Bucovina is a land with soft hills, covered by rich forests that impress with their dark and vigorous green, with the white flocks of sheep and with the white and black traditional dress of the peasants. In this land the monasteries are surrounded by strong square walls and seem to be fortresses that hide their painted churches as if they were precious jewels. Their most important founder was Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great), the king that Pope Sixtus IV once called “the Athlete of Christ” as an acknowledgement of his role in the fight against the Ottoman offensive in Europe. The names of some of the church painters that created these works of art are known nowadays. But other painters continue to remain shadows, traces of color, skill and faith in the mighty God. In 1993 several painted churches from Bucovina and Moldavia were included in the UNESCO world heritage, as a rightful acknowledgement of their artistic and architectural value.

Voronet

Founded by Stephen the Great, the church of Voronet, one of the most beautiful orthodox sites in Europe, was built in 1488 in an amazingly short period of time: three months and three weeks. The site was dedicated to St. George, the patron of the Moldavian armies, celebrated each year on April 23. From the architectural point of view, the church of Voronet that was built after that of Putna represents a spectacular victory of the Moldavian builders, a harmonious and original synthesis between the Byzantine and the Gothic elements (the broken arches of the doors and the windows, the exterior buttresses). Designed according to a tri-lobate plan, specific to the architecture from the age of Stephen the Great, the building is composed of the church porch, the pronaos, the nave with two lateral apses and the sanctuary, the vault illustrating the ingenuity of the Moldavian style: arches on principal and diagonal axes mixed with pendentives that facilitate the passing from the square forms to the circular form of the dome and of the tambour of the belfry tower. Also called the “Sistine Chapel of the East”, Voronet owes its unique fame especially to the mural scenes on its external walls. A special color dominates the background of these frescoes. It is the famous “Voronet blue”, obtained through an alchemy that continues to remain a mystery for common people, as well as for specialists even now, more than five hundred years after the church was built. The traveler who goes to Voronet will stop for a long-time in front of “The Last Judgment”, a painting that represents a universal masterpiece. The scene is painted on the western wall of the church and it impresses through the intensity of its dramatic figures and its daring vision, through the painter’s skill and overflowing imagination, through the chromatic harmony that reaches remarkable performances.

Probota

Built in 1530, Probota is the first church founded by Petru Rares, who undertook the painting of several other churches and who intended this to be his family’s necropolis. The church is located on a hill in the village of Probota in the parish of Dolhasca and it is designed in the Moldavian architectural style specific to age of Stephen the Great, combining the simplicity of the rural tradition with Gothic elements. In the nave you can still see the votive picture representing the voivode, who is accompanied by his wife and his four children. Inside the church you can also see the beautiful portrait of St. Nicholas, the patron of the church, celebrated on December 6 and renowned for his kindness towards children. From the point of view of its size and architecture, Probota resembles the church of the monastery of Neamt. The internal and external walls were painted in 1532, two years before starting to paint Voronet. Except for some exceptions, the frescoes are generally designed according to the official canons of the epoch. In the autumn of 2000, when the restoration of the mural paintings of Probota, performed with the participation of Japanese experts, was finished, the original frescoes – whose artistic value is remarkable – were brought up to light in all their splendor. On the southern wall you can see among others the scenes that illustrate “The Siege of Constantinopole” and “The Tree of Ieseu (Jesse)”.

Moldovita

Before Petru Rares founded the most famous of his creations, another stone monastery existed in Moldovita at the beginning of the 15th century, whose few scattered ruins can still be seen today. The new church was erected in 1532, while the internal and the external paintings were executed five years later. The painter’s name is not mentioned anywhere. But he was surely of Moldavian origin. The external frescoes from Moldovita are in a good condition, except for those on the northern wall. Many of them have the same artistic value as the frescoes from Voronet. Above the entrance in the church you can see one of the most beautiful icons of the Moldavian painting: a portrait of the Virgin with Baby Jesus in her arms. Two of the themes that have a special place in the preferences of the painters of the monastery – “The Virgin’s Funeral” and “The Tree of Ieseu (Jesse)” – can be seen in a spectacular creation on the southern side of the church. If many of the biblical scenes are adorned with motifs inspired from the traditional dress in Bucovina, “The Siege of Constantinopole” – one of the principal features in Moldovita – also illustrates through its dramatic composition the conflict between the Moldavian ruler and the Ottoman Empire. Moldovita celebrates its patron on the Feast of the Annunciation.

Humor

The monastery of Humor was built in the same period as the Moldovita. Even more, the great chancellor Toader Bubuiog – who, like the metropolitan bishop Grigore Rosca, was also a relative of Petru Rares – founded the new church together with his wife Anastasia near a monatery dated from the beginning of the 15th century. The church is dedicated to the “Assumption of the Virgin”. Here, on the open church porch – a new invention in the Moldavian architecture – with strong pillars that support four archways, the guests are gently watched by “The Virgin and he Baby”, a painting that specialists appreciate as being one of the most beautiful creations within the canons. The church of Humor is also painted in the exterior, being covered by frescoes that managed to remain intact since 1535 until today. The painter – Toma from Suceava – displayed his entire talent. As other artists of the age did, he painted his own portrait on the southern wall, where the visitors can also see “The Siege of Constantinopole”. “The Legend of the Prodigal Son”, “The Hymn of the Dead”, The Life of St. Nicholas” are also illustrated here, on the southern wall. Unfortunately, the wind, the rain and the snow have erased “The Tree of Ieseu (Jesse)”, which was painted on the northern wall. The artistic composition painted on the roof of the pronaos is really remarkable.

Arbore

It is extremely rare for a church founder to be present in two votive paintings on the same site. Luca Arbore – that once was Stephen The Great’s closest adviser – is an exception. The church with no belfry towers was built while the founder was still alive, but the artist Dragos Coman drew the external paintings forty years later, at the request of the grand-daughter of the man that had been for a long period of time the chief magistrate of Suceava. One of the compositions that always gave birth to vivid comments is the one that illustrates “The Procession of the Holy Cross”, specific to the mural art in Moldavia. The central figure is that of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (306 – 337). Two different sources refer to the battle in 312 AD near the bridge of Milvius (“The Bridge of the Hawk”), north of Rome. There are army of Constantine fought against the army led by Maxentiu, who had been proclaimed as sole emperor in 306. It was a victory for Constantine… Even while the emperor was still alive, the Christian hagiography started to spread legends related to this victory. One of them tells us that on the eve of the battle Constantine had a dream in which he was advised to engrave God’s celestial sign (“caeleste signum dei”) on the shields of the soldiers before they started the fight. This is exactly what they did. Another legend says that in the middle of the day the emperor saw an immense cross appearing in the sky, above the sun and that one the cross it was written: with this sign you will vanquish (“in hoc sign evinces”). This is the legend that was spread around and the Moldavian painter adapted to the difficult times that he was going through. The church is dedicated to “The Beheading of St. John”.

Patrauti

Unlike the East, that shows its religious faith through sculptures, the Moldavian churches display it through paintings, as the canons of the Orthodox Church forbid the presence and the worshipping of the “carved face” on its sites or anywhere else. Built in 1487 by Stephen the Great and dedicated to the Holy Cross, the church from Patrauti represents an important moment of that trend that will be so spectacularly fulfilled in the next constructions of the great ruler and of his descendants. The church was founded in a difficult year for Moldavia, so maybe this is why it doesn’t impress through its size. But it displays a captivating harmony, and the scene “The Finding of the Cross by the Emperor Constantine the Great”, painted in the pronaos on the western wall, seems to be connected to the Cross that protects the church, as well as to the founder’s aspirations, as the fresco illustrates one of the anti-Ottoman battles of Stephen the Great. The clear lines, the dynamism of the gestures, the natural motions of the horses and the monumental character of the composition announce a real revolution in the iconography of the Moldavian religious art. The church of Patrauti, the first religious site founded by Stephen the Great, is built according to a tri-lobate plan: the spire is erected on the nave and the pronaos is covered by a dome.

Saint George from Suceava

In 1514, the voivode Bogdan III started the foundation of St. George’s church, that was finished eight years later by his successor Stefanita-Voda. The painting of the impressive site whose architecture resembles that of the monastery of Neamt was started in 1534, during “the Age of Petru Rares” – a glorious age in painting of the Moldavian churches. The frescoes that are created according to a style resembling the one used at Moldovita and Humor were subject to frequent deteriorations along the ages: only some parts of “The Hymn of the Dead”, “The Tree of Ieseu (Jesse)” and the legend of “The Prodigal Son” can still be seen on the southern wall. There is a votive painting placed near the coffin where the relics of St. John the New rest. This paining shows the image of Bogdan III followed by his sons Stefanita and Petru. The celebration of St. John the New, who was killed in 1330 at the White City by the Tartars, is done through an impressive procession. Manufactured in Suceava in 15th century, the coffin in which the relics lie displays the oldest silver setting in Moldavia. The monachal pile in which the church of St. George is included is called the Monastery of St. John the New.