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Post-Byzantine Art
(c. 1435 - c. 1500)
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Bucovina is a Romanian region situated north of Moldova, the former Bessarabia, now the sovereign Republic of Moldova. The name Bucovina dates back to its annexation by the Habsburgs in 1774, meaning a land covered by beech forests. After the First World War the region was given back to Romania in 1918, only to be annexed by Stalin after World War II and incorporated in the Ukraine. It has now been given back to Romania. This is the land where the painted monasteries are located. They have all been declared World Cultural Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
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Romania 1928. In 1918 it was ten years ago that the land Bessarabia was given back to Romania, and a set of seven stamps was issued in commemoration of the reunification. The stamps show three different fortified castles of the region, Sfatia, Cetatea Hotinului and Cetatea Alba.
The painted monasteries of Southern Bucovina unite more than anything else in Romania the culture, history, religion and architecture in a rare harmony with the surroundings. These monasteries with their original paintings, sculptures and other ornaments give a picture of the Romanian people's religious and historical outlook on the world, as it appeared through five centuries of battles for national and religious freedom against the Turkish power. These monasteries were orthodox bastions, hidden away behind walls in remote valleys and deep forests - and they still exist today like a bead of pearls.
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Map of the Area.
Romania 1941. 1) Putna, 2) Dragomirna, 3) Milisauti, 4) St. Nicholas (Suceava), 5) Boroca, 6) Hotin, 7) Cetatea Alba, and 8) Tighina.
In the Putna monastery, shown above (top left) is found the tomb of king Stephen the Great and several of his family members. The stamps were issued for the benefit of the restoration of the monasteries.
King Stephen the Great is one of the central figures of Romanian history in medieval times. He lived 1435-1504, and assumed the throne in 1457. He was the founder of the Voronet Monastery, and is buried in Putna Monastery.
Putna lacks completely the outdoor frescoes common to the Bucovina-churches. The inside of the church is compact, simple and solid, and is without decorations at all, which is unusual for an Orthodox church.
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An old Romanian chronicle written by the chronicler Ion Neculce tells about King Stephen the Great founding Voronet Monastery in 1488 to fulfill a pledge to Daniil the Hermit who had encouraged the ruling prince of Moldavia to chase the Turks out of Wallachia. Having won the battle against the Turks, King Stephen built Voronet in three months and 21 days, on the very spot where Daniil had his small wooden hermitage. Daniil the Hermit later became the first abbot of Voronet Monastery, and is buried in the church.
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Moldavian fortified monasteries were usually sited at the head of a valley to form a defensive bottleneck against the Turks or Tatars. The exact spot was decided by shooting arrows from a nearby hilltop; where the first one landed, a water source was dug and henceforth deemed holy; the second arrow determined the location of the altar; the third the belfry, and so on. After the monastery was finished, crosses were raised on the hill from where the arrows had been fired.
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| Revised 24-jul-2006. Ann Mette Heindorff Copyright © 1999-2007. All Rights Reserved |
