The Voronet Monastery is one of the oldest and most beautiful places of worship in Romania, a legendary place whose history began with a small wooden church, where lived a holy man, Daniile the Hermit, who helped Stephen the Great in his battles against the Turks, providing religious guidance and advice. Believed for a long time to be an imaginary character, this holyman actually existed and lived, and is burried here. The first documents mentioning the monastery date from 1472, and show that Stephen the Great often provided help and gifts for the holy place.
The church which can be admired today was built on the spot of the older, wooden one by Stephen the Great and it took about four months for it to be ready, until September 1488. It was a rather small place of worship, but due to the paintings and interior decorations, the monks who lived here and it's importance for the Church, it was soon that it became one of the holiest places in the land. Also, it had a lot to gain due to the help and donations offered by Stephen the Great and the next rulers, who wanted to monastery to be a place of prayer, a school and a power of Christianity.
It was in 1547 that the outside paintings, the famous paintings which cover the walls of the church, were redone and in the end were of astounding beauty, well preserved until today and making the Voronet Monastery a real work of art. Nowadays, after a long and fascinating history, with difficult times and good times, during which the monastery was a place of worship, refuge, Romanian culture, nowadays this is a nuns monastery. And one of the most beloved and visited by believers, who try to find here the answers and peace they need
But the Voronet Monastery in Suceava is famous world-wide especially for it's paintings, beautiful works of art, very well kept and mixing high detail, Church style and a great care for realism and impression. Not to forget the strong, intense and unique colours, such as the world renowned Voronet blue, a shade that originated from this place. The scenes depicting on the inner and outer walls are touching, such as "Sweet Embrace", above the entrance, "Tree of Jesus" - an extraordinary scene presenting in detail the genealogy of Jesus Christ - or the surprising portraits of Antique philosophers such as Plato. You will also find portraits of holy men in the history of the monastery - the most important being, of course, Daniil the Hermit - scenes of the Final Judgement, images of Jesus, the Mother of Our Lord, St John the Baptist and many, many other figures.
Of great interest for artists and historians alike is the portrait of Stephen the Great, together with his wife and son, one of the few depictions of this huge character in Romanian history, and perhaps the most realistic one. Also the iconostasis is a piece of artistic marksmanship, beautifully sculpted in wood, with many details. You must also admire several depictions of scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, such as Him entering Jerusalem, praying on the Mount of Olives, suffering on the Cross. There are also other biblical characters and saints, such as Adam, Eve and others, together with moments from Romanian folk tales, which are not to be found in canonical texts, yet were very important for the believers.
Sinners, martyrs, animals, the Devil, Heaven and Hell, important figures in the history of Eastern Christianity, Biblical scenes, all make a strange, fascinating and beautiful imaginary universe, which makes the paintings at the Voronet Monastery in Suceava an unique place in Europe. And it is just one of the many old monasteries of Romania, very popular both among local and foreign turists. Nowadays the monastery is awaiting complicated and expensive renovations, which will bring back to life the original colours and shades of the paintings.
September 2008
