Humor Monastery located in Mănăstirea Humorului, about 5 km north of the town of

Gura Humorului Gura Humorului (; Hebrew and Yiddish: גורה חומורולוי - ''Gure Humuruluei'' or גורא הומאָרא - ''Gura Humora''; German and Polish: ''Gura Humora'') is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the hi ...

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 ...

. It is a

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 ...

for nuns dedicated to the Dormition of Virgin Mary, or

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...

. It was constructed in 1530 by Voievod Petru Rareş and his chancellor Teodor Bubuiog. The monastery was built over the foundation of a previous monastery that dated from around 1415. The Humor monastery was closed in 1786 and was not reopened until 1990. The church has been inscribed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

on its list of

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

, as one of the Painted churches of Moldavia.

Frescoes

Humor was one of the first of

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

's painted monasteries to be frescoed and, along with Voroneţ, is probably the best preserved. The dominant colour of the frescoes is a reddish brown. The master painter responsible for Humor's frescoes, which were painted in 1535, is one ''Toma of Suceava''. The subjects of the frescoes at Humor include the ''Siege of Constantinople'' and the ''Last Judgment'', common on the exterior of the painted monasteries of Bucovina, but also the ''Hymn to the Virgin'' inspired by the poem of Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople relating to the miraculous intervention of the

in saving the city from Persian conquest in 626. The Persians are, however, depicted as Turks which is a common device in these monasteries, their paintings being used in part for political propaganda in addition to their spiritual meaning.

Gallery

File:Humor Monastery, Romania.jpg, Humor monastery church File:Humor Monastery Tower.JPG , The tower File:Humor monastery4.jpg, Interior File:Humor monastery3.jpg, Interior File:Humor murals 2010 29.jpg, Exterior File:Humor murals 2010 01.jpg, Murals File:Humor murals 2010 24.jpg, Murals File:Humor murals 2010 05.jpg, Murals File:Humor murals 2010 04.jpg, Murals File:Humor murals 2010 28.jpg, Murals File:Humor murals 2010 14.jpg, Murals

External links

* Kocój E.
Świątynie, postacie, ikony
Malowane cerkwie i monastyry Bukowiny Południowej w wyobrażeniach rumuńskich, Kraków 2006, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, ss. 444, 120 pf,

{{Coord, 47.5931, N, 25.8569, E, source:dewiki_region:RO_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1473 Churches completed in the 1470s Churches completed in 1530 Christian monasteries established in the 1410s Churches of Moldavia 16th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries