UNESCO
Probota
The impressive monastery Probota was build by Petru Rares in 1530 near an old monastery that today is only a ruin. From the initial ensemble only the St. Nicolae's church and the prince's residence exist today. High walls surround Probota with corner towers for defence and a gate tower built in 1550.
Most of the original painting were deteriorated or were repainted .The only part that was not affected by the bad weather is the remarkable scene 'The Judgement Day'. The entrance painting presents the ruler Petru Rares with his wife and children. The tombs of Petru Rares, of Lady Elena, of their son Stefanita, and of Lady Oltea, mother of Stefan the Great are kept in the interior of the church. Their tombstones are representative for the sculpture of the 16th century.
In the steeple, above the ruler's residence that used to be a watching tower a small museum that exhibits icons, furniture, old books, coins etc is arranged.
Voronet
The Voronet monastery, located in the beautiful village with the same name, is one of the many monasteries from Bucovina, famous for their frescoes. The Monastery was build in 1488 by the greatest ruling prince of Moldavia, Stefan the Great, in a record time-three months and three weeks- and painted on the outside walls during the time of his son, the prince Petru Rares.
Voronet represents a new facet of the Byzantine art. The local artists adapted it to the Moldavian style, lending its softness and warmth, replacing the stern with the warm humanism, the grace and the humour peculiar to those places.
The church is consecrated to 'St. George' and is 29, 50 m long and 7,70 m wide.
The frescoes on the exterior walls are recognised as the most remarkable ensemble of medieval Moldova's painting, blending soft and natural colours on a dark and unique blue background. This color, unique in the world, is known as 'blue of Voronet' and entered the international lexicon of art next to ' Veronese green' or 'Titian red'.
The most important of the frescoes is 'The Judgement Day', painted on the whole western facade, that determined the monument to be called 'The Sistine Chapel of the East'. The scene, the simplest and the most dramatic composition, is processed in a characteristic Moldova way: the souls carried to heaven are wrapped in Moldova's towels, while the souls doomed to the fire of Ghenna wear the turbans of the Turks, the Moldova's enemies. In the painting appear many other Moldova elements. The dramatic scene of 'The Resurrection of the Dead' is performed to the sound of the 'bucium', a native folk instrument. Among the animals that take part in the judgement and have to give back the parts of the human bodies they thorn apart, the deer has nothing to return because in the Romanian folklore it stands for innocence.
In the tower there are two bells from the time of Stefan the Great. The legend says that when the bells are pulled one can hear the prince's name.
Sighisoara
Sighisoara remarked itself as a big handicraft and cultural centre and as a residential town. It is certified in documents from 1280 under the name of 'Castrum Sex'.
The fortress - architectonic complex was built gradually between 14th-17th century. The complex, situated on a hill, dominates the whole city, maintaining its initial shape of a nucleus of massive buildings that guard the narrow colourful streets. The fortress has 14 defensive towers. Among them the most famous are: the Tower of Butchers, of Tailors, of Shoemakers, of Smiths, of Ropers and the bastion of what used to be the Tower of Jewellers.
Inside the fortress there is the Clock Tower with a height of 64 m, equipped with 4 little towers and a wooden passage for guard. It was built in 14th century and served as a meeting place for the city older men. Later in 1648 a clock was installed in the tower which gives it the actual name. Today it shelters the History Museum that displays objects and documents regarding the history of Sighisoara: coins, tools, guns, the copy of a letter wrote by Napoleon Bonaparte to General Freiher Von Melas -born in Sighisoara, a medieval drugstore etc.
The city offers the tourists more monumental constructions - 'The Uphill Church', erected in Gothic style similar to the Black Church in Brasov. Inside the church we can see old paintings (1483-1488), an altar painted in 1515, furniture in the Renaissance style, a pew of big proportions, a beautiful gothic pulpit, funeral stones, one of them from 1640; the southern portal and the walls of the choir which are entirely decorated with sculptures.
The Dominican monks built the Monastery Church, in shape of gothic hall, in the 13th century.
The Lepers' Church, also in Gothic style, has an exterior pulpit, where the lepers, who were not allowed in the church, could listen the preaching.
In 1656 the monument 'The Covered Stairs' was built. 175 stairs connected the downward town and the fortress.
Besides these, one can visit 'the House with Deer', noble residence raised in the Transilvanian Renaissance style, the Vlad Tepes 's House, where the famous prince was born in 1431 and the Venetian House, construction from the 16th century, renovated in Gothic Venetian style in the 19th century.
Darjiu
One can find in Darjiu a fortress from the 15th and 16th centuries and a gothic church from the 14th century.
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