Mănăstirea Putna

At a distance of 29 km from Rădăuți, on a modernized route, you can reach the PUTNA MONASTERY, located in the commune of the same name.  Built between the years 1466-1469 at the command of Stephen the Great, the Putna Monastery holds a central position in the heart and memory of Romanians, being the most important monument in the Upper Country.  It is the first foundation of the great Moldavian voivode, marking the beginning of an extremely prolific period in Romanian medieval art.

 Here is the tomb of Stephen the Great, who himself became a legend through his deeds worthy of the title of "the most worthy earthly ruler, wherever he is".

 The Putna Monastery has also enjoyed well-deserved recognition for its artistic treasure, considered one of the richest not only in Romania, but also in the whole world.

 The construction of the church began in the summer of 1466. According to a tradition recorded by the chronicler Ion Neculce in "O sămă de cuvinte", the place where the monastery was built was personally chosen by Stephen the Great, and the altar was raised exactly where the arrow shot  by the Romanian voivode fell from a nearby hill.  A year later, the church was solemnly consecrated, in the appropriate manner for a place destined to become a voivodeship necropolis.  Metropolitan Teoctist also participated in this event, the one who in 1457 "anointed" Stefan as lord of Moldavia, on the "Plain of Justice" near Suceava.  The monastic complex was completely completed in 1481, according to the inscription on the entrance tower.

 The legend of the construction of the Putna Monastery must contain a lot of truth, highlighting the direct involvement of the great voivode in the construction of the monuments.  The reputation of this construction and the well-known dedication of the builder to his creation resonates in the legend of its construction, as well as in other sources that report that, after the consolidation of Suceva in preparation for the campaign of 1497, Stephen the Great gathered his army "and went to the mountains  in narrow and impenetrable places, where he had his beloved monastery called Putna, and there he stood guard, with great reinforcement, with all his army".

The Putna Monastery Church was a monumental and impressive construction, expressing in stone and colors the beauty and durability considered by its craftsmen, architects and painters.  The chronicler Ion Neculce, continuing a centuries-old tradition, mentioned that the monasteries were made with polished stucco, abundantly painted both inside and outside, covered with lead.

 Over time, the Putna monastery has undergone significant transformations, some of them almost radical, but these have not diminished the fame or the historical value of the place.  The church, having a three-lobed plan specific to Stephen's era, presents facades with later added elements.  The high roof, recently restored and covered with copper, the white walls divided into two areas by a twisted girdle, and the upper area decorated with niches made up of arches on cantilevered columns.  Above the plinth rises a register of windows with blind arches, supported by pilasters.

 The windows, having a rectangular shape, are surrounded by stone borders decorated with baguettes and end at the top with braced arches, in the Gothic style.

 The tower, tall and well-proportioned, is adorned with twisted columns and Corinthian capitals.

 In addition to the traditional rooms of pronaos, nave and altar, the church also includes a nave located between the pronaos and the nave, separated from it by a pair of massive octagonal pillars.  Starting with the church in Putna, the closed porch became a recurring component in the creation of Moldavian craftsmen, while the pit originally appeared in the Moldovița of Alexander the Good.

 The church houses the tombs of the family of Stephen the Great and his descendants, including up to Petru Rareș.

 To the south of the pit is the tomb of Stephen the Great, protected by a white marble canopy.  The sculpture on the voivode's tomb, where the artist symmetrically arranged coats of arms, bunches of grapes and oak leaves, remains the most outstanding creation in this genre.

 The funerary slab commissioned by Stephen the Great and made after 1492 is notable for the use of palmettes together with oak and acorn leaves.  In the center of the field, where the oak leaves and acorn are distinguished, the details are elaborate, with well-defined shapes and masterly winding contours.  The front of the sarcophagus shows rows of palm leaves inscribed in medallions in the shape of hearts, an ancient symbol of the sacred tree, highlighting the symbolic meaning of the oak leaf on the lid-slab.  The oak, associated with tradition and power for the Moldavian people, is stylized in the image on the ruler's eternal tablet, merging the older symbol of the tree of life on the front of the sarcophagus.

 The candle that has been burning for more than 500 years at the tomb of Stephen the Great, along with fresh flowers and the tricolor on the tombstone, emotionally expresses love and respect for the deeds of the great ruler.  Nearby is also the tomb of Mrs. Maria Voichița, the third wife of Ștefan.

 Maria Voichița, daughter of Radu cel Frumos, was brought to Moldova by Stephen in 1473 and became the voivode's wife, supporting him in his last years.  She promoted the development of the arts, especially embroidery, and her noble figure was perpetuated in Romanian literature by classics such as Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea and Mihail Sadoveanu.

 In the same pit, but in the northern part, is the tomb of Maria de Mangop, the second wife of Stephen the Great.  Next to it are the graves of his sons, Bordan and Petru, who died in childhood.

 In the pronaos of the church, on the south side, we find the tombs of Bogdan the Blind and Maria, the daughter of Stephen the Great.  To the north, there are the tombs of Maria, the wife of Petru Rareș, and of Ștefăniță Vodă.

