Video masterpieces of religious architecture in Romania: the valuable monasteries included in the UNESCO heritage

Next to the Black Sea coast, the Carpathian Mountains, the big resorts and cities in Romania, the monuments and monument churches in Romania occupy a special place in the preferences of the tourists who choose to travel to the country during the summer.

Holidays, holidays, but also religious holidays or local dedications bring many tourists during the summer in the famous churches and monasteries of Romania, which are no longer only pilgrimage destinations, but also crowded tourist attractions.

The spectacular architecture, the frescoes and the unique paintings, the historical charm, but also the tourist services developed around them make the Romanian monasteries an increasingly popular choice, for both travel and photography, and for those passionate about history and spirituality.

The monasteries network in Romania is bidding, some of the most famous chains being visited by many Romanian and foreign tourists since the second half of the last century. Some of these monuments have been recognized internationally, for the iniquity being included in the UNESCO world cultural heritage due to their value and uniqueness.

Here are some of the most attractive churches and monasteries, recognized as part of the UNESCO heritage, which could be landmarks in the holiday plans.

The painted churches of Bucovina

The monasteries, visited by thousands of foreign and Romanian tourists, are one of the great treasures of Bukovina. Due to their artistic value and uniqueness, the churches of the Voronet, Humor, Moldovița, Sucevița, Pătrăuți monasteries, “Saint John the New” Suceava and Probota, all from Suceava county, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage.

They are appreciated for the exterior paintings that cover their facades, being considered a remarkable type of construction and decoration adopted in Moldova to the past centuries.

“These eight churches in the north of Moldova, built from the end of the fifteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century, whose outer walls are covered with fresco paintings, are masterpieces inspired by Byzantine art. Their exceptional composition, the elegance of the characters and the harmony of the colors combine perfectly with the surrounding landscape ”, inform the UNESCO page dedicated to the monasteries in Bucovina.

The idea of ​​completely covering the outer facades of churches with paintings represents a remarkable example of construction and decoration adopted in Moldova, which illustrates the cultural and religious context of the Balkans from the end of the fifteenth century to the end of the fifteenth century.

The fortified churches in the Saxon villages

The fortified churches in Transylvania are considered unique in Europe, and the region hosts almost 200 such buildings. Seven fortified churches, in the middle of well -preserved and representative settlements for the history of the Saxons, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage. They are located in Biertan (Sibiu county), Prejmer and Viscri (Brașov county), Câlnic (videoAlba county), Saschiz (Mureș county), Dârjiu (Harghita county) and Valea Viilor (Sibiu county).

“These Transylvanian villages, with their fortified churches, offer a living image of the cultural landscape in southern Transylvania. The seven registered villages, founded by the Transylvanian Saxons, are characterized by a specific system of use of the land, a distinct pattern of settlement and an organization of the family house. Illustrates construction styles from the 13th -XVI centuries ”, UNESCO shows.

The Saxons were German colonists established in Transylvania since the 12th century, during the Hungarian Kingdom. They received economic, administrative and religious privileges in exchange for the defense of the Kingdom borders. The Saxon communities founded fortified cities and distinct villages, noted by the solid architecture of the houses and the rigorous organization. Among the most important settlements are Sibiu, Brașov, Sighișoara, Mediaș and Bistrița. Over the centuries, the Saxons have contributed significantly to the cultural and urban development of the region, building fortified churches, cities and shopping centers.

“Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the fortified churches have lost their defensive function. They continued to be the center of the life of the communities, gathering inside or near the buildings of common or special destination: the City Hall, the Confessional School, the Communal Hall, the Evangelical House, the Evangelical House, the Economic House, etc. Saxon, with compact households, continuous front front fronts alternating with high gates and courtyards surrounded by stables, drivers and monumental shots”, The National Heritage Institute informed.

Today, many of the old fortified churches have become historical and tourist landmarks for Romanians and many foreigners, but the Saxon community has reduced considerably in the last decades.

The wooden churches in Maramureș

In Maramureș, the travelers discover numerous unique tourist attractions in Romania: the Merry Cemetery from Săpânța, the former prison from Sighet, the spectacular route of Mocănița on the Vaser Valley, the traditional villages and the wooden churches, with towers that rise tens of meters above the world, some of the worlds.

Maramureș houses some of the most valuable wooden churches in Romania, true works of art of popular craftsmen. Since 1999, eight of these old churches, erected between the 16th and 18th centuries, have been included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. They can be admired today in Bârsana, Desești, Ieud Deal, Plopiș, Poienile Izei, Rogoz and Șurdești.

