Bucharest to Sucevita

The Painted Monasteries of Bucovina - Bucovina derives its name from the German word “Buchenland,” meaning “the Land of Beech Trees.” This name first appeared in a document from 1392 and became the official name of the region in 1774 when it was annexed by the Habsburg Empire. It remained under Habsburg control until 1918, when it became part of Romania again.

Geographically, Bucovina is located in Northeastern Romania, covering much of Suceava County and extending into Ukraine up to Chernivtsi. The region is characterized by the Northern Group of the Eastern Carpathians and the Suceava Plateau. Numerous rivers, including the Moldova (and its tributary Moldovita), Suceava, and Siret, traverse the landscape. Although many of the original beech forests have been replaced by human settlements, the scenery along tourist routes remains stunning, featuring winding paths through ancient forests, clear mountain springs forming small creeks, and sheep grazing on mountain tops.

The region is home to a diverse mix of ethnic groups, including Germans, Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians, who live harmoniously with the Romanians. Bucovina’s unique character is largely due to the blend of customs and traditions from these various cultures.

Monasteries Tour

Moldovita Monastery - Moldovița Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox monastery located in the commune of Vatra Moldoviței, Suceava County. Built in 1532 by Petru Rareș, the illegitimate son of Stefan the Great, it served as a defensive barrier against the Muslim Ottoman invaders from the East. Stefan the Great, who ruled Moldavia from 1457 to 1504, fought 36 battles against the Ottoman Empire, winning 34. He was deeply religious and built churches to commemorate many of his victories. Petru Rareș, who ruled Moldavia from 1527 to 1538 and again from 1541 to 1546, introduced a new vision for Bukovina churches, commissioning artists to adorn the interiors and exteriors with elaborate frescoes depicting saints, prophets, and scenes from the life of Jesus.

The frescoes at Moldovița, painted by Toma of Suceava in 1537, are notable for their yellow accents and excellent preservation. The predominantly yellow-and-blue exterior paintings feature recurring themes in Christian Orthodox art, such as a procession of saints leading to the Virgin enthroned with the Child, the “Tree of Jesse” illustrating Christ’s ancestry, and the “Siege of Constantinople” commemorating the Virgin’s intervention in saving the city from a Persian attack in A.D. 626. The porch, with its tall arches, opens to the outside and daylight, and the west wall is covered with “The Last Judgment,” depicting a river of fire and the sea giving up its dead for judgment. Moldovița and Humor are the last churches built with an open porch, a hidden place above the burial vault, and Gothic-style windows and doors.

Sucevita Monastery - Sucevița Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox convent located in Northeastern Romania, near the Suceviţa River in the village of Sucevița, 18 km from the city of Rădăuţi, Suceava County. Situated in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, it was built in 1585 by Ieremia Movilă, Gheorghe Movilă, and Simion Movilă. The church’s architecture combines Byzantine and Gothic elements, along with features typical of other painted churches in northern Moldavia.

Both the interior and exterior walls are adorned with mural paintings of great artistic value, depicting biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Dating from around 1601, these paintings make Sucevița one of the last monasteries decorated in the famous Moldavian style of exterior paintings. The monastery is renowned for its depiction of the Ladder to Paradise, where red-winged angels assist the righteous on a ladder to heaven, while sinners fall through the rungs into the chaos of hell. The south side features the Tree of Jesse, entwined with foliage, and the Hymn to the Virgin. The monastic ensemble’s interior court is almost square (100 by 104 meters) and surrounded by high (6 m), wide (3 m) walls, with several defensive structures, including four corner towers. Sucevița served as both a princely residence and a fortified monastery. Today, its thick walls house a museum with a remarkable collection of historical and art objects, including the tomb covers of Ieremia and Simion Movilă, ecclesiastical silverware, books, and illuminated manuscripts. In 2010, UNESCO added the monastery to its list of World Heritage Sites.

Putna Monastery - Putna Monastery, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary (celebrated on August 15), was the first and one of the most significant creations of voivode Stephan the Great. Constructed between 1466 and 1481, the monastery has endured numerous challenges, including foreign attacks, occupations, fires, and earthquakes, yet the religious life there has continued uninterrupted.

One of the church’s most treasured items is the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God, brought from Constantinople in 1472 by Lady Maria de Mangop, Stephan the Great’s wife.

For over five centuries, Putna Monastery has been an important spiritual, historical, and cultural landmark. Its founder, Stephan the Great, is renowned not only in Romania but throughout Europe, earning the title of Christianity’s athlete.

Manastirea Voronet - Voroneţ was also known for its school of calligraphy, where priests, monks, and friars learned to read, write, and translate religious texts. The school produced two notable Romanian translations of the Bible: The Codex of Voroneţ, discovered in 1871, and The Psalter of Voroneţ, found in 1882. These books are now held at the Romanian Academy.

The exterior frescoes were added in 1547, and today, this Painted Monastery is perhaps the most famous due to the distinctive Voroneţ blue. Known worldwide for its vibrant and intense exterior frescoes, the monastery features hundreds of well-preserved figures set against the renowned azurite background. The small windows, with their rectangular frames of crossed rods and the receding pointed or shouldered arches of the interior doorframes, are Gothic. The south and north doors of the exonarthex have rectangular frames, indicating a transition from Gothic to Renaissance. Above them, on each wall, is a tall window with a flamboyant Gothic arch. The west façade, reserved for frescoes, has no openings. The north façade still displays the original decoration, including rows of ceramic enamelled discs in yellow, brown, and green, featuring heraldic motifs like the rampant lion and the aurochs’ head of the Moldavian coat of arms, as well as creatures inspired by Western European medieval literature, such as two-tailed mermaids. The tower is adorned with sixteen tall niches, four of which are windows, and a row of small niches encircles the tower above them. The fragmented roof likely follows the shape of the original shingle roof. Monastic life at Voroneţ was interrupted in 1785 when Bucovina became part of the Habsburg Empire, but it resumed in 1991, and the monastery is now a UNESCO Monument. The frescoed walls of Voroneţ are highly detailed, depicting the Last Judgment and other religious scenes.

Bucovina to Bucharest

Agapia Monastery - Agapia Monastery is one of Romania’s most important Orthodox nun convents, originally built between 1641-1643 and later expanded. The monastery is internationally renowned for its interior frescoes, painted in 1858 by the great Romanian artist Nicolae Grigorescu, one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.

Visitors to the monastery can sense its beauty, peace, and serenity. The flowers, paintings, carpets, and books created by the nuns contribute to the feeling of being in a true oasis of tranquility.

Varatec Monastery - The first church at Varatec was a small wooden structure. As the number of nuns increased, the wooden church was replaced by the current masonry church between 1808-1812, with painting and decoration continuing until 1841. The second church, built from 1808, is known as “the Assumption of the Virgin” and referred to by the community as “the larger Church.” Its architecture retains elements from old church designs and 18th-century Moldavian architecture. Like the larger church at Agapia, it features neo-Classical elements synthesized with traditional Moldavian style, including a line of neo-Byzantine blind arcading under the eaves. The windows have discreet Brancovenesque borders with Islamic-style arches and floral motifs. The painting, completed in 1882 by painters T. Ioan and D. Iliescu, was cleaned in 1968-1969 by Arutium Avachian.

Red Lake - The Red Lake, also known as the Killer Lake, has a legend behind its name. It is said that when a slope collapsed over a nearby village, the landslide killed most of the villagers and animals. The water was so filled with blood from the victims that the lake became known as The Red Lake or The Killer Lake.

Adding to the eerie atmosphere, the forest submerged by the lake left only tree stumps, which over time turned to stone due to sedimentation. Now, the spruce trunks that barely emerge from the water resemble tombstones.

• Private transportation
• Accommodation
• Expert tour guide
• All fees and taxes included

• Lunch and dinner