One of the most beautiful tourist attractions in Romania are painted monasteries in Bucovina – the region located in the northern part of the country, near the border with Ukraine. Even if you most likely need to make a detour to reach them, visiting the painted monasteries in Romania will be one of the highlights of your trip.

The centuries-old monasteries are stunning not only from the inside but also outside, as their walls are covered in incredible frescoes, making them such a unique place to visit. In the Bucovina region, you will find many historical monasteries (on some of them, the exterior paintings didn’t survive the passing of time), but eight of them were granted the UNESCO World Heritage Site title.

During one of my recent trips to Romania, I was lucky to finally visit the painted monasteries in Bucovina (four of them, but that was enough to fulfill my curiosity about this attraction). They all were so much more impressive than I ever expected. I was wandering around and admiring their beauty with my jaw literally dropped.

A trip to the painted monasteries in Bucovina is worth all the hassle to get there as this is one of the most unique sacred places you can find in Europe. Even if you are not a religious person, you will still be amazed at the incredible cultural, historical, and artistic value of the monasteries and the hard work that was put into creating them.

Here is the guide to visiting the painted monasteries in Bucovina, Romania.

Where are the painted monasteries in Romania

The painted monasteries are located in the Bucovina region in the very northeast of Romania, near the borders with Ukraine and Moldova. The capital and the largest city of the region is Suceava.

Another nearby interesting place (which was one of my best travel discoveries a few years ago) is Chernivtsi in Ukraine, which is only 80 km north of Suceava. Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is 450 km away.

Here are the exact locations of the painted monasteries that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

A brief history of the painted monasteries in Bucovina

The beautiful monasteries in the characteristic architectural style date back to the late 14th century, when the Principality of Moldavia was established in this area. The most valuable monasteries were built a bit later, at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. That’s also when the buildings were decorated with wall paintings – since most people could not read back then, this was the best way to show them what was in the Bible and the knowledge they needed to learn from the Holy Book.

Besides the religious purpose, the monasteries in Bucovina also played an important defensive role and served as the shelter for the local community during turbulent times as well as points of resistance. The paintings on the monasteries’ walls were also used as an ideological weapon against the Ottoman Empire, which conquered this area in the early 16th century.

Shortly after, the importance of the monasteries in Bucovina started to decrease, and once the political center of the region was moved further south to Iasi, the region lost its political and cultural significance. The last painted monastery that was built here in this golden era was Sucevita in 1584.

During the Habsburg and then communist rule in the region, the monasteries decayed further, and the monks were removed from them. Eventually, after the change of power in Romania in 1989, the value of the painted monasteries in Bucovina was recognized again. Places were inhabited by Orthodox nuns and monks again, and the sites went through significant renovations.

As a result, in 1993, seven of the monasteries were granted the UNESCO World Heritage Site title, with one more added to the list in 2010.

The architecture of monasteries in Bucovina

One of the reasons I liked the painted monasteries in Bucovina so much was their unique look, which was nothing I’d seen before. Even if they reminded me a bit of the Orthodox churches, they were also kind of oriental.

That’s because their shape was very much inspired by Byzantine architecture, with the clover-like shape of the building. The roundly-shaped roof is a bit too large for the building, giving the place a unique look. Some of the monasteries also have a thin tower.

Inside, the place is usually divided into three rooms – the nave, the front nave, and the church porch. There are only a few small windows in the monasteries, making the interior dark and setting the mood of the place.

The monastery grounds are surrounded by defensive walls, with one gate leading inside. In some places, there are also towers in the corners to observe the area around. The monastery building is a standing-alone structure in the middle of the premises, while the residential and farm quarters are attached to the inner side of the wall.

Most beautiful painted monasteries in Bucovina

Voronet Monastery

Probably the most popular of the painted monasteries in Bucovina. It dates back to 1488 and was founded by Stephen the Great, the most prominent Prince of Moldavia. The legend says the monastery was built in three months and three days only, which is impressive for its time.

The building was expanded in 1547, with the added church porch. The oldest paintings here are inside, in the nave, and are from the end of the 15th century, while the exterior ones date back to 1547.

The most impressive painting, probably the most valuable fresco of all the monasteries in Bucovina, is the one showing the Last Judgment. It is very large, occupying the whole west wall of the building. There are so many details here that, at first, you don’t know what to look at. You will find God, angels, Jesus, Maria, devils, and even the octopus there.

You can easily spend a long time here, just admiring the fine work of the painting. Other interesting frescoes at Voronet Monastery show scenes of the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Last Supper, and the Passion of the Lord.

Sucevita Monastery

The newest monastery (built between 1581 and 1584) and the largest one, it played an important defending function in the area. The massive walls surrounding the premises make it look and feel more like a fortress than a monastery. The structure stands quite in contrast to the idyllic landscape surrounding the place, with the rolling, green hills around it.

The frescoes decorating the monastery are the best-preserved ones in the Bucovina region. The most impressive one is the very detailed “ladder of divine ascent,” but there are other interesting works, too, such as “Tree of Jesse” or “The Akathist Hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

One of the walls has never been completed – the legend says that the work was suspended when one of the painters fell down from the scaffolding and died.

Moldovita Monastery

The first monastery was built here in the early 15th century, but it was destroyed by a landslide, hence the need to rebuild the holy temple (but you can find the remnants of the old building some 700 meters down the valley). The current monastery dates back to 1532, with the frescoes created five years later.

Many of the paintings are well preserved, and, among other scenes, you can see the Fall of Constantinople, the heavenly hierarchy, or scenes from the Book of Genesis.

Besides the monastery occupying the central part of the grounds, there is also a small museum you can visit, dedicated to the history of the place, with numerous valuable artifacts, such as icons, prayer books, a wooden carved throne that used to belong to Petru Rares (the voivode of Moldavia in the 16th century), and more.

I found Moldovita monastery to be the most intimate and cozy of all the places I’ve visited in the Bucovina region. The village where the monastery is located also felt like time had stopped there.

Humor Monastery

The monastery was built in 1530 to replace the one from 1415 that was destroyed during the Tatar invasion. It was the first monastery in the Bucovina region that had a church porch with wide arcades added to the structure. However, since this was not a princely foundation, the monastery building does not have a tower.

The frescoes added in 1535 were created by the local artist Tom from Suceava, who left his signature on the walls. The paintings are another amazing example of the sacral art from that period, with scenes similar to those in other monasteries.

Besides the monastery, there is also a freestanding defensive tower from 1641 that you can climb to get some great views of the monastery building and the surrounding area.

Other painted monasteries in Bucovina

The monasteries described above are the most beautiful ones you can visit in the Bucovina region. However, there are more of them, so if you still have some time in your Romania itinerary, you can also stop in those places:

UNESCO-listed monasteries:

• Arbore Church from 1503, with external frescoes from 1541
• Patrauti Church from 1487, with external frescoes from ca. 1550
• Probota Monastery from 1530, with external frescoes from 1532
• Saint John the New Monastery in Suceava, built between 1514 and 1522, with external frescoes from 1534

Other historical monasteries in Bucovina:

• St. Demetrius Church in Suceava from 1535, with external frescoes from 1538.
• Rasca Monastery from 1542, with external frescoes from 1552
• St. Nicholas Church in Balinesti from 1493, with external frescoes from 1538
• Bogdana Monastery from the 14th century
• Putna Monastery from 1481
• Slatina Monastery from 1558
• Dragomirna Monastery from 1609

Visiting the painted monasteries in Bucovina

You can easily visit the beautifully painted monasteries in Bucovina during your trip to Romania. They are open to the public, often with extended opening hours until 7 or 8 p.m.

To enter the monastery grounds, you need to get the ticket at the front gate – it’s affordable, a few Romanian lei, and the fee helps to maintain the place.

Taking pictures on the monastery’s grounds is allowed, however, not inside the monasteries (which is such a shame as that’s often when the most jaw-dropping paintings are).

There is no time limit to spend on the monastery premises, but you will need around half an hour in each place to see it properly, study all the details of the frescoes, and explore the grounds.

Remember that this is a religious place, so visit it with respect and wear acceptable clothes. Women need to cover their hair.

There is always a parking spot near the monastery (sometimes you must pay a fee). Some places feel more remote and authentic, while others (like Voronet) are popular tourist attractions with rows of souvenir stands in front.

The distances between the monasteries aren’t very big, so you can easily visit a few in one day. The only way to reach most of them is by car. The roads are decent, but it’s a mountainous area, so driving can sometimes be a bit slow. The good news is that the landscape around is breathtaking, and you will surely enjoy the views along the way.

If you don’t have a car, you can use public transport (trains, buses, planes) to reach Suceava and then go on a tour from there. Here are the highly-rated tours of painted monasteries in Bucovina:

• Bucovina Painted Monasteries Day Tour
• Day trip from Iasi to the UNESCO Painted Monasteries in Bucovina
• 1-Day Bucovina Painted Monasteries tour from Suceava

Further reading

I published many articles about Romania that you might find useful when planning your trip there. Here are some of them:

• 25 Best Places to Visit in Romania
• 23 Great Things to Do in Bucharest, Romania
• 10 Awesome Places to Visit on Day Trips from Bucharest
• 15 Best Things to Do in Brasov, Romania
• How to Get from Bucharest to Brasov
• Visit Sinaia, Romania – home to the amazing Peles Castle
• 9 Great Things to Do in Cluj-Napoca, the Vibrant City in Romania
• Why you should visit Timisoara, Romania
• and many more!

If you are looking for articles about a specific destination – check out the map with all the articles I’ve published (and their locations). You can also join my Facebook group about traveling in the Balkans and ask your questions there.

---

---

For the end I left a few announcements that might interest you:

• Sign up to my newsletter or follow me on Bloglovin to get updates about the new posts
• Join my Facebook group about Eastern Europe, the Balkans and former USSR and connect with fellow travellers and enthusiasts of these regions – just click here!
• I’ve included a few handy links of services and products I personally like and use so you can plan your own trip to Romania too. They are often affiliate links. This means I will get a small commission if you book/purchase anything through my links, at no extra costs for you. Thank you!

---

LIKED IT? PIN THIS POST FOR LATER!

---