists to determine their suitability for restoration, and it has been found that the original colors are well-preserved. This highly precise and costly task will be founded with the also small donations from tourists and worshippers, both Romanian and from abroad, who love Voronet. The Holy Voronet Monastery is an artistic expression of our true faith, and also shows the refinement of our people and their love of all beautiful things. It is our prayer that as well as encouraging meditation, a visit to our all those who come here from all over the world. "And behold, Stefan-voda, traveling from the Neamt Citadel to Moldova, came upon Voronet, where a Hermit priest dwelt, by the name of Daniil. And Stefan voda, upon knocking at the door for the hermit to open it up unto him, heard the Hermit answer that Stefan-voda must wait out of the door, for he was at prayer. And after the hermit had finished his prayers, he called Stefan-voda into his cell, and Stefan-voda confessed unto him. And Stefan-voda asked the Hermit what he might do, so that he should no longer need do the battle with the Turks: should he give up his country to the Turks? And the Hermit answered that he should not give it up, for the battle was to be his, but that after he should be victorious, he should raise up a monastery in that place, in the name of St. George the Martyr as the Patron of its church".  Ion Neculce (Romanian chronicler, 1672-1745).

Arbore Monastery

ARBORE Monastery Adress:   Solca village, Suceava County. Dedication day:   Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, 29 August. Situated at 30 km from Suceava, Arbore Monastery was built between the 2nd of April and the 29th of August 1503, by Luca Arbore, one of Stephen the Great’s generals, in the village of Solca, that he owned. The monument has been consecrated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Having a rectangular plan, the church has walls made of raw stone and vaults made of brick. Smaller than other painted churches, Arbore has a gloomy narthex and a nave with large windows. There is no steeple, as it was built by a landowner, and not by a ruling prince. It has remarkable fresco exterior and interior paintings against a predominant green background, unlike Voronet, where blue predominates. The green is in five shadows and 47 hues combined with red, blue, yellow, pink and ochre. The secret of combining colors was kept by Moldavian master painters to their grave, and is now lost in the mist of time. However, scientists were able to identify thirty substances, including animal size, vinegar, egg, gall and honey. Restorers cannot hope to duplicate the paint: they can only stabilize what has been left of the frescoes. The paintings were made by a team led by Dragos Coman from Iasi. Most of them 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 syncretism representation of the attacks of Persians, Avars and Slaves upon Constantinople in 617. 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, thus providing the large display of shades used by Moldavian painters. In the narthex one may find the tombs of the church founders, i.e. Luca Arbore and his wife, Iuliana. 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, and is a UNESCO protected site.

Moldovita Monastery

MOLDOVIŢA Monastery Adress:   Vatra Moldovitei commune, Suceava County. Dedication day:   Feast of the Annunciation - 25 March. The Moldovita Monastery is one of the old monastic establishments, with an important historical past, that for centuries has stood guard by the frontier of northern Moldavia; situated on the platform between the two creeks, Moldovita and Ciumarna, 15 km far from Vama commune, it is surrounded by the picturesque Obcinele Bucovinei mountain range. The origin of this monastery remains shrouded in the darkness of ages; tradition has it that it was in existence as early as the time of the Musat rulers, who protected it. Under the peaceful rule of Prince Alexander the Kind, the first stone church of the Monastery was built, documented around 1402-1410 with the dedication to “The Annunciation”, and known as early as that for being also a cultural center. The monastery lasted until the end of the 15th century, when landslide made it fall apart; its ruins are still visible, 500 m far from the present monastery. Prince Petru Rares, an arts lover like his father, Stephen the Great, chose to place in a more flat area than that of the old church of Alexander the Kind, and built the current church of Moldovita in 1532, which, he too, dedicated to “The Annunciation”. The most authentic document is the votive inscription carved in stone, written in Slavonic and placed left of the entrance, on the southern facade of the church. In the same period, the prince had the church surrounded with walls and defense towers, making it look like a little fortress. No doubt, there must have been dwellings too, there, as can be inferred from the foundations still visible on the northern side, upon which Bishop Efrem of Radauti