The Painted Monasteries of Romania

In northern Romania, in a region historically known as Bukovina, are a collection of eight Byzantine-era churches renowned for their beautiful, colored frescos that adorn their walls, both on the inside and outside. Built during the waning days and immediately aftermath of the Byzantine Empire, each of these painted monastery is distinctive in color and in its frescoed Bible stories. Through these frescoes of saints and prophets, scenes from the lives of Jesus Christ, and stories of man’s beginnings and of his life after death, the monasteries sought to teach the illiterate peasants the stories of God. The most famous of painted monasteries is the Voronet Monastery, founded in 1488. It is said that the monastery was completed in just 3 months and 3 weeks to commemorate the victory at Battle of Vaslui. Widely known throughout Europe as "the Sistine Chapel of the East" due to its interior and exterior wall paintings, this monastery offers an abundance of frescoes featuring an intense shade of blue commonly known as Voronet blue. Voronet Monastery. Photo credit: Gaspar Serrano/Flickr Voronet Monastery. Photo credit: burlan marius/Flickr Voronet Monastery. Photo credit: Gaspar Serrano/Flickr Voronet Monastery. Photo credit: globetrotter_rodrigo/Flickr Voronet Monastery. Photo credit: Ava Babili/Flickr The Sucevița Monastery was built in 1585. This predominantly blue-green monastery was one of the last monasteries to be decorated with frescos in Romania. All the external walls of the monastery, except the western wall, are covered with frescoes. Legend has it that one of the painters fell from the scaffolding and died, after which work stopped and the last wall was left unpainted. Sucevița Monastery. Photo credit: globetrotter_rodrigo/Flickr Sucevița Monastery. Photo credit: globetrotter_rodrigo/Flickr Sucevița Monastery. Photo credit: Ava Babili/Flickr The Monastery of Moldovita was built in 1532 by Petru Rareș, who was Stephen III of Moldavia's illegitimate son.