Crossing over to Bucovina - Painted Monasteries

We spent a total of 3 nights in Bucovina around the monasteries, one night in Sucevita so that we can start our experince with Sucevita monastery and 2 in Gura Humorului to end our trip in the area and also do a bit of hiking in the around

Since 2010 the painted monasteries of Bucoviona are under UNESCO Heritage and it's actually amazing to see how the outside paintings are still so well preserved after so many years. Just maybe an important detail is that all these Monasteries are Orthodox as Romania is a mainly Orthodox country. As there are quite a lot of Monasteries, here what we planed for a one day trip.   

Sucevita Monastery

Name: Resurrection Church
Built in: 1581
Built by: Gheorghe Movila

Being one of the "newest" monastery, built in 1585, you might spot that the base of the monastery is higher than the one of the other ones (below). The reason for it is the heavy snowfall in the area and knowing from experience with the other Monasteries what problems this is causing. 

The architecture of the church contains both Byzantine and Gothic elements, and some elements typical to other painted churches of northern Moldavia. It shows different aspects of the new and old testament. Another particularity of this Monastery is the dominant color, namely green. This color is attributed to the Holy spirit and consequently refers to the spiritual renewal. The painting finished around 1601

Putna Monastery 

Name: Putna Monastery
Built in: 1466
Built by: Stefan the Great

What is unexpected about this monastery is that although the architecture is similar to the one of the other monasteries, Putna is not painted and consequently often overlooked by tourists, it is also not on the Unesco Heritage list, but for Romania Putna is marked in the countries history as the place where it was built, was decided by arrow that Stefan the Great shot from a nearby hill. 

Putna Monastery houses the tombs of Stephen - nowadays, a place of pilgrimage-, and several of his family members.

Maybe a less expected statue in the monasteries court yard is the one of Mihai Eminescu who was the biggest Romanian poetry author. Eminescu was the first one to have a festival dedicated to the Romanians from everywhere in Putna in 1871. That was also the first time when the first Students Congress took place and it was discussed the union of all Romanians in one country , the students involved in these discussions became the main promoters of the Union of 1918. (Translated from Source)

Moldovita Monastery 

Name: Annunciation Church
Built in: 1532
Built by: Petru Rares

Built in 1532 by Petru Rares (illegitimate son of Stefan the Great), Moldovita is my favorite from all the monasteries we visited mainly because it gives a more cozy feeling. 

It was founded as a protective barrier against the Muslim Ottoman conquerors from the East and for this it looks similar to a fortress 

and you can spot some close ups from of the monastery  below

by looking from the other angle, unfortunately you can see that the frescos did not make it all the way through time

Voronet Monastery 

Name: St. George Church
Built in: 1488
Built by: Stefan the Great

Considered to be the " Sistine Chapel of the East", the frescoes at Voronet feature an intense shade of blue known in Romania as "Voronet blue." Built in 1488 by Stefan the Great the construction took almost 4 months. 

On the west side of the monastery you can see a very detailed Last Judgement Scene. Here is also the best place to see the special blue used.

The other Monasteries under the UNESCO Herritage list are: Arbore (1502),  Humor (1530), Patrauti (1487), Probata (1530) and Suceava (1581) (St George Church)

Now I guess it will be easier to pick your itinerary when visiting the painted monasteries.