“These eight churches are remarkable examples of a range of architectural solutions from different periods and areas. They show the variety of models and mastery adopted in these narrow, tall, wooden constructions, with their high and thin characteristic towers at the western end of the buildings, either with a single roof or with a double one, as a local, as a single, Cultural of this mountainous area of ​​northern Romania ”, It shows UNESCO, in the description of churches in the world heritage.

Of these, one of the most visited churches is the one in Bârsana, about 20 kilometers from Sighetu Marmaiei. The three -centuries -old monastery was named by some “Athos mountain of Maramureș”, and here is one of the highest wood churches in the country, with a tower that rises to almost 60 meters.

Although it is not in the UNESCO heritage, the church from the Săpânța-Peri Monastery, built in 1997 near the village of Săpânța, holds the record in the northwestern region of Romania. With a height of 78 meters, it is considered one of the highest wood churches in the world. His tower can be seen from five kilometers away, being considered a spiritual landmark for the believers in the area and an important tourist attraction of Maramureș. The staircase that climbs to her paraclis has been carved from a single old wooden trunk over 300 years.

Horezu Monastery, UNESCO religious site in southern Romania

The Horezu Monastery in Vâlcea county is the only one in the south of the country included in the UNESCO heritage. It is one of the foundations of the ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu, appreciated for the Brancovan style of construction, from the end of the seventeenth century and for the mural paintings, the stone sculpture and its historical value.

“Founded in 1690 by the ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu, the Horezu Monastery, from the Romanian Country, is a masterpiece of the Brancovenesc style. It is known for the purity and architectural balance, the richness of the sculptural details, the treatment of the religious compositions, the votive portraits and the decorative works. The eighteenth century became famous throughout the Balkan region ”transmits UNESCO site.

It is not the only monastery erected by Constantin Brâncoveanu. Near Făgăraș, the Brâncoveanu Monastery from Sâmbăta de Sus is among the most sought after pilgrimage places.

The city of Horesu is recognized in the UNESCO World Heritage and for its traditional ceramics.

“Work with the hand, on the wheel, the ceramic in Horezu has a special work science. Due to the special inherited techniques, transmitted from father to son, the pots feel the earth in hand and appreciate the dimensions of the donut – the land bulbs that are transformed into ceramic objects,” transmits the National Heritage Institute.

Along with the hozu, other medieval monasteries and churches in the south of Romania, the founders of some appreciated voivodes, are currently attracting thousands of tourists and pilgrims. Such a place is the Curtea de Argeș Monastery (Argeș County), founded by Neagoe Basarab in the sixteenth century, an emblematic place for Romanians, through the legend of Manole, through its architecture and as a royal necropolis, here being buried by Romania’s kings.

Medieval stone churches in Hațeg Country

In Hunedoara County, several medieval stone churches, built in the Middle Ages from the ruins of ancient settlements, adorn the country of Hațeg.

Due to their uniqueness, some of them were proposed to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage. These churches are located in the villages Densuș, Ostrov, Strei and Streisângeorgiu from the Country of Hațeg, as well as in Guasada, on the Mures Valley, including, from 2019, by the National Heritage Institute, on the indicative list of the proposed monuments to be ranked as UNESCO sites.

The most famous stone church in the region can be admired on a hill on the outskirts of Densuș, near the vestiges from Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa. The medieval church in Densuș is documented from the fourteenth century, but many historians and scholars claimed that its origin is much older.

There were also controversies regarding the circumstances in which this construction was erected near Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and its initial role. Some researchers concluded that the church was built on the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to the god Mars, where the Romans who came to Dacia used to bring sacrifices. Others stated that there was a mausoleum here by General Longinus, the Roman hero during the Dacian wars, who committed suicide after being captured by King Decebal.

“This mausoleum is claimed to be the oldest building in Transylvan wrote the Byzantinus historian Densușianu.

In the walls of the church were incorporated blocks of limestone, marble lei and funeral monuments from the former ancient city Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, from its cemetery and, probably, from the ruins of other Dacian and Roman settlements on the Hațeg Valley, adds the historian.

Other historians from the past centuries have, erroneously, argued that the church would have been built by the Jews during King Decebal or by Goths, hypotheses rejected by most researchers. About this place was said to be “the strangest sanctuary of mankind.” Others have called him “the miracle in the country of Hațeg” or “the architectural jewel of the world-Templum Valachicum Antiquum”.

More popular in the region as pilgrimage places and tourist destinations are the Prislop monasteries, in the vicinity of Hațeg and Hunedoara, and Lainici from Jiu Gorge, historical landmarks visited by thousands of tourists.