1-Day Bucovina Painted Monasteries tour from Suceava - English

Humor Monastery

1 hour

Humor Monastery is located on the crest of a hill, surrounded by trees and meadows, in the picturesque village named Manastirea Humorului.
Placed at the entrance of the exterior wall, there is an inscription carved in rock, where we found out that the Church was built in 1530 by Toader Bubuiog who used to be a chancellor and member of the Moldavian Council.

Manastirea Voronet

1 hour

The Voronet Monastery is considered by many experts to be the quintessence of the Moldavian architectural style, as it combines both Byzantine elements (the foundation is in the shape of white clover, with a tower right above the nave) and gothic elements (arks and columns).
Voronet Monastery is considered to be the "Sistine Chapel of the Orient” for its big fresco on the Western facade, named afterward “Judgment’s Day”.
„The Blue of Voronet” is considered unique in the world by specialists, similar to Rubes red or the Veronese green.

Moldovita Monastery

1 hour

Is actually a fortress with strong thick walls (1,20 m) and tall towers (5m) on both corners of the facade with a powerful tower for the gate. It was founded by Petru Rareș in 1532 and the church is according to many specialists in mural painting, “one of the most important moments of the ancient Romanian art”.

Sucevita Monastery

1 hour

Sucevita Monastery was built in the last decades of the 16th century, on the expense of the entire boyar Movila family: Ieremia being the ruler of Moldavia between the years 1595-1606.
The outside painting of Sucevita Monastery is the best kept from the group of Moldavian Churches, being the only one that keeps its Northern side.
The ,,Virtues Lather” scene is represented, being the most impressive by its amplitude and the contrast between angles and hell’s chaos. This scene presents the battle between right and wrong, man’s attempt to get to perfection, in order to regain the lost face by falling into sin. Il monastero di Sucevita

Ceramica neagra Marginea

10 min

Historians date the beginning of pottery at Marginea in 1500 and appeared due to the necessity of storing food. The pottery had a strong role in the development of primitive society and its geographical position helped a lot as well. In the Marginea commune area, the soil is argillaceous, it’s crossed by the Sucevița river and everything is surrounded by forests.
All these features are fundamental for the craft born from the magical triangle of clay, water, and fire.
Before the communist oppression in Marginea, there were at least 60 families of potters, as an old potter declared who reached Munich to present his craft.