Monasteries of Romania #Bucovina

      We love to travel & see new places all arround the world, but we love it the most when we visit our home land ! Bucovina is an amazing region in Romania that you must visit, especially because of its breath-taking views and amazing monasteries! 

       The best preserved are the monasteries in the towns of Sucevița, Moldovița, Voroneț, Humor, Suceava, Pătrăuți, Arbore and Probota. These eight monasteries were placed on UNESCO World Heritage list in 1993, as the Painted churches of Moldavia.

        From these 8 we got to visit in just one day 3 of them: Moldovita, Voronet & Humor!

     Our first stop was the Moldovita Monastery, (Romanian: Mânăstirea Moldovița) a Romanian Orthodox monastery situated in the commune of Vatra Moldoviței, Suceava County, Moldavia, Romania. The Monastery of Moldovița was built in 1532 by Petru Rareș, who was Stefan the Great's (in Romanian Ștefan cel Mare) illegitimate son. It was founded as a protective barrier against the Muslim Ottoman conquerors from the East.

  

         Our second stop was at Humor Monastery, which located in Mănăstirea Humorului, about 5 km north of the town of Gura Humorului, Romania. It is a monastery for nuns dedicated to the Dormition of Virgin Mary, or Theotokos. 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.

       Humor was one of the first of Moldavia'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.

     Our third & last stop was at Voroneț Monastery, a medieval monastery in the Romanian village of Voroneț, now a part of the town Gura Humorului. It is one of the famous painted monasteries from southern Bukovina, in Suceava County.[1] The monastery was constructed by Stephen the Great in 1488 over a period of 3 months and 3 weeks to commemorate the victory at Battle of Vaslui. Often known as the "Sistine Chapel of the East", the frescoes at Voroneț feature an intense shade of blue known in Romania as "Voroneț blue."[1]

          The monastery is located to the south of Gura Humorului in Suceava County, in the valley of the Voroneț River. The legend of the origin of the church unites two men central to Romanian history: the founder of the monastery, Stephen the Great, and Saint Daniil the Hermit, the first abbot of the monastery. The tomb of Saint Daniil is located within the monastery.

    

 After so many fotos & souvenir shopping, of course we got tired & hungry!  So a stop at a local restaurant with traditional romanian dishes was the perfect decision & after a bit of google-ing we decided to head on to Pensiunea Casa Doamnei  which is also very close to Voronet Monastery. We had a delicious lunch at Pensiunea Casa Doamnei but you can see it for yourself in the pictures!