Bujoreni Monastery (Mănăstirea Magarului) is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in Bujoreni forest, Zorleni Commune,

Vaslui County Vaslui County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Western Moldavia, with the seat at Vaslui. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 395,499 and the population density was 74/km2. * Romanians - over 98% * Romani ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The monastic settlement was set up in the 16th–17th centuries (a. 1602), as a convent of the Bujoreanu family, on their property bearing the same name, in a secluded place in the forest. The legend says that the church was built by the monetary contribution of some shepherds who arrived from the mountains to spend the winter, on the place of an old oak, where a donkey knelt various times, and into the hollow of which was found an icon representing the Virgin Mary and Child. It is said that this icon, capable of performing miracles, was hidden by the monks from the nearby Recea Monastery, which was destroyed during the Tartar incursions around 1440. The convent’s church, patronized by the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, was reconstructed using wood at the end of the 18th century by the chancellor Gavril Conachi, owner of the property, and was rebuilt from the wall by his son, the monk Ioanichie Conachi around 1840. After the death of its founder, the convent was maintained by his niece, Ruxanda Rosnovanu, who inherited the Zorleni and Bujorenii estates. In 1911, the convent was maintained by the Royal House, by the Administration of the Zorleni estate, becoming royal property from 1883. Damaged by the earthquake in 1940, the church was restored, and was in use until 1958, when the convent was

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also referred to as decommissioning or ''secularization'' (a term also used for the external confiscation of church property), is the removal of a religious sanction and blessing from something that had been previously consec ...

. In 1993, monastery status was reinstated. Between 1994–2002, the assembly was completed by new cells and other household dependencies, the precinct being surrounded by a stone fence. Placed in a natural picturesque background and well organized as a household, the monastery may provide services of ecumenical tourism. The church was renovated in 2001–2002. It keeps the three-

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

plan, with a semicircular altar apse and a

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

tower to the west. It shelters the tomb of its founder in a niche in the wall between the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

. In 2023, eight new monks joined the monastery. Orthodox Christian website, ''A dozen monastic tonsures in Romanian Church in recent days'', article dated March 20, 2023
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References

External links

Bujoreni Monastery

Bujoreni Monastery
Buildings and structures in Vaslui County Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Moldavia Churches completed in 1840 19th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings 17th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries {{Orthodox-monastery-stub