The Moldovita Monastery is one of the old monastic establishments, with an important historical past, that for centuries has stood guard by the frontier of northern Moldavia; situated on the platform between the two creeks, Moldovita and Ciumarna, 15 km far from Vama commune, it is surrounded by the picturesque Obcinele Bucovinei mountain range.
The origin of this monastery remains shrouded in the darkness of ages; tradition has it that it was in existence as early as the time of the Musat rulers, who protected it. Under the peaceful rule of Prince Alexander the Kind, the first stone church of the Monastery was built, documented around 1402-1410 with the dedication to “The Annunciation”, and known as early as that for being also a cultural center.
Prince Petru Rares, an arts lover like his father, Stephen the Great, chose to place in a more flat area than that of the old church of Alexander the Kind, and built the current church of Moldovita in 1532, which, he too, dedicated to “The Annunciation”. The most authentic document is the votive inscription carved in stone, written in Slavonic and placed left of the entrance, on the southern facade of the church.
In terms of architecture, the church retains the traditional three-shelled plan, with five chambers separated by plain walls, penetrated by doors in the middle and with a different vaulting system in each chamber; the Moldavian master-builders introduced also new elements: the monumental open porch with five large arcades, the treasure chamber (the chamber on top of the funeral chamber) and the hemi-socle (the bench) around the church, specific to the structures of the Rares epoch. The bema vaulting is interesting: instead of the four Moldavian arches, there is a system of eight crossing arches the decorative look of which is that of a star. The barrel-vaulted funeral chamber gets light from a southern window. To the north-west, there is a stone stair that leads up to the treasure chamber. The nave has two hemi-circular side apses, continuing with the shrine apse of the same form. On top of the nave there rises the tower, tall circular inside and octagonal outside, standing on two overlapping bases of stellar shape. The vaulting system is the traditional Moldavian one.
