ROMANIAN MONASTERIES - Hurezi Monastery


	ALBA

	ARAD

	ARGES

	BACAU

	BUCHAREST

	CALARASI

	CONSTANTA

	DAMBOVITA

	DOLJ

	GALATI

	GIURGIU

	GORJ

	HUNEDOARA

	IASI

	ILFOV

	MEHEDINTI

	NEAMT

	OLT

	PRAHOVA

	SUCEAVA

	TIMIS

	VALCEA

	Arnota Bistrita Cornetu Cozia Dintr-un Lemn Frasinei Govora Hurezi Ostrov Pahomie Surpatele Turnu

	VASLUI


	SITE MAP

	HOME



www.iulianic.go.ro

HUREZI Monastery

Horezu town, Valcea county. Convent for nuns.
Dedication day: “The Holy Emperor and Empress Constantin and Helena”, 21 May.

Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode founded the monastery in 1690. The church was constructed between 1690 and 1693. The architecture of the church was designed in a tri-apses style that imitates the structural plan of the Episcopal Church from Curtea de Arges; only the porch was constructed in the architectural style that flourished during Constantin Brancoveanu’s reign.
The exterior of the church is decorated with rectangular panels and niches that are ornamented with a fine geometrical pattern whose dominant element is the circle: a cornice made of sculpted marble frames the entrance door, above which there is the votive inscription that displays the escutcheon (coat of arms) of Walachia, as well as that of the Cantacuzino family of voivodes. The paintings inside the church, which are of inestimable artistic value, were executed by master-painters Constantinos, Ioan, Andrei, Stan, Neagoe, and Ioachim. The paintings contain a gallery of portraits of the fallowing voivodes and their families: Brancoveanu, Basarab, and Cantacuzino.
The iconostasis was sculpted in lime tree wood, which was overlaid with gold; the silver votive lights (icon lamps) were donated by Maria Doamna, the wife of Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode.

The holy establishment underwent major repairs and was completely renovated in 1827 and in 1872, as well as between 1907 and 1912 and between 1954 and 1964.
Inside the church, there is the funeral monument of Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode – although the voivode was actually interred inside the Church of Great Martyr George the Trophy-Bearer in Bucharest. Inside the Hurezi Monastery there is also the tomb of Archimandrite Ioan, the first abbot of the establishment, and other tombs as well.

The following structures were accommodated within the monastery grounds: the hospital, whose church has as dedication day the ”Dormition of the Birthgiver of Good” and which was founded by Maria Doamna, (between 1696 and 1699) and painted by masters Preda Nicolae and Ianache; the monastic chapel, which was founded by Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode between 1696 and 1697; the Skete of Proto-Martyr Stephen the Archdeacon, which was founded by Prince Stefan, the son of Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode in 1703, and painted by masters Ianache, Istrate, and Ranite, the Skete of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and the Skete of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, which was founded by Father Ioan, the abbot of the establishment, in 1698.
The monastery possesses one of the most remarkable collections of liturgical objects – some of which date from the time that the holy establishment was founded. The paintings and the sculptures in stone and in wood are dating from the epoch of Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode. The monastery also shelters a valuable library, which incorporated approximately four thousand volumes. This holy establishment is the most comprehensive and outstanding complex within the pattern of the Brancoveanu style ever constructed in Romania.
On June 20^th, 1992, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decreed the canonization of Constantin Brancoveanu Voivode, of his sons Constantin, Stefan, Radu, Matei, and of the Counselor Ianache as holy martyrs, instituting the celebration of their dedication day on August 16^th.

Webmaster