Sucevita Monastery

SUCEVITA is considered to be Moldavia’s most impressive architectural development in the 15th and 16th centuries. In addition to its stunning architecture, Sucevita is the last monastery to have a painted façade. Each of Sucevita’s fresco paintings tells a different story. The frescoes are impressive because of the outstanding artistry of the paintings, the liveliness of the characters and the humanization of the religious themes, which are all staged into Moldavia’s natural landscapes. The green and red hues that dominate the sceneries are classic examples of the use of color to evoke emotion.

When he ascended the throne of Moldova, in the summer of 1595. Ieremia Movila opened a series of the seven ruling princes belonging to this large and ambitious boyar family.

Before being enthroned but also afterwards, the lives of Ieremia and his brothers Gheorghe and Simion were far from being quiet, in spite of the fact that, irrespective of the circumstances, they amazed through their luxury and wealth. In 1581 when they started to erect the walls of the Sucevita Monastery, Gheorghe Movila had got the title of bishop of Radauti, Ieremia Movila had become a supreme judge but also the army commander, while younger Simion Movila was in charge of the ruling prince’s beverages. However, they could not immediately finalize the construction of Sucevita.

Finally Sucevita was erected between 1581-1584 through the care of the entire family. Since the times were so unsafe, the whole monastery could not but acquire the aspect of a fortress with thick walls (6m high and 3m wide), massive buttresses, battlements, corner towers.

The execution of the frescoes raised particularly complex technical problems. A supporting plaster, capable to resist bad weather and the climate various had to be made. The painting had to be painted very quickly on the fresh plaster, before the surface dried, otherwise the painting layer would have remained unprotected and could not resist the atmosphere changes.

Nowadays, after four centuries, the paintings remain a miracle. The best preserved fresco illustrating the Last Judgment – the drama warning us that we are mortals, painted in the porch – can be admired in Sucevita. Also in the porch one can notice the life of St.John the New, one of Moldova’s patrons. The visitor will also discover among other interesting details, the costumes worn at the court of the ruling prince Alexander the Good who had brought to Sucevita in 1402 the relics of this martyr, tortured by Turks.

But like the others churches of its kind in Bucovina, Sucevita has won its fame due to the exterior frescoes. On the southern wall, we can admire a composition covering a huge surface “Ieseu’s Tree”. It is a representation of Christ genealogy, starting with Ieseu, David’s father. The tree is springing out of the body of Ieseu who is asleep and the branches and leaves of the tree are blending in a gorgeous ornament, forming inset portraits superposed on seven lines. The portraits represent the Biblical ancestors attributed to Christ. Participating in this show are also the philosophers of the ancient Greek: Sofocles, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Porfir