Arbore Church

The church of the Humor Monastery was built in 1530, during the ruling of Petru Rares, by his faithful Chancellor Toader Bubuiog and his wife Anastasia. The church was consacrated to the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. Prince Petru Rares had an initiative of reconstruction the old monastic Moldavian buldings and of decoration with frescoes the exterior walls. At Humor Monastery, the dominant colour of the background is red. The painting reflects a perfect harmony between the characteristic elements of the Byzantine art, originated in the Eastern Church theology and the gift of the local creator.

Located in the village with the same name, the Sucevita monastery was built between 1581 and 1601, on the expenses of a noble family, Movila: Ieremia was on the Moldavian throne between 1595 and 1606 and his brother Simon, who was the ruler of Valachia for a short period. The church with the Resurrection as its patron day was built in the Moldavian architecture, a style consolidated during the time of Stephen the Great and which combines in an harmonious way elements of Gothic and Byzantine art with specific architectural elements of the old wooden churches from Moldova. The exterior painting of the Sucevita monastery on a green background is the best preserved among the group of the Moldavian churches with exterior frescoes. The Ladder of Virtues, a masterpiece of the Romanian medieval painting, is the most impressive due to its dimension and the contrast between the order of the angels and the chaos of the Hell. Values of medieval art like embroderies, silver, manuscripts, wooden sculptures and icons are conserved and displayed in the monastery's museum.

Not far from Suceava, Stephen the Great founded in 1487 the only monastery of nuns at that time. The monastery did not survive the unfavourable times, remaining most of the time deserted. Today Patrauti church is consacrated to the Holy Cross and imposes itself due to its perfect harmony of proportions and stylished shapes.