The Painted Monasteries of Bucovina
Bucovina - the north-eastern province of Romania - is renowned for the beautiful exterior frescoes on the walls of its monasteries. These triumphs of Byzantine-influenced art reflect a development of Moldavian civilisation in the 15th and 16th centuries, under the patronage of Stephen the Great (1457-1504). Their painted exterior walls are decorated with frescoes featuring portraits of saints and prophets, scenes from the life of Jesus, images of angels and demons, and heaven and hell.
Deemed masterpieces of Byzantine art, these churches are one-of-a-kind architectural sites in Europe. Far from being merely wall decorations, the murals represent complete cycles of religious murals. The purpose of the frescoes was to make the story of the Bible and the lives of the most important Orthodox saints known to villagers by the use of images. Their outstanding composition, elegant outline and harmonious colors blend perfectly with the surrounding landscape.
Visitors to the Painted Monasteries will often witness a nun or a monk beating a long beam with a mallet, tapping out a call to prayer. The tradition started during the siege of Moldova by the Ottoman Empire when the Turks forbade the ringing of bells. The striking of wooden or metal bars, known as toaca, replaced the ringing of bells and thus, became a tradition, reinforced by the fact that in times of war, bells were often melted down to make cannons.
Whether you are interested in religion, history, art or architecture, you will be intrigued by the construction and decor — exterior and interior — of these edifices.
The churches stand in the centre of the monastery complex and all of them have high pitched roofs and little sunlight comes inside. The best-preserved monasteries of this kind are in Humor, Moldovita, Patrauti, Probota, Suceava, Sucevita, and Voronet. Another, a small church, is located in the village of Arbore. Seven of the churches were placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1993. The eighth, Sucevita, is awaiting sanction to be added on the list.
Arbore Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (20 miles southeast)
Access: car, bus (from Gura Humorului or Radauti)
Nearest train stations: Darmanesti, Radauti
Perhaps a tour of Bucovina’s Painted Monasteries should begin with Arbore church.
After all, the highlight of the small Arbore (Are' bo ray) church is a scene from Genesis,
which adorns the western wall.
Quite small, and without the high cupola that distinguishes most monastery churches,
Arbore is predominantly decorated in shades of green.
The only church in the region with no belfry towers, because it was not built by a
prince, the monastery was founded in 1503 by Luca Arbore, the advisor of Stephen the
Great (Stefan cel Mare). It was painted four decades later by Dragos Coman, one of the
greatest 16th century mural painters of Romania.
Humor Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (25 miles east)
Access: car, bus (from Suceva), trainNearest train stations: Gura Humorului
Founded in 1530, Humor (Hoo mor) is rather small physically, but looms large among
Bucovina’s treasures with a variety of frescoes dating from 1535, including one
illustrating the Return of the Prodigal Son and one with a “humorous” depiction of the
devil as a woman.
The church, topped by a cross-shaped shingled roof, is without a steeple, indicating
that it was built by a court official rather than a prince. The predominant hues of the
frescoes are reddish brown with some rich blues and green infusions. An extremely
valuable collection of icons from the 16th century is displayed in the monastery.
Voronet Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (20 miles east)
Access: car, bus (from Gura Humorului), 3 ½-mile walk from Gura Humorului
Nearest train stations: Gura Humorului
Perhaps the most famous and stunning of the painted monasteries is Voronet
(Vo ro nets), founded in 1487 by Stephen the Great to celebrate a victory over
the Turks. Widely known throughout Europe as "the Sistine Chapel of the East"
due to its interior and exterior wall paintings, this monastery offers an abundance
of frescoes featuring an intense shade of blue commonly known as ‘Voronet blue.’
The composition of the paint continues to remain a mystery even now, more than
500 years after the church was built.
Voronet Monastery was founded by Stephen the Great, ruling prince of Moldavia,
to fulfill a pledge to Daniil, a hermit who had encouraged him to chase the Turks
from Wallachiia. After defeating the Turks, Stephen erected Voronet in less than four
months.
Portraits of ancient Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle and Plato, are featured in
the Tree of Jesus fresco. Added in 1547, the frescoes of this church illustrate biblical
scenes, prayers, episodes of sacred hymns and themes such as The Last Judgment
and The Ladder of St. John, featuring colorful and detail-rich imagery of apostles,
evangelists, philosophers, martyrs, angels and demons.
The paintings show an adaptation of classic Byzantine art to Moldavian realities.
Thus the archangels' trumpets take the shape of the local shepherds' horn or
"bucium" and souls doomed to hellfire wear the turbans of the Turkish enemy.
Monastic life at Voronet was interrupted in 1785 under Habsburg rule. It returned
only in 1991 with the arrival of a community of nuns which strives to harmoniously
combine a religious life of prayer with housekeeping and farm work. The nuns run a
painting workshop and provide guided tours of the monastery for visitors.
