Another Romanian Monastery…. Moldovita

Not only the Voronet monastery has beautiful paintings. Also the monastery of Moldovita has stunning paintings.

Moldovita dates from 1532; around 50 years later then Voronet. The paintings date from 1537; so just a few years later then Voronet. 

  

One of the most interesting paintings is the large mural about the siege of Constantinople. In fact it refers to two sieges; one is the siege in 1453 and the other an earlier one by the Persians. The Romanians wanted the help of the Virgin Mary fight off the Ottoman oppression.

The“Tree of Jesse”.

Biblical scenes.

I didn’t take pictures of the porch because there was a lot of scaffolding. It is a never ending job to take care of this important heritage.

Sadly there are always people who want to put their names everywhere.

For more historic facts please use the Wiki and other information on internet

Wiki 

Other site 1. 

Other site 2. 

The Voronet monastery

The Voronet monastery lies in Romania. Like the monastery of Moldovita it is  famous for its murals. Voronet is especially known for its blue color.

The church was founded in 1487 by Stephen the Great. There are a lot of facts about the Voronet monastery, but I will leave that to the Wiki and the Romanian touristic websites. Here I will show first pictures of the church and then some details of the paintings.

Everything I really want to say about Voronet is just look!! Look at the beautiful murals on the outside of the church. (It is not allowed to take pictures inside.)

No wonder it is called "the Sistine Chapel of the East". They look amazingly fresh, as though they were painted not so long ago. In fact they date from 1534/35. Only on the north side of the church the weather has erased most of the frescoes.

On the south facade there is the “Tree of Jesse” (the family tree of Jesus). Plato and Aristotle seem to belong to the family. Look at the shade of blue; the “Voronet blue”. How they made it is even now a mystery.

The West facade depicts the Last Judgment.

 It is obvious who goes to heaven – the people with the golden halos - and who to hell. 

Look at the little gray devils and the creatures of Noah's ark.

The small white persons in a kind of boxes or held up in cloths are the “souls”.

The walls are full of apostles, evangelists, saints, martyrs and a Biblical calendar. 

More info:  
Wiki 

Romanian touristic website 1 
Romanian touristic website 2