The Neamț Monastery () is a

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

religious settlement, one of the oldest and most important of its kind in

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 was built in the 15th century, and it is an example of medieval

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 ...

n architecture. A jewel of 15th-century architecture, the church was built during the reign of

Stephen III of Moldavia Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 in a conspiracy organized by his brother an ...

(1457–1504) and finished in the year when the Moldavian army won the battle against King

John I Albert John I Albert (; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Roy ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1497).

Location

The monastery is located in the north-eastern part of Romania, in

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

, 10 km west of

Târgu Neamț Târgu Neamț (; , , , ) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 18,029. Three villages are administered by the town: Blebea, Humulești, and Humuleștii Noi. History Originally ...

. It is accessible by car (DN 15B road) and train (Târgu Neamț railway station); the nearest airport is

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

, located about 60 km to the north.

Architecture

Sumptuous, with delicate colour effects, the monastery shows the maturity of the Moldavian architectonic style, which matured during Ștefan cel Mare's period. The façade of the church is covered with decorations characteristic of that time: Gothic windows and friezes with enameled disks, coloured in green, yellow and brown. In the chamber of the tombs, which appear for the first time at this church, is the tomb of Ștefan al II-lea, son of

Alexandru cel Bun Alexander I, commonly known as Alexander the Good (; – 1 January 1432) was Voivode of Moldavia between 1400 and 1432. He was the son of Roman I and succeeded Iuga to the throne. As ruler he initiated a series of reforms while consolidating ...

and uncle of Ștefan cel Mare.

Manuscripts and art

The art treasures kept at Neamț Monastery are proof of the intense artistic and cultural activity which took place here through the centuries. Here Gavril Uric showed his talent, the most important representative of the Moldavian miniature from the 15th century. His first known manuscript, dated 1429, is kept in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. The calligraphers and miniaturists of Ștefan cel Mare who worked at this important center made many of the books given to Putna Monastery. In the cells of the monastery, the chronicler Macarie wrote the chronicle of

Petru Rareș Petru Rareș (; – 3 September 1546) or Petru IV was twice voivode of Moldavia from 20 January 1527 to 18 September 1538 and from 19 February 1541 to 3 September 1546. He was an illegitimate child born (probably at Hârlău) to Stephen III of ...

's rule, and Eftimie the chronicle of Alexandru Lăpușneanu's rule. The learned tradition of the Neamț Monastery disappeared in the 17th and 18th centuries, to be reborn at the beginning of next century, when Metropolitan Veniamin Costachi established a printing house here. In the monastery museum is the old printing press, which was used to print books since 1807. The monastery's library is said to be more than 600 years old. Among the almost 11,000 volumes are many rare books, some being the first ones printed in this country. The altar screen of the former church from Neamț Fortress, is the most important treasure of all those in the monastery, along with the icon painted by

Nicolae Grigorescu Nicolae Grigorescu (; 15 May 1838 – 21 July 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting. He is considered by Romanians the greatest Romanian painter, and one of the founders of modern Romanian art. He is most known for paintin ...

, "The Flight from Egypt".

Gallery

File:KlosterNeamt1.JPG, File:Mănăstirea Neamţ3.jpg File:Romania - Neamt monastery 10.jpg, File:KlosterNeamtDetail1.JPG, File:Mănăstirea Neamţ4.jpg File:Romania - Neamt monastery 5.jpg File:Manastirea Neamtului - July 2008 - 4.jpg File:Biserica Manastirii Neamt 01.jpg Neamt 5.jpg

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neamt Monastery 1497 establishments in Europe Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Neamț County Historic monuments in Neamț County Christian monasteries established in the 1490s Churches established by Stephen the Great 15th-century establishments in Moldavia Lavras 15th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries