Horezu Monastery
Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

“Adding to these the monasteries and the sketes that have in time become parish churches, Valcea at one point had 60 monastic centers, being one of the largest eparchies, founded in 1503. It was here that books were printed, libraries built, it was here that Brancovenesc-style painting and architecture found a large home, the Valcea cultural patrimony including several important exhibits of the Brancovenesc style”, says Florin Epure, Director of the Valcea Cultural Directorate.

It is said of these places that they are “a true garden of Romanian and universal Orthodoxy in which the seeds of Orthodox Christianity, the seeds of the ancestral faith sprout vigorously since the dawn of the creation of the Romanian nation”, as Vartolomeu Androni, the abbot of Cozia monastery recounts.

Cozia Monastery
Photo credit: (c) Liviu POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

On the bank of the Olt river, at the exit from the resort at Calimanesti, lies, since the end of the 14th century, the foundation of Mircea the Elder, Cozia. Harmoniously proportioned, with rich ornamentations, it was built by local craftsmen and craftsmen brought from the Morava river valley, adorned by Georgian stonemasons and painted by masters of Byzantine fresco painting brought from Constantinople. Cozia is also the resting place of Mircea the Elder and Teofana, the mother of Mihai Viteazu. The monastery lies on the main road tying Ramnicu Valcea to Sibiu.

Further up from Cozia, also on the bank of the Olt river, pilgrims, after stopping at the Schitul de sub Piatra (The skete under the rock), also known as Cozia Veche (Old Cozia), which was restored in 1995 upon the 1602 original foundations, can pray at the Cornet Monastery, built in 1666 by high boyar Mares Bajescu and his wife Maria. The monastery, situated in a piedmont, was in danger of demolition at the end of the 19th century, when the railroad to Sibiu was built. Finally the decision was made to construct a tunnel, and as such the monastery lies directly above the railroad.

In Calimanesti we may find the Ostrov Skete, the church between the waters, a monastery that was raised, together with the island on which it was standing, by 4 meters to not be affected by the flooding following the building of the Calimanesti Dam. Ostrov is a princely foundation, being raised on the orders of ruler Neagoe Basarab and his wife, Despina Doamna between 1521-1522′

Also near Calimanesti lies the Turnu Monastery, raised in 1676 by the Archbishop of Ramnic, Varlaam, who later became the Wallachian Metropolitan, with the aid of merchant Ene of Pitesti. Within the monastery, pilgrims can pray in the small cells dug into the rocks where at one point in history recluse monks would pray.

The ecclesiastic heritage of Calimanesti also includes the Stanisoara Monastery, situated at the base of the Cozia Massif, attested in 1747 and redone by two monks from Mount Athos, Sava and Teodosie. Above the monastery one may view the giant waterfall made by the Pausa river in its narrow road toward the Olt river, while near the overhang of the waterfall lies the former Pausa Skete, built in 1654-1658, believed to be the foundation of Lady Balasa, the wife of ruler Constantin Serban.

On the road towards Ramnicu Valcea, in the Muereasca commune, lies the church “of the curse”, in fact named the Frasinei Monastery, the only place of worship in the country where women have no access and where monastic life is organized by extremely severe principles, just as in the Mount Athos monasteries. Dating back to the early 19th century, the current monastery is the foundation of Saint Calinic from Cernica. It was finished in 1863, that being the time when Saint Calinic issued the command that no woman is to cross the threshold.

Across the Olt river, in Daesti, is the former skete of Fedelesoiu (today a parish church), a princely ensemble carefully restored in recent years, initiated by ruler Grigore Ghica and finished by Metropolitan Varlaam in the period when the Brancovenesc style in art was in full swing.

The northern entrance of Ramnicu Valcea is guarded by the former skete Cetatuia (The little citadel), where it is said that ruler Radu de la Afumati was killed, while the southern entrance by the Troianu Monastery, built between 1840-1842 by Hrisant, the abbot of the Hurez Monastery. It was here that the troops of General Magheru sought refuge during the 1848 Revolution, the new church guarding the Troianu Hill being a replica of the Cozia Monastery.

On the road that leads to Olanesti, pilgrims can stop at the Saracinesti Monastery, a place of worship that lies on the confluence of the Cheia and Olanesti rivers. Founded in 1688 on the lands of the Saracinesti boyars, the monastery opens the road to the holy land of the monasteries that lie on the river Cheia at the base of the Capatanii Mountains (Head Mountains) — Iezer, Pahomie, Bradu and Patrunsa.

The Iezer Monastery is a princely monastery attested during the times of ruler Radu the Great and Neagoe Basarab, and restored first by ruler Mircea Ciobanu and Lady Chiajna in 1559, and later by Saint Antonie of Iezer, whose stone-carved cell is often sought out by pilgrims.

Iezer Skete
Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO

The Pahomie skete was raised by monk Pahomie, who, according to the writings of that time, was former Ban (Governor) Barbu Craiovescu, the founder of the Bistrita Monastery, the skete being restored in 1864 by hieromonk Pahomie (Iordache Pascoveanu) and ‘haiduc’ (outlaw) Sava.

In Olanesti, in the hamlet of Gurguiata, in a secluded place, hieromonk Sava founded the Bradu skete in 1784, the skete being host today to a nun community.

Further up from the Pahomie skete, in the midst of the Buila-Vanturarita National Park, lies Patrunsa skete, built in 1740 by Bishop Climent of Ramnic, reminding of his place of birth where his mother had taken refuge to escape a Turkish invasion. In the 1950’s and 60’s the skete was host to many anticommunist partisans who had found in it a place of refuge and prayer.

A place of particular charm is the Jgheaburi Skete, hidden in the beech forests of Stoenesti, and reachable from Cheia. Jgheaburi is a monastic center ever since the 14th century, cared for, among others, by ruler Matei Basarab in 1640.

Towards the Baile Govora is one of the oldest monasteries in Wallachia, the Govora Monastery, considered by some historians to predate the Basarab dynasty, among its founders or caregivers we may find rulers Mircea the Elder, Dan II, Vlad II Dracul (father of Vlad the Impaler) and Radu the Elder, the latter ordering a full reconstruction of the monastery in 1496. It is here that Matei Basarab brings a printing press and the first literary work written in Romanian, the Pravila of Govora, is printed here in 1640.

Another legendary monastery on the territory of Valcea county is the Dintr-un Lemn Monastery (One-piece-of-wood Monastery). It dates back to the mid-16th century, when it was built, according to tradition, from the wood of a single oak tree. Probably one of the secular oaks that surround the monastery to this day. The stone church of the monastery was built by Preda Brancoveanu, a high boyar during the rule of Matei Basarab.

One-piece-of-wood Monastery 
Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

One-piece-of-wood Monastery 
Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

Further on from this place of worship, also in the Francesti Commune, is another famous monastery, the Surpatele Monastery, an older foundation of the Buzesti boyars, restored by Maria Brancoveanu, wife of ruler Constantin Brancoveanu, and a popular destination for the pilgrimages of several wives of Wallachian rulers.

On the road to Horezu, pilgrims can stop in Costesti commune, host to two important monastic centers, Bistrita and Arnota, as well as the former sketes of Papusa, Peri, Gramesti and 44 de izvoare (44 founts).

Bistrita, build in 1494, was built by the Craiovesti boyars, It was here that Governor Barbu Craiovescu brought, in 1497, from Constantinople, the relics of Saint Gregory the Decapolite. Bistrita Monastery was since its inception also a powerful Romanian cultural and spiritual center and a renowned printing center, as early as the beginning of the 16th century. It was here that ruler Neagoe Basarab received his education and also where he met Milita Despina Brancovici, a descendant of the Brankovic family that ruled over the Serbian Despotate of those times that later became his wife. Above the monastery, in the Cave of Saint Gregory the Decapolite, two rupestral churches, one well hidden deep in the cave, as old as the monastery which used it as a vault for its precious items in case of invasions, and another built in 1635 30 meters high in the Bistrita Gorges, in a spacious chamber in which one may descend via a stone-carved stairway.

Up high on the mountain is the princely necropolis of Arnota, where ruler Matei Basarab wished to be buried. The monastery that serves as a necropolis was raised between 1633-1637. The earthly remains of Matei Basarab ultimately reached Arnota, as his will dictated, however not until four years after his death.

Arnota Monastery
Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The depression at the base of the Capatanii Mountains ends with the crown pearl, Horezu Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site and princely necropolis, where the empty grave of its founder, ruler Constantin Brancoveanu, still awaits his earthly remains. Among the historical monuments that adorn Romania, Horezu Monastery and its sketes are considered to be the masterpieces of the Brancovenesc style.

As such, the monastic map of Valcea County looks highly alike to the map of Athos. Great rulers and great boyars wanted to show through their foundations that this land was truly blessed.AGERPRES