My work causes me to travel a great deal. With that kind of load, I don’t seek things out; however, things just happen along the way.

One of the best instances of that occurred several years back when I made my first visit to Iasi, Romania. My hosts insisted that we make some time to visit the nearby Painted Monasteries of Southern Bucovina. This was all new to me, so I was intrigued – and these turned out to be one of the world’s greatest (yet still little-known) cultural gems.

Now, when I’m in Iasi, *I* insist that we make some time to visit the monasteries. So that’s what we did on Saturday – and if you’ve never seen or heard of these monasteries, you are in for a real treat.

I’ll do my best with some words and many photos below the fold.

Bucovina is a hilly/mountainous region in the western part of Moldavia (the northeastern third of Romania). To call it bucolic would be a bit of an understatement – but it is lovely and peaceful.

During the late 15th and early 16th century, when Moldavia was an independent kingdom, it came under pressure from the invading Ottoman Turks. For some 50 or more years, the Ottomans were held at bay by the efforts of the Moldavian king Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) and his son Petru Rares. (This basically makes Stefan the Romanian equivalent of Skanderbeg. )

According to semi-legend, whenever Stefan won a battle against the Ottomans, he would commission the construction of a monastery to mark his victory. These “monasteries” are not “monasteries” in the sense that most of us are used to – they really are forts (strong points), with a rectangular outer defensive wall and quarters, and a Moldavian-style church in the middle. There are 47 such monasteries in Moldavia – not all commissioned by Stefan, but the large number reflects his success in holding off Ottoman encroachment.

What makes these monasteries famous are the decorations applied to the interior churches. Perhaps as a votive – but also as a means of teaching the liturgy to the illiterate soldiers and peasants of the time – the churches are covered (both inside and out) with spectacular and colorful frescoes. Photography is not allowed inside the churches, but the exteriors are fully available.

We had time on Saturday to visit three of the more famous monasteries – Sucevita, Moldovita, and Voronet. I’ll concentrate mostly on photos here (since they speak for themselves), and try to keep my explanatory blather to a minimum.

(All photos should be clickable for the opening of larger versions, to allow appreciation of the details).

Sucevita

Sucevita is perhaps in the loveliest setting of all – deep in the mountainous countryside, at the foot of steep hillsides that lead up to a pass. Sucevita is actually one of the few monasteries that was not commissioned by Stefan cel Mare.

Several of the monasteries are famous for specific colors; Sucevita is famous for its green.

Sucevita’s most famous fresco is the north wall fresco, depicting the thirty steps up the ladder of virtue.

On the upper right, angels encourage the ascent to virtue, while on the lower left demons try to pull climbers off the ladder.

Some details:

The north wall is heavily decorated and is quite “busy”:

The lower part of the wall features a collection of Greek philosophers surrounding a reclining figure of Jesse. If you can read the Church Cyrillic in the first photo, you can tell that these are Sophocles and Plato.

As in most Orthodox depictions, the Holy Mother appears in the dress of a Byzantine princess:

Moldovita

The Moldovita monastery is set in the village of the same name, in countryside along the Moldova River; Moldovita is noted for the use of a lustrous golden-yellow in its frescoes.

Voronet

Not far away is the Voronet monastery. Voronet is very famous for the strikingly-beautiful blue that was used extensively in its frescoes; the particular blue is apparently widely known as “Voronet blue.”

The most famous feature of Voronet is the “Last Judgment” fresco on the western wall; this is often referred to as being “The Sistine Chapel of the East.”

(To learn more, go here and here.)

Finis.