Moldoviţa

Introducing Moldoviţa

Moldoviţa Monastery (adult/child €1.20/0.60; 10am-6pm) is in the middle of a quaint village. It’s a fortified enclosure with towers and brawny gates, and a magnificent painted church at its centre. The monastery has undergone careful restoration in recent years.

The fortifications here are actually more impressive than the frescoes. On the church’s southern exterior wall is a depiction of the defence of Constantinople in AD 626 against Persians dressed as Turks, while on the porch is a representation of the Last Judgment, all on a background of blue. Inside the sanctuary, on a wall facing the original carved iconostasis, is a portrait of Prince Petru Rareş (Moldoviţa’s founder) and his family offering the church to Christ. All these works date from 1537. In the monastery’s small museum is Petru Rareş’ original throne.

Last updated: Oct 20, 2008