Moldavia - the north eastern province of Romania - is renowned for the 'Painted Monasteries of Bucovina'. These triumphs of Byzantine influenced art reflect the flowering of Moldavian civilization in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: House of the People/The Parliament Palace. Built between 1984-1989. As surface, it is the biggest administrative construction in Europe and the 2nd in the world, after the U.S. Pentagon, in Washington D.C., having an area of 330 000 square meters. As volume, the Guinness Book ranks this building as the third in the world.
- In the morning, visit The Parliament Palace
- Flight from Bucharest to Suceava in the afternoon
- Accommodation at Continental Arcasul Hotel in Suceava
Day 2: Among idle and clad in forests hills, where fir-trees mingle unnoticeable with oak-trees, at 12 km from the ancient royal town of Moldavia, Suceava, which it was built during the first three decades of the XVII-th century as a center of Christian and ancient culture in the Romanian past, it keeps between its walls a great part of the artistic treasure of this land, as a living testimony of the wrestling Moldavian past and of the love for beauty and skillfulness of the people of these places.
- Breakfast at Classic Hotel
- Visit Sf. Ioan cel Nou Church from Suceava
- Transfer Suceava – Dragomirna (45’)
- Visit Dragomirna Monastery
- Transfer Dragomirna – Humor (1h30’)
- Accommodation at Best Western Bucovina Club de Munte Hotel 4* in Gura Humorului
Day 3: Humor Monastery, founded in 1530, is quite small. Its paintings include illustrations of 'Siege of Constantinople', which shows the feelings of the Romanians towards the invading Turks. On other walls there are the 'Return of the Prodigal Son' and the 'Devil amusingly', depicted as a greedy woman.
Situated at 30 km from Suceava, Arbore Monastery was built between the 2nd of April and the 29th of August 1503, by Luca Arbore, one of Stephen the Great’s generals, in the village of Soloca, that he owned. The monument has been consecrated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Having a rectangular plan, the church has walls made of raw stone and vaults made of brick. Smaller than other painted churches, Arbore has a gloomy narthex and a nave with large windows.
- Breakfast at Best Western Bucovina Club de Munte Hotel
- Visit Humor Monastery - included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
- Transfer Gura Humorului – Sucevita (2h)
- Optional, lunch
- Visit Arbore Monastery - included on the UNESCO List
- Accommodation in Popas Bucovina rural guest house 4* in Sucevita
Day 4: Sucevita Monastery is fortified like a citadel with guard towers on its four corners. Thousands of pictures decorate the church’s walls, a remarkable one being the complex 'Joshua’s Tree' from the southern wall.
Putna Monastery and its surroundings were a reclusion long before Stephen the Great had fired his arrow and chose to build on the very spot it fell what was to become his greatest built achievement, namely Putna Monastery. Old chronicles place the building of the monastery between 1466 and 1469, whereas its consecration took place in 1470. Its erection is relating to the medieval tradition according to which ruling princes would build.
- Breakfast at Popas Bucovina
- Visit Sucevita Monastery - included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
- Transfer Sucevita – Putna (1h)
- Visit Putna Monastery
- Transfer Putna – Sucevita (1h)
- Accommodation at Popas Bucovina 4* in Sucevita
Day 5: Voronet Monastery, nicknamed the 'Sixtine Chapel of the East' was built by Stephen the Great in 1488 and the vibrant colors of its frescoes were added later. An interesting point is that the archangels’ trumpets take the shape of the local shepherds’ horn or 'bucium' and the souls doomed to hellfire wear the turbans of the Turkish enemy.
Striking red, blue, yellow and brown colors characterize the Biblical scenes depicted around the Moldovita Monastery. Inside the 16th century furniture survives, including Prince Petru Rares’ chair, as large as a throne. Because the Prince is the founder of Moldovita his statue stands outside.
- Breakfast at Popas Bucovina
- Transfer from Sucevita – Moldovita (40’)
- Visit Moldovita Monastery - included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
- Transfer Moldovita – Voronet (1h)
- Visit Voronet Monastery - included on the UNESCO List
- Transfer Voronet – Suceava (1h)
- Accommodation at Continental Arcasul Hotel 3* in Suceava
Day 6: Breakfast at Classic Hotel. Flight Suceava. Bucharest early in the morning.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- Car/van/bus transportation
- Accommodation in 3* hotel in double rooms on B&B basis
- English speaking guide/driver
- Entrance fees at the museums
- Flight from Suceava to Bucharest
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
Romania
Cultural Journey
Archeology/History
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