Moldovita Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (55 miles southeast)
Access: car, train (from Suceava to Vama, 1¼ hours, and
from Vama to Vatra Moldovitei, 35 min.)
Nearest train station: Vatra Moldovitei hc
The Monastery of Moldovita (Mol do vee' tsa), located in the village of Vatra Moldovitei,
was built by Petru Rares in 1532.
The Siege of Constantinople frescoes were inspired by a poem dedicated to the Virgin
Mary in thanksgiving for her intervention in saving the city of Constantinople from a
Persian attack in A.D. 626.
In a wonderful political spin, considering the Ottoman threat to Moldavia in the 1500s,
the Siege on the walls of Moldovita Church depicts the enemy as turbaned Turks rather
than Persians. The predominantly gold and deep blue paintings on the exterior walls
were completed in 1537.
The large and vivid Siege of Constantinople highlights the frescoes.
Another stunning representation depicts the Tree of Jesse, representing Christ’s
genealogy, a wide-spread iconographical theme in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Patrauti Church
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (5 miles southeast)
Access: car, bus from Suceava
Nearest train stations: Darmanesti, Suceava
Built in 1487 and dedicated to the Holy Cross, the monastery at Patrauti is the oldest
surviving religious site founded by Stephen the Great. Mural paintings, dating from
around 1550, can still be admired on the west façade. In 1775, soon after Bucovina
was annexed to the Habsburg Empire, the monastery was turned into a parish church.
Today, only the church and a wooden bell tower are still standing from the original
monastic complex.
Probota Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (31 miles northwest)
Access: carNearest train station: Dolhasca
Only the church and the prince's residence remain today from the original ensemble
founded by Petru Rares in 1530.In 1532, the church featured both outside and inside
frescoes. In the 19th century, a large part of the muralpaintings were replaced.
Probota was the first monastery to have external frescoes painted in Moldavia.
High walls surround Probota with corner towers for defense and a gate tower built in
1550. Throughout its history, Probota Monastery has undergone several restorations
and conservation campaigns. More interventions were carried out in 1930 to replace
some of the gothic tracery and repair the floor.
In the steeple above the ruler's residence, a small museum exhibits icons, furniture,
old books, coins and several artifacts.
Sucevita Monastery
Location: Bucovina – Northeastern Romania
Nearby large town: Suceava (31 miles southeast)
Access: car, bus (from Radauti)
Nearest train stations: Radauti, Vatra Moldovitei hc
High walls and heavily buttressed defensive towers surround the great monastic
complex of Sucevita, giving it the appearance of a fortress. Founded in 1581 by
Gheorghe Movila, Bishop of Radauti, it was later expanded by his brother, Ieremia,
ruling prince of Moldavia, who added massive ramparts and turrets.
An elegant steeple resting on a star-shaped base tops the church. Massive eaves
protect the outside frescoes, painted by local artists in 1602-1604.
Thousands of pictures decorate the walls of the church. In fact they outnumber
the pictures at any of the other monasteries, yet the western wall is blank.
Legend says it that the artist fell off the wall scaffolding and died, so it remained
undecorated.
Sucevita was the last of the 22 painted churches of Bucovina and boasts a magnificent
depiction of the Ladder to Paradise. Red-winged angels in orderly rows attend the
righteous on a slanting ladder to the heavens, each rung inscribed with one of the
monastic virtues. Sinners fall through the rungs and are driven by grinning devils to
the chaos of hell.
On the south side, foliage entwines the rows of figures in the Tree of Jesse.
Following it is the Hymn to the Virgin.
Sucevita was a princely residence as well as a fortified monastery. Today, the thick walls
shelter a museum presenting an outstanding collection of historical and art objects.
The tomb covers of Ieremia and Simion Movila – rich portraits embroidered in silver
thread – together with ecclesiastical silverware, books and illuminated manuscripts,
offer eloquent testimony to Sucevita's importance first as a manuscript workshop,
then as a printing center.
Essentials
Transportation
Easily accessible from both Suceava - with its direct airline and rail links with Bucharest,
and Iasi - offering daily flight connections from Vienna and Bucharest , the Painted
Monasteries of Bucovina can be viewed in one frustratingly rushed day, but are better
savored in two or three.
The town of Suceava may be the best starting point for a trip to the monasteries.
The easiest way to visit the Painted Monasteries is by car; a 30-minute drive (or less)
separates one from another. Car rental is available in Suceava and Iasi. Excursions and
day trips are also available from all cities in Bucovina region.
Plenty more to discover - from buffaloes to vineyards
Moldavia has an extensive countryside of forests and hills, with many lesser known delights to discover. You might even catch a glimpse of a buffalo, a species which is being reintroduced into a natural reservation.
There are hiking routes and camping facilities, as well as good hotels in the main towns.
And Moldavian wines have been known for five centuries. There are vineyards that can be visited.