 In the porch, under the north window and next to the door, is the tomb of Metropolitan Teoctistus, a stone placed personally by Stephen the Great.  Under the south window, two more recent tombs: of Metropolitan Iacob Râmneanu and his parents.

 In a detailed design, with graceful details of flowers and leaves, the ornamentation of the slabs at the tombs of Maria de Mangop and Maria Voichița recalls the flowery capital letters of the period manuscripts and the decorative borders of some old embroideries.  The general design and architectural composition are similar to the other Putna slabs, created in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

Maria de Mangop's tombstone shows birds pecking flowers that sprout from the foliage of two stems, forming medallions.  This is a rare image for slabs, but found in frescoes or in period fabrics.

 There are divergent opinions regarding the artistic influences of this work.  Some researchers attribute it to the Renaissance, due to the preference for vegetal motifs animated by birds and other animals, while others see Eastern influences here.  Regardless of the interpretation, the slab on the tomb of Maria de Mangop is considered a rare work.

 Tomb slabs from Putna from the 15th and 16th centuries represent a stylistic group influenced by Moldavian tombstones, initiated by Stephen the Great in the Church of the Monks for the graves of his ancestors in the See of Moldavia.  Within this meandering structure, the stonemasons from Putna added coats of arms, flowers and birds, expanding the ornamental repertoire of the prototypes from Rădăuți.

 The funerary sculpture from the 17th and 18th centuries in Putna reflects the influence of the Western Baroque, exemplified in the tomb of Iacob Râmneanu.  Here, in a complex vegetal and floral composition, coats of arms, bunches of grapes and braids are combined, evoking the exterior decoration of the Putna church.

 The complex of the Putna monastery is surrounded by solid stone walls, and the only completely preserved construction from the 15th century is the treasury tower, erected in 1481. In the 17th century, the lower part of the tower was reinforced with oblique masonry, increasing  bullet defense.  The building, with a square plan on the ground floor and an octagonal shape on the upper levels, equipped with narrow windows and a pyramidal roof, today maintains the restored appearance of antiquity.

 Another older monument, the entrance tower, including the ganged ground floor and a battlemented vaulted floor, dates from the 18th century.

 The museum of the Putna monastery became the main center of artistic creation in Moldova, under the encouragement and financial support of Stephen the Great.  Here, special manuscripts were created and decorated, their fame going beyond the borders of the country since those times.  This monastery was where the brilliant embroideries, beloved today by tourists around the world, were made, representing some of the most remarkable artistic creations of medieval Europe.

 The artistic treasury of the monastery includes embroideries, fabrics, decorated manuscripts and silverwork.  Embroideries from the period of Stephen the Great are considered among the most significant creations of Moldovan art.  Drawing inspiration from earlier Byzantine works, the craftsmen of the time developed a style of their own, characterized by a remarkable sense of composition, balance of forms and rich harmony of colors.  The Putna workshop contributed to the evolution of the Moldovan embroidery style, integrating decorative motifs also used in painting, stone carving and miniatures.

 The embroidery collection from Putna is recognized by specialists not only as one of the richest in masterpieces, but also among the most valuable in the entire Christian East.  Many of these creations have been exhibited internationally, at exhibitions such as those in Paris, Athens or London, attracting the admiration of audiences everywhere.

 The covering of the tomb of Maria de Mangop, completed in 1477, represents a remarkable creation of Moldavian embroidery, impressing with its special beauty.  This work of art of medieval Romanian embroidery stands out for its grandeur, the attention to detail regarding the costumes, the simplicity of the attitude and the use of warm colors, making up a harmonious almost musical ensemble.

 Maria de Mangop, the second wife of Stephen the Great, came from the lineage of the last Comnenians.  After the fall of the Trebizond Empire in 1461, they found refuge in the Crimea, where the Crimean Khan granted them rule over Mangop, a domain with a castle on the shores of the Black Sea.

 In 1473, Stephen the Great fell in love with the daughter of Radu the Fair, thus distancing himself from his wife.

The church of the Putna monastery houses four doors that reveal the poetic quality of embroidery from the second half of the 15th century.  The tall and thin characters, the breezy or concentrated movement, the elegance of the lines and the rich shading are reminiscent of the painting of the church in Bălinești.  The Putna Collection also includes manuscripts, some kept at Putna and others housed in European libraries, such as the Academy Library, the Art Museum of Romania and others.

 In the collection of the monastery museum, there are numerous works of art, including the Gospel from 1473, the portraits of Stephen the Great and other masterpieces of Romanian medieval art.  The monks of Putna devoted themselves to art, working their whole lives to create embroidery and manuscripts of remarkable value.

 The museum is an extremely rich and varied place, reflecting the evolution of art and culture in Moldova and keeping alive the memory of notable personalities such as Ștefan cel Mare and Maria de Mangop.

 Source: Bucharest-Suceava and in Northern Moldova (Ministry of Tourism, 1977)