 Putna
Monastery, raised between 1466-1469, the first fortified construction
of Stephan the Great, was designed to be the necropolis of
the ruler's family and his descendents, including Petru Rares.
The story goes that it was built in a general area picked out
by
Stephen's
advisor, Daniel the Hermit. The exact position of the church
was left up to God when Stephen went to the top of a hill and
fired an arrow— wherever it fell the church would be
built. A section of tree trunk containing the arrow hole is
still kept
in the monastery museum and a cross marks the spot from which
the arrow was shot. Apparently, a forest was cleared for the
building of the monastery.
Putna has known earthquakes,
fires and invasions for 5 centuries, the only construction
from the 15th century still standing
is the "Treasure's tower". According to the plaque,
it was built in 1481 and it was conceived as a two-floor
building, with a terrace at the top, with a crenellated
parapet. Today it has a sharp roof. Light comes in through
narrow
windows, decorated with frames of sculpted rock in a laic
manner reminding the late gothic. The monastery was restored
several times. Only a few years after the completion of
the buildings and fortifications, a dreadful fire destroyed
most
of the church, the outer walls and the princely home. The
following years, the prince and founder rebuilt the church
that soon recovered its former lofty appearance. In 1536,
another conflagration seriously damaged all the buildings;
there followed a new restoration completed in 1559, on
the initiative and at the expense of Prince Alexandru Lapusneanu
(1552-1561; 1564-1568). In 1653, the church was pulled
down
to its foundations and replaced in 1654-1662 by a new building
which, with slight alterations, has lasted to this day.
In this period, the princely residence and the precinct
walls
were also enlarged and repaired. However, this important
restoration did not last more than three quarters of a
century, for in 1739, Putna Monastery was destroyed by
a powerful
earthquake, which made it necessary to start ample restoration
work between 1757 and 1761, upon the initiative and with
the endeavors of Metropolitan Iacov Putneanul. |
Another important stage in the building of the monastery
in the past was marked by the restoration work done from 1854
to 1856, when the precincts were enlarged and new walls were
erected, 23 m. to the north of the previous ones. New cells
were built parallel to the wall; the old princely residence
was demolished, a new building - including a kitchen, a refectory
and cells - was erected, together with a new abbey on the western
side and a chapel on the north side. Restoration work on the
monastery was started again towards the close of the 19th century,
under the supervision of the Austrian architect K.A. Romstorfer.
Ample
scientific restoration work was under way in 1969, when the
church, the treasury tower, the entrance tower and the
belfry - built in 1882 to replace a 15th-century tower - were
restored in succession. Between 1974 and 1977, the former abbey
standing on the western side of the courtyard was replaced
by a wooden building, a museum housing art collections, while
the cells built in 1854-1856 on the northern side were replaced
and renewed.
It seems that the church was initially painted
both on the inside and on the outside, but unfortunately, none
of the frescoes
could be preserved. Even though the church does not keep anymore
decorative elements, bricks and glazed discs, specific for
the architecture of Stephen the Great’s time, it resembles
other contemporary churches in shape and dimensions. The walls
are split in two areas by a belt in a rope shape, with a row
of holes sculpted in the plan of the wall in the higher part.
The northern wall was strengthened with counter forts added
in the 18th century. With all the transformations, it keeps
unchanged the fortress aspect so characteristic for the great
Moldavian monastery settlements.
 The
church is plain and strong, with cable moldings at its facades,
blind arcades and trefoiled windows. On the inside, the church
is divided into porch, narthex, necropolis,
nave and apse. In a recess of the necropolis, supported by
two columns and covered by a marble canopy, there is Stephen
the Great's tombstone. The necropolis holds also the tombs
of the prince's second wife, Maria of Mangop,having a tombstone
of oriental inspiration, and that of his third wife, Maria
Voichita. Tombs of some of Stephen's descendants, as well as
of Moldavian bishops and metropolitans who contributed to the
welfare and preservation of the monastery, are also to be found
there.
The size and complex plan, the rich decorations