Voroneț Monastery

The monastery church

Representation of the Last Judgment

The Voroneț monastery ( Romanian Mănăstirea Voroneț ) is located in the Voroneț district of the small town of Gura Humorului in the Suceava district in the historical region of Bucovina in Romania .

The church of Sfântul Gheorghe ("Saint George"), which lies within the monastery walls, was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993, along with other churches in the Vltava River . The other monastery buildings no longer exist.

history

Legend has it that Stephen the Great built the Vorone monastery to commemorate the victory in the battle of Vaslui . The famous monastery church of St. George was built as a trikonchos from May 26th to September 14th, 1488. It was not until 1547 - during the reign of Stefan's son Petru Rares - that the canopy was added and the painting of the outer walls of the church, which was planned at the start of construction, was completed under the supervision of Bishop Grigore Roscas, whose bones are buried there.

Frescoes

Because of the excellent frescoes the church is also called " Sistine Chapel of the East". The Last Judgment is depicted on the entire western outer wall of the building . The paintings on the south side represent the "family tree of Jesse". Weather influences damaged the north side the most. This page shows Adam and Eve in paradise and the Akathistos hymn. On the eastern side there are martyrs, apostles and saints who adore the Mother of God with the baby Jesus. A special feature of the "Holy Hierarchies" in Voroneț is that philosophers of antiquity such as Aristotle , Plato , Socrates and others are represented, as well as the Sibyl as an ancient seer. The particularly beautiful medieval paintings and the color scheme, the so-called “Voroneț blue”, are unique in religious Moldovan painting.