The pained monasteries of Bucovina are some of the most unique religious heritage sites, not only in Romania but of the whole world. These monasteries can be found in the Bucovina region of northeastern Romania near the Carpathian Mountains. Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, these monasteries feature brilliantly coloured frescoes on the exterior of the monastery churches in addition to the interior. The reason for this was to convey biblical stories and teachings to a mostly illiterate population. Today, seven of these monasteries are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Arbore Monastery
The church with the patron Saint John the Baptist's Beheading from the village of Arbore is the foundation of the noble Luca Arbore, from 1503, during Stephen the Great ruling. The exterior paintings were made in 1541, on a green background. Here the painters used 5 shadows and 47 nuances, in combination with red, blue, yellow, pink and ochre. The recipe of the colours used for the frscoes is still unknown, the secret of the vegetal colours and of their combinations was buried with the Moldavian painters.
The church of Voroneţ Monastery is the foundation of the celebrated ruler Stephen the Great and the Saint, built in 1488 in only three months and three weeks. The exterior frescoes were added later, during Petru Rares ruling, in 1547. It is dedicated to the Great Saint Martyr George, the carrier of victory. The church of Voronet monastery is considered "The Sistine Chapel of the Orient" for the great fresco covering the whole western wall - the Last Judgement. The BLUE of Voronet, the dominant colour in the exterior painting is considered by specialists as being unique in the world just like Rubens's red and Veronese's green.
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.
The Moldovita Monastery was founded by Petru Rares in 1532 and it was consacrated to the Annunciation celebration. Some of the exterior frescoes, like Jesse's Tree, the Assault of Constantinople and the Prayer Hymn of the Annunciation, have a distinct esthetic and Christian spiritual value among the exterior mural painting.
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.
Petru Rares built Probota monastery not far from the ruins of the old monastery and decided to be painted in 1532. The architecture and the painted frescoes from the inside and the outside are the expression of exceptional value of the Moldavian medieval art. The price's family and the important nobles of his time, who gained the privilege to be buried into a princley necropolis, rest in the church. The Probota monastery has an impressive series of 21 epigraph funeral stones, the oldest and the most valuable belonging to the founders: Petru Rares, his wife Elena and their son, Stephen.
