Social program


Saturday, June 25
Trip to Probota monastery, Neamț monastery, Sihăstria monastery

Probota monastery
Probota monastery, built in 1530 by Prince Petru Rareș, was destined to be the burial place for the Prince and his family. It was extensively restored between 1996 and 2001, and, in 1993, it was included in the UNESCO Natural and Cultural World Heritage list both for the artistic uniqueness and for the quality of being a remarkable example of a structural type characteristic to a historical epoch. Its twin domes with the complicated system of arches, apses and pendentives are unique in Moldavia. The exterior paintings of the Church of St. Nicholas are faded, but the interior ones are among the finest of their kind in Moldavia. The remains of the monastic buildings were found in archaeological excavations and nowadays the monastery is inhabited by nuns.


Neamț monastery
Known from the 14th century, when Petru I donates villages and lands to the monastery, the monastery was originally constructed by Prince Alexander the Kind (1400-1432), but it is famous since the reign of Stephen the Great, who completed it in 1497. The frescoes are dated from the 15th and 16th centuries. The monastic buildings were built and rebuilt several times during the centuries. The present constructions, which form a defensive wall around the church, were built during the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the XIVth century there is a library in the monastery which now includes more than 19000 manuscripts and printed volumes in different languages: Romanian, Russian, French, English, German, Greek, Italian and from various disciplines: fiction, history, philosophy, music, theology and others. A visit to the Neamț monastery includes also the Museum of Saint Paisie Velicikovski from Neamț, a printing house which works since the XVth century, the St. John Jacob of Neamț Bookshop - in the building known as "Aghiazmatar".

Sihăstria monastery
Founded in the 17th century by Ghedeon, Bishop of Huși, the monastery was burnt during the 1821 Etaireía and, three years later, it was rebuild and there were erected four tall walls on all four sides of the church, as well as two towers - which made it look like a fortress. A new cathedral, Saint Teodora of Sihla, has been erected here in 1998. In the Sihăstria monastery lived and served Archimandrite Cleopa Ilie (deceased in December 1998), celebrated for his exemplary monastic life. Out of the monastic residents, there is the name of Father Ioanichie Bălan, who authored several outstanding studies on Orthodox monasticism. Their cells can also be visited.