The Voroneț Monastery is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

in the Romanian village of Voroneț, now a part of the town

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 hist ...

. It is one of the famous painted monasteries from southern

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

, in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical tow ...

. The monastery was constructed by

Stephen the Great Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 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 i ...

in 1488 over a period of 3 months and 3 weeks to commemorate the victory at

Battle of Vaslui The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) was fought on 10 January 1475, between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman governor of Rumelia, Hadım Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at P ...

. Often known as the "

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...

of the East", the frescoes at Voroneț feature an intense shade of blue known in Romania as "Voroneț blue." The monastery is located to the south of

, in the valley of the

Voroneț River The Moldova () is a river in Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia. It is a right tributary of the river Siret. The river rises from the Obcina Feredeu Mountains of Bukovina in Suceava County and joins the Siret in Cotu Vameș, east of ...

. The legend of the origin of the church unites two men central to Romanian history: the founder of the monastery,

, and Saint Daniil the Hermit, the first abbot of the monastery. The tomb of Saint Daniil is located within the monastery. The church is one of the Painted churches of Moldavia listed in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

's list of

World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

History

The age of the monastic site is not known. A legend tells us that Stephen the Great, in a moment of crisis during a war against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, came to Daniel the Hermit at his

skete A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, al ...

in Voroneț and asked for advice. Daniel told him not to surrender the fight. Then, after victory, he must build a monastery dedicated to Saint George. The original entrance above the Church of Saint George, now in the

exonarthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

, bears the inscription: The church was built on a

triconch A tetraconch, from the Greek for "four shells", is a building, usually a church or other religious building, with four apses, one in each direction, usually of equal size. The basic ground plan of the building is therefore a Greek cross. They are m ...

plan (with three

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

), with a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

, a naos with its tower, and a

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

. In 1547, the

Metropolitan Bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

of Moldavia Grigorie Roșca added the exonarthex to the west end of the church and had the exterior walls painted. His contribution is recorded on the left of the entrance door: The monastery contains tombstones commemorating Saint Daniel the Hermit, Grigorie Roșca, and other patrons of the church and noblemen. Voroneţ was known for its school of calligraphy, where priests, monks and friars learned to read, write and translate religious texts. The school produced two notable copies of Romanian translations of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

: ''The Codex of Voroneț'', discovered in 1871, and ''The Psalter of Voroneț'', found in 1882. These books are now held at the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...

. The monastery was deserted soon after 1775, when the Habsburg monarchy

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

the northern part of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

. The monastic community returned to Voroneț in 1991. Since their return, those living in the monastery have constructed housing for the resident

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

, a chapel, fountains, stables, barns, and a house for pilgrims.

Church

The

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon ( gr, καθολικόν) or ''sobor'' ( Slavonic: съборъ) refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major church building (temple) of a monastery corre ...

(main church) of

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

at Voroneț Monastery is possibly the most famous church in Romania. It is known throughout the world for its exterior frescoes of bright and intense colours, and for the hundreds of well-preserved figures placed against the renowned azurite background. The small windows, their rectangular frames of crossed rods and the receding pointed or shouldered arches of the interior doorframes are

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The south and north doors of the exonarthex of 1547 have rectangular frames, which indicate a transition period from Gothic to

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

. But, above them, on each wall is a tall window with a

flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-t ...

Gothic arch. The whole west façade is without any openings, which indicates that the intention of the Metropolitan Roșca was from the beginning to reserve it for frescoes. On the north façade is still visible the original decoration of the church, the rows of ceramic enamelled discs in yellow, brown and green, decorated in relief. These include heraldic motifs, such as the

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...

lion and the

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene ...

' head of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

, and creatures inspired by Western European mediaeval literature, such as two-tailed

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

s. The tower is decorated with sixteen tall niches, in four of which are windows. A row of small niches encircles the tower above them. The fragmented roof probably follows the shape of the original roof, which doubtless was made with shingles.

Images

File:Mănăstirea Voroneț - Vedere de sus.jpg, The Church of

within Voroneț Monastery File:Voronet Intrare.JPG, The Church of Saint George File:Biserica Voronet.JPG, The Church of Saint George File:Ihopulele EOS 30D0173 Voronet.jpg, Exterior picture of the southern walls of the church File:Moldaukloster Voroneţ Friedhof.jpg, Interior court of the complex File:Voronet 2013-detaliu-a.jpg, Exterior picture of the altar File:Voronet 2013-detaliu-c.jpg, Exterior picture of the western walls File:Voronet 2013-detaliu-d.jpg, Exterior picture — detail File:Voronet Monastery - Romania.jpg, The ''

Last Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

'', painted on the exterior of the Church of St. George Image:Voronet2 secureroot.jpg,

Cain and Abel In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain ''Qayīn'', in pausa ''Qāyīn''; gr, Κάϊν ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl / Qāyīn and Abel ''Heḇel'', in pausa ''Hāḇel''; gr, Ἅβελ ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl ...

, (bottom) lives of saints File:KlosterVoronetInnen1.JPG, File:KlosterVoronetInnen2.JPG, Voronet Monastery - Romania - 02.jpg File:KlosterVoronet2.JPG, Image:Voronet3 secureroot.jpg, Image:Voronet1 secureroot.jpg, File:Woman of Woronenz - Clarke Edward Daniel - 1810.jpg, Woman from Voroneț by Clarke Edward Daniel

References

*Kocój E., Świątynie, postacie, ikony. Malowane cerkwie i monastyry Bukowiny Południowej w wyobrażeniach rumuńskich, Kraków 2006, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, ss. 444, 120 pf, https://www.academia.edu/24331662/%C5%9Awi%C4%85tynie_postacie_ikony._Malowane_cerkwie_i_monastyry_Bukowiny_Po%C5%82udniowej_w_wyobra%C5%BCeniach_rumu%C5%84skich_Temples_persons_icons._Painted_churches_and_monasteries_of_South_Bukovina_in_Romanian_imagology_Wydawnictwo_Uniwersytetu_Jagiello%C5%84skiego_Krak%C3%B3w_2006_s._440

External links

360° panoramic images from Voroneț Monastery
* Romania's Painted Churche

Photos of Mănăstirea Voroneț

Romania's National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics

Rural Tourism in Romania
Voroneț Monastery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voronet Monastery Churches of Moldavia Churches established by Stephen the Great Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage sites 1488 establishments in Europe

History

Church

Images

See also

References

External links