built the compound for housing, safekeeping of the church treasure and the school of miniaturists copyists. In terms of architecture, the church retains the traditional three-shelled plan, with five chambers separated by plain walls, penetrated by doors in the middle and with a different vaulting system in each chamber; the Moldavian master-builders introduced also new elements: the monumental open porch with five large arcades, the treasure chamber (the chamber on top of the funeral chamber) and the hemi-socle (the bench) around the church, specific to the structures of the Rares epoch. The bema vaulting is interesting: instead of the four Moldavian arches, there is a system of eight crossing arches the decorative look of which is that of a star. The barrel-vaulted funeral chamber gets light from a southern window. To the north-west, there is a stone stair that leads up to the treasure chamber. The nave has two hemi-circular side apses, continuing with the shrine apse of the same form. On top of the nave there rises the tower, tall circular inside and octagonal outside, standing on two overlapping bases of stellar shape. The vaulting system is the traditional Moldavian one. The votive inscription above the door in the church bema certifies the dates when the interior and exterior painting was done. The treatment of the scenes retains the Byzantine and Renaissance influences and evinces also national Moldavian motifs: landscapes, mountains, flowers, costumes, napkins, etc... in the open porch, on the western wall “The Final Judgment” unfolds on four large registers; The Virgin Mary holding infant Jesus is featured in the lunette of the bema entrance door and this is one the scenes of outstanding artistic, psychological and national value, a masterpiece as it is deemed to be; on the bema vault, there is the virgin Mary with Jesus praying, surrounded by flying angels. Above the funeral chamber entrance door there is the icon of the “Annunciation” dedication. A new iconographic element is the presence of Moses in the Crucifixion scene. The Passions frieze is painted on the side walls of the nave. It starts from the Holy Shrine with three scenes representing the communion of the Apostles, the Last Supper and the Washing of the Feets, and continues in the nave with scenes among which we mention the Last Prayer on Olive Mount, Peter’s Denial, Judgment by Pilate, be mocking Jesus, the Crucifixion, Taking the body off the Cross, Laying the Lord Jesus in the Sepulcher, the Resurrection and the Communion of the Apostles. In the side apses, there are the military saints, on the western-northern wall – the Sts Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena and the Sts Jeremite monarchs; to the west, there is the votive picture: the family of Prince Petru Rares, Lady Elena and their two sons, Ilies and Stefan. The shrine screen is carved in wood, painted and gilded, a real masterpiece. In the shrine shell, the Virgin Mary holding infant Jesus is featured; unlike other churches, where she is fenced by four angels, here the Virgin is sided by her Sts Parents and two angels. A quite special painting is the “Last Supper”: by the U-shaped table, Jesus sits in the middle, not in front, as shown in the scene at the Voronet Monastery; very moving is the attitude of Apostol John, his head leaning against the breast if Jesus, who strokes his shoulder. Jesus Emmanuel, St Peter of Alexandria are featured by the table in the northern wall of the shrine, where the communion is prepared, and St Simeon holding Jesus are featured in the vestry. The exterior painting consists of two large ensembles, subdivide into unitary scenes. On the southern facade column, there are featured the military saints, in motion, full of energy and life, from the top to bottom: St George killing the dragon, St Demetrios killing Lie, St Mercury and, beneath the inscription, St Nestorius fighting Lie. Further, on the same facade, at the upper part, there is the “Annunciation Hymn”, consisting of 24 scenes, illustrating a prayer of gratitude and praise to the Mother of our Lord, a theme which was first introduced in iconography as a miniature from the 11th century and, in fresco painting, first at Mount Ethos. The “Annunciation Hymn” is one of the finest iconographic themes that can be seen in the churches in Bukovina and the Moldovita one is very well preserved. Beneath the “Annunciation Hymn”, other two themes of praise to the Virgin Mary are treated: the first, the “Siege of Constantinople”, a representative lay theme from the time of Petru Rares, is evocative of the battle fought around the city, bearing a historical-religious meaning but also a political and social one, betraying the Romanians with to get rid of the Ottoman oppression; like the virgin had helped the Byzantines before to defeat the Persae, the Moldavians hoped she would help them in their fights against the Turks. Treated next to this is the theme of t” The Bush of Moses”, another scene meant as praise and glory to the Mother of our Lord, the same as the “Annunciation Hymn” and the “Siege, all of them illustrating the Orthodox Mariology teaching. The second vast composition on the southern facade, “The Stems of Jesse”, illustrates the genealogy of Jesus Christ and the theme is present with all churches in Moldova with exterior painting; the stem is guarded by the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel, overlapping by twos. Near “the stem of Jesse”, on the abutment, there is another scene of lay inspiration; a group of ancient philosophers: Tucidides, Homer, Aristotle, Arstarchus, Plato, Sybil, Porphirus, Socrates, Aristokritus and Plutarch. The three apses of the church are decorated with an ensemble named the Heavenly and Earthly (fighting) Church, from Slavonic, the “Cin”. It is the biggest ensemble of all the painting, in which the artist had some freedom of action. The theme of the triumphant Church in the Moldavian exterior painting holds an important place in the Orthodox dogma, developed especially by St. Dionysius the Pseudo-Aeropagite. It is represented in painting for educative and religious purposes, meaning to show the great figures of the church who raised themselves on the stages of sanctity and whom the faithful have to follow, as they are examples for a virtuous life. Viewed from this angle, the three features the image of the heavenly liturgy in which all members of the triumphant Church participate, since, according to the Christian Orthodox dogma, the sacrifice of Christ is continued, in a certain way, also in Heavens. Even the saints of the whole “Cin” are featured in the typical attitude of prayers to Jesus, which is a telling proof of the close connection between the triumphant Church in the Heavens and the fighting one on the earth. On the northern facade, the elements have caused some of the painting to fade; still preserved, among others, are two registers illustrating moments of the life of the Sts Parents of the Virgin Mary, scenes with a fine architectural setting. The whole exterior and interior painting, which unfolds according to a precise plan, rests upon a principle which is characteristic not only of the Byzantine Orthodox painting, namely to offer by painting the synthesis of the true Christian religions, as shown by the great iconographers. The church painting is a color Gospel, which is obvious also at Moldovita. Unlike the 15th century painting, the fresco at Moldovita as well as at the other churches of that time, even if truthfully sticking to the same Byzantine tradition, is however more realistic, narrative in character; the subjects, treated at a high artistic level, are a Romanian interpretation of traditional Byzantine themes, as it can be seen in the scenes of the Crucifixion. In all the paintings, the scenes and figures are carefully distributed, seeking to bring to the fore the harmonious proportions of the church; the tall and slender figures of the characters are in harmony with the curved surface of the apses and in the perfect accord with the architecture of the monument; the whole painting seems to be meant to emphasize the architectural features of the church. The green, which represents the earth line, and the blue of the background associates the structure to the grass of the lawn around it and to the sky against which it projects, making the witness think the church has sprung right on the place where it stands, reflecting the surrounding nature. “The lively and variate motions of the characters, especially the processions outside, the trend to humanize certain types, the power of expression of the feelings and the zest of the narration are the main qualities of the Moldovita paining.” Under the rule of Alexander the Kind, the Moldovita Monastery had also an important cultural role. According to tradition, many religious books were copied and decorated in the cells of this old establishment. The most valuable 15th century manuscripts are preserved today in the library of the Dragomirna Monastery. The cultural activity carried on at the time of Alexander the Kind was continued thanks to the efforts of Bishop Efrem of Radauti, a great scholar and founder of the monastery, where he ended his activity in 1626; the prelate organized a school for copyists and miniaturists in the compound: his doing is mirrored in the calligraphic manuscripts: The Four Gospels of 1613 from the Sucevita Monastery and a Psalter of 1684, which is preserved in the collection of the Moldovita Monastery. Efrem, promoted from among the Moldovita Monastery monks, although he had been bishop of Roman and then of Radauti, rests in peace in the funeral chamber. Restored in the recent years, the Moldovita Monastery is part and parcel of the range of great Bukovina religious monuments, honored, among other things, with the distinction Pomme d’Or (Golden Apple), which is now kept in the museum of the Moldavian princes revered foundation. Painting, dress – making and embroidery workshops currently function in the monastic compound.

