Bucovina’s painted monasteries: the back story

About Bucovina’s painted monasteries: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

In the hills of Bucovina, in north-eastern Romania, monasteries founded by the princes of Moldavia in the 15th and 16th centuries are painted on their outside walls with saints, Last Judgements and sieges. Eight of these churches are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The princes of Moldavia

Stephen the Great, prince of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504, and his successors founded churches across Bucovina. In the 16th century, their outer walls were covered with frescoes, a kind of Bible in pictures for the people.

Voroneț

Voroneț, founded by Stephen the Great in 1488, is famous for the Last Judgement on its west wall and for its intense blue, known as Voroneț blue.

Voroneț blue has become the name of a colour.

Sucevița and Moldovița

Sucevița, the last of the painted monasteries, stands within strong walls in a green valley, with a great Ladder of Virtues on its north wall. Moldovița has a celebrated painting of the Siege of Constantinople.

Painted eggs

Bucovina is also famous for its Easter eggs, decorated with fine patterns in wax and dyes; you can see and buy them in village workshops.

Our advice: fly from Bucharest to Suceava, rent a car and stay two nights in Gura Humorului or a village guesthouse; visit Voroneț early in the morning, and dress respectfully, as these are working monasteries.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Bucovina’s painted monasteries: the back story before you go.