Sucevita
A host of angels greets you from the well-preserved southern wall of this gorgeously painted church, situated 32km (20 miles) north of Moldovita. Built a mere 410 years ago, Sucevita once served as a fortified city-in-miniature for villagers who'd hide behind its massive walls during attacks; the fortifications and monastery grounds are certainly the largest. On the northern wall, Greek philosophers are represented as kings of knowledge; try to locate Plato -- the coffin on his head symbolizes the fact that he was the first philosopher to speak about the soul, considered a Christian concept. The enclosed porch around the entrance is the most elaborately painted of all the churches. Pay attention to the zodiac signs above you as you enter, and notice the angels at the edges of the cycles, rolling up time. Inside, bloody accounts of the life, torture, and death of various saints -- notably St. George -- are depicted. In the second room, notice the Star of David on the lower curtainlike portion of the frescoes, an unusual symbolic reference to the Old Testament, not found in the three previous churches. Here, in the center of the iconostasis, is an exceptionally lifelike rendition of Christ. Another highlight is a curious tapestry woven by Ieremia Movila (whose father built the monastery); there are 10,000 pearls woven into the piece. The monastery is apparently haunted by the ghost of the artist who, while working on the western wall, tragically fell from the scaffolding; the frustrated spirit has since prevented the fresco from being completed. Nowadays, there's ongoing restoration of the interior frescoes, a painstaking process that often draws as much interest from visitors as the paintings themselves.
A host of angels greets you from the well-preserved southern wall of this gorgeously painted church, situated 32km (20 miles) north of Moldovita. Built a mere 410 years ago, Sucevita once served as a fortified city-in-miniature for villagers who'd hide behind its massive walls during attacks; the fortifications and monastery grounds are certainly the largest. On the northern wall, Greek philosophers are represented as kings of knowledge; try to locate Plato -- the coffin on his head symbolizes the fact that he was the first philosopher to speak about the soul, considered a Christian concept. The enclosed porch around the entrance is the most elaborately painted of all the churches. Pay attention to the zodiac signs above you as you enter, and notice the angels at the edges of the cycles, rolling up time. Inside, bloody accounts of the life, torture, and death of various saints -- notably St. George -- are depicted. In the second room, notice the Star of David on the lower curtainlike portion of the frescoes, an unusual symbolic reference to the Old Testament, not found in the three previous churches. Here, in the center of the iconostasis, is an exceptionally lifelike rendition of Christ. Another highlight is a curious tapestry woven by Ieremia Movila (whose father built the monastery); there are 10,000 pearls woven into the piece. The monastery is apparently haunted by the ghost of the artist who, while working on the western wall, tragically fell from the scaffolding; the frustrated spirit has since prevented the fresco from being completed. Nowadays, there's ongoing restoration of the interior frescoes, a painstaking process that often draws as much interest from visitors as the paintings themselves.
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