I'm finally getting around to posting about trip through the Painted Monasteries
(Romanian orthodox churches) of Bucovina, in northeastern Romania, near Ukraine.
This is not the official tour guide source, but I will try to give background as best as I
can remember/find.
There are 7 or 9 (sorry different sources list different numbers). Most are UNESCO
sites. Some currently have active communities of nuns ("monasteries" here used for
sisters as well as brothers). None are still used for services for the general public.
Since most were founded as monastic communities, I'm not sure that they were ever
really used as the "Sunday" church for the locals. Each was built in early to mid
1500's, with painting completed anywhere from 5 to 50 years after built. While not
unusual to paint interior of orthodox church, painting the exterior was unique to this
northeastern part of Romania. Not found anywhere else in the world.
Many of the scenes are repeated at several of the monasteries, although the details of
differ. And in these paintings, the details are so incredible. One of my favorite scenes
was the river of fire descending from Jesus to the creature of hell. The subtle details
of lost souls in the river becoming less distinct as descend further down toward hell
was hard to capture in a photo, but nonetheless evident in person. In one monastery,
the scene bordering the right side of the river of fire had animals (lions, wolves) with
human heads, arms or legs coming out of their mouths. This represented the re-
unification of the entire body for those that were called to heaven but had died by
mauling of animal. Guess it was a concern for the locals in the past.
In one of the monasteries, the two of the interior rooms were painted as calendars.
Each panel represented a day of the year (6 months in one room, 6 months in another
room). The panel was painted with a scene or event for the patron saint of that day,
or a significant biblical event.
Each of the scenes tended to identify the important person. It would help to read
Cyrillic, since Romania didn't adopt Latin alphabet until more recently (mid to late
1800's I believe).
At a specific place in each of the monasteries was a picture of the family of the
person who had paid for the building/painting. The family was depicted presenting a
an accurate miniature of the church to Jesus. I didn't see it in the monasteries I went
too, but in one that I did not visit the picture of one of the sons was obliterated after
he converted to Islam.
Not being the regular church going type as of late, my recollections of my catholic
upbringing may not be quite accurate. However, here the connections and teaching of
the old testament seem to be given equal weight. Also, the Tree of Jesse (which I had
never heard of) was a common scene on most of the painted monasteries. This traces
the lineage of Jesus thru Mary back to Jesse - the father of David. Emphasis is placed
on the royal lineage of Jesus. Joseph is barely featured (well, virgin birth, I guess he
didn't do much (sorry folks - couldn't help myself; I'll do my penance in the
morning)). Although John the Baptist is frequently featured on the left of Jesus (Mary
on the right).
Some of the monasteries were neglected for long periods of time (when trying to
stamp out the local religious believes). 500 years of weather has taken a toll on the
exterior paintings of all. Each was built with the "altar" in the eastern part (toward
Jerusalem/rising sun). Entrance was always on the west side. Usually had a
transitional area with lots of openings to outside world - transition between the
secular and spiritual place. This was usually where the rive of fire to hell was painted
- as a reminder of where your mind should be while in church. The southern facades
tended to be sheltered the most from weather, and tends to retain vivid colour and
detail. On most, the norther facade is barely evident.
The fresco technique used was very thin. I tried to picture from side showing small
section of remaining fresco. It was only a few cm (about 1 inch at most). That these
survive at all is amazing.
Since many had been untended for long periods, graffiti is evident. You can see the
names and dates of people (look for the 1846 date).
After leaving Bucovina, I had a rental car and drove through the mountains down to
Brasov. There was snow on the sides of the road, and well quite different passing a
horse drawn cart on a curving mountain road. I had Jimmy Buffett on the ipod (20
degrees and the hockey game's on....somebody get me some boat drinks...), and
missed the turn to drive thru the Bicaz Gorge, which was one of the main reasons to
drive myself. Realized the mistake 30 to 40 minutes later. Oh well, still was a
beautiful scenic drive. Up till this point, I have been in areas of Romania that I had
been to before. I can tell you that I like Transylvania better than the other regions.
Sorry for long post - but I hope you have taste of the Painted Monasteries.
I recently had a request for more pictures of locals - will work on that. But since I
don't have pictures of most of y'all, you should appreciate that I am not one to take a
lot of pictures.
And finally, thank you all so very much for the weather posting of southern Florida
and the south of France.
More thumbnails ...
Suceava Hotels