Humos Monastery

HUMOR Monastery Adress:   Humor village, Suceava County. Dedication day:   Saint George, 23 April. At five kilometers distance off the little town Gura Humorului, in the picturesque village Humor, surrounded by old trees and dewy fields, Humor Monastery is set on a hill’s top in one of the most fascinating of the Suceava count. The Church of the Humor Monastery is a famous foundation of the Middle Ages. Set in the exterior facade above the entrance, a votive inscription carved in stone teaches us the church was founded in 1530 by a Moldavian boyar named Toader Bubuiog and his whife Anastasia, under the reign of Petru Rares. In the vicinity, five hundred meters farther off, are the ruins of another church, older than the Church of Humor Monastery, those ruins belong to an ancient church which was constructed during the reign of Alexander the Kind (1400-1432). For the first time was constructed here the open porch and "tainita" (a hiding room); that room is placed upstairs and is overlapped above the tombs room. From the open porch there is the pronaos (narthex) and, after it, the naos. On the eastern side the church construction is finished with the circular apse of the altar. The altar is separated form the naps by a beautiful ancient iconostasis carved in wood. The Church of the Humor Monastery was entirely painted al fresco as well as Voronet, Moldovita, Sucevita, Arbore churches - all of them in Moldavia. The interior and the exterior walls have been adorned with traditional Orthodox fresco-paintings in Byzantine style. The exterior walls covered by a delicate painting make those five churches unique throughout the Orthodox world. The exterior fresco-paintings of the Humor Monastery's Church were painted in 1535 by Toma Zugravul. The entire painting has conserved the original XVI th century character. Into the church’s pronaos there are a series of images representing the Synaxary (Calendar), the icon of the Assumption of the Mother of the God, the icon of the Achathist Hymn of the Virgin, the portraits of the great hermits of Christianity and angels. On the vault of the tomb’s room are painted the scenes of Holy Virgin's Life. On the walls of the naos were painted mural images representing portraits of the saints and the cycle of Christ Passion and the Entombment; on the vault - Christ Panthocrator. The votive portraits of the founders can be also seen on the walls of the naos. The altar with its sacred images completes this precious ensemble of fresco-paintings. The apse's vault of the altar is reserved to the Holy Virgin with her Son, Last Supper, saints, great hierarchs, according to the Orthodox tradition. Doubtless the most important things which attract the admiration and the appreciation of the visitors, here to the Humor Church are the old painting exterior walls. The important religious themes are: The Acathist of the Annunciation, The Iesei's Tree, and The Last Day of the Judgment. To the bottom of the southern facade was painted the extraordinary scene of the Constantinople’s Siege. That fresco represents a mirror of the historical events concerning the conquest of the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 by the Ottoman army. The all style of the sacred monument, but especially the fresco-painting is strongly connected of salvation's idea of the people; people whom look to the scenes of the salvation's history and they feel the irresistible attraction of the Christian's consummation.

Bukovina's Monasteries

"No other place in the world holds, as Bukovina does, such a highly developed organic painting system; nowhere else in the whole world are there to be found frescoes on both the interior and the exterior sides of the walls of churches which are drawn together within an area so small as if it were an open air museum. Moreover, no other place exhibits frescoes preserved so well as the monasteries which lie at the foot of Bukovinan hillocks. The aesthetic value of those paintings goes well beyond their iconographic, cultural and historic significance, as they can undeniably be ranged among the greatest Byzantine or Renaissance works of art." (Grigore Nandris: "Humanism in Post Byzantine Mural Painting", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1985). Bukovina is a Romanian region situated in the northern part of Moldavia. The name of Bukovina dates back to its annexation by the Hapsburgs in 1774 and it means a land covered by beech forests. This part of Romania is especially beautiful, with a clean unspoiled nature, and a unique landscape: thick forests and imposing crests ("obcine"), branching off from the Carpathians, which allow a wonderful panorama of valleys, with houses scattered here and there, with large gardens and farm yards inviting one to lie down by the haystacks and look up at the blue sky with its marvelous hues. This is the land where the painted monasteries which now hold a place of pride among world cultural sites were built. They all lie in the region close to the town of Suceava, in the northern part of the country. The monasteries were built during the 15th-16th centuries at a time marked by the personalities of the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great (1457-1504), and of his son, Petru Rares (1530-1538; 1541-1546). Stephen the Great was an illustrious army commander, a defender of Christendom and a prolific promoter of culture. They say that Stephen the Great ruled for 47 years, that he fought 47 defense battles, mainly against the Turks, but also against the Tartars, the Kossaks, the Poles and the Magyars, and that he erected about the same number (44) of churches and monasteries. In his time, monasteries were not decorated with exterior polychromous frescoes, but with colorful enameled ceramics placed around the steeples and below the cornices. It was only by the end of the 15th century, and then all along the 16th century, mainly during Petru Rares' time, that exterior mural paintings flourished in Moldavia. Nevertheless, Stephen the Great's churches, though small in size, were solid and had a special architectural design (octagonal cupolas raised graciously on tall, stellar foundations) out of which sprung up, during the next centuries, the so-called Moldavian art style. This term entered the history of art to define a harmonious blend of Byzantine architecture with Romanian folk artistic traditions and certain Gothic influences which had reached Moldavia through Serbia, Russia and Poland. Therefore, the main original element of the Moldavian architecture in the 15th century churches relates to the vaulting system of the nave and of the narthex by means of pedantries supporting the monumental, but supple and elegant belfry. Though the monuments are made of ordinary raw materials, I. e. stone, brick, wood, they produce a special effect due to the face brickwork of their façades. But the most valuable asset of the monasteries in Bukovina, the one for which they are world famous, is their outer wall painting in fresco technique, perceived by Michelangelo, for instance, as 'the most difficult and most daring way of painting'. The painters of the monasteries in Bukovina, most of who are anonymous, would draw and paint directly on wet lime, upon which they would apply color layers that would penetrate deep into the plaster. What is coined as almost a miracle is the fact that a layer of color of only 0,25 cm thick could possibly resist to all climatic, seasonal and human interferences for over 400 years. The frescoes at Voronet, Humor, Moldovita, Arbore or Sucevita are all governed by a unifying spirit which is expressed on the one hand by the recurrence of artistic styles, means, motifs and scenes, and, on the other hand by the absolute harmony established between man's genius at work and the beautiful natural background against which the monasteries were set. When you find yourself inside any of the painted monasteries in Bukovina, all you have to do is look around and discover for yourself the patterns adopted by its painters. Thus the figure of the Holy Virgin, a symbol of the Christian mystery, gleams in the semi cupola of the apse. Scenes of the Holy Mass along with sacred themes relating to the most important feasts of the year are painted on the walls all around. The Christ Pantocrator - ruler of all things -, placed in the central dome, looks down from 'the rim of heaven' to the earthly world with a stern and yet compassionate eye. Around Him, ranked in hierarchic order, are groups of angels, processions of prophets and apostles, saints and laymen. The monastery's founders and builders would always be painted on the walls of the narthex; they would kneel down before the Savior sat on a throne and offer to Him, in all humbleness and veneration, a miniature model of the church. Once outside, the visitor is dazzled by the perfect chromatic harmony between the light blue background of the monasteries' painted walls and the blue summer sky along the green shades of lawns, pastures and forests around. These small and colorful churches which soar up skywards like flowers from the ground are a unique artistic form to express man's naive, prodigious and solemn imagination and his irrepressible joy of life. The value of the frescoes is not only a matter of painting technique. The idea of decorating the outer walls of a church with scenes taken from the Bible is original in itself, since it is a remarkable sample of how people could be educated by means of images during the Middle Ages. The images are a mixture of biblical events with folk tales, legends, and great historical events, like the fall of Constantinople (1453) for instance. The painting would cover the whole wall surface of a church, which is another element that renders the five painted monasteries of Bukovina unique. In acknowledgement of their singleness, the monasteries in Bukovina are now UNESCO protected cultural sites. In 1975, Bukovina monasteries have been awarded the prestigious "Pomme d'Or" prize by the International Federation of Writers and Journalists on Tourism. Informations: office@casiopeea.com cristina.t_2006@yahoo.com