Sucevița Monastery

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General view of the monastery complex
Monastery church

The Sucevița Monastery ( Romanian Mănăstirea Sucevița ) is located in the area of ​​the Sucevița municipality in Suceava County in Romania .

The Romanian Orthodox Church, which is located within the monastery walls and is dedicated to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ , has been one of the eight Moldavian monasteries on the UNESCO World Heritage List since August 2010 .

history

The Sucevița Monastery was founded by Ieremia Movilă , who was ruler ( voivode ) of Moldova from 1595 to 1606 , and his brother Simion and built from 1582 to 1584. The church is surrounded by defensive towers and walls. The monastery is still used as a nunnery today. Embroidery, icons, manuscripts and books can be viewed and purchased in the monastery museum.

Frescoes

North wall of the church. The inclined ladder to heaven divides the field of the flying angels at the top right from the falling people and demons at the bottom left.

The monastery is one of the most beautiful Moldavian monasteries and the only one whose interior and exterior walls are completely covered with murals and whose frescoes have been completely preserved inside and out.

Among other things, the depiction of the "ladder of virtues" on the north facade, which shows a ladder to the heavenly gate, is significant. Devils try to pull people who climb the ladder to heaven down into the canyon of hell, while angels hover over the ladder. The people climbing the stairs are dressed like monks.

On the outer walls there are also 14 representations from the 16th century with images of ancient Greek pagan poets and thinkers, such as a picture of the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyrios , further by Astakoe, Solon , Sophocles , Plato , Aristotle and Pythagoras as well as a representation of the Sibyl . The images are an example of the relationship between the Eastern Church and the spiritual heritage of pre-Christian Greek antiquity.

literature

  • Jean Cuisenier, Klaus Freckmann (ed.): The memory of the Carpathians. Romania and its cultural heritage: inside and outside views . Jonas, Marburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-89445-394-7 , pp. 236-255 .

Web links

Commons : Sucevița Monastery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Churches of Moldavia. UNESCO
  2. ^ Joscha Remus, Hans-Gerd Spelleken: Romania and Republic of Moldova . Reise Know-How-Verlag, 2008
  3. ^ V. Grecu: Representations of ancient pagan thinkers and writers in church painting of the Orient (= Académie Roumaine. Bulletin de la section historique , IX, No. 1), 1924, pp. 1-68.
  4. ↑ Ivan Dujčev: Ancient pagan poets and thinkers in old Bulgarian painting , Sofia 1978, p. 141ff.

Coordinates: 47 ° 46 ′ 41.4 "  N , 25 ° 42 ′ 40.4"  E