The history of Romania is marked by Stephen the Great, under whose reign the Moldavian religious architecture reaches full maturity. From his period date most of the painted monasteries of Bucovina (Bukovina), decorated in vividly coloured frescos, of Byzantine and Gothic influence.
The mural painting of the whole of a church facade represented an artistic phenomenon unique in the 15th-16th centuries Europe. Using colors like the famous Voronet blue, the green-red of Sucevita, the yellow of Moldovita, the red of Humor and the green of Arbore, the painters (most of them unknown) described the biblical stories of the earth and heaven, scenes from the lives of the Holly Virgin and Jesus Christ, stories of man’s beginnings and of his life after death. The scenes were first painted on the interior walls, and then extended to the exterior ones. The reasons for such vast scenes were both religious and didactic: to promote Orthodoxy and to educate the illiterate.
Stephen the Great used to built one monastery after each of his battles. His descendant, Petru Rares, continued his work by setting the foundations for many other famous monasteries. There are 48 monasteries in total, some with fortified walls to protect against invaders.
The frescoes from Voronet, Humor, Moldovita, Arbore or Sucevita are all governed by a unifying spirit which is expressed on the one hand by the recurrence of artistic styles, means, motifs and scenes, and, on the other hand by the absolute harmony established between man's genius at work and the beautiful natural background against which the monasteries were set.
The impressive number of churches to be found in Bucovina, Romania, with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, have been preserved and handed down from mediaeval times, and because of their uniqueness and artistic value, were added to UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List in 1993. There is, indeed, no other place in the world where such a group of churches, with such high quality exterior frescoes, are to be seen.
In 1975, Bukovina monasteries have been awarded the prestigious 'Pomme d'Or' prize by the International Federation of Writers and Journalists on Tourism.
images: lumeacredintei.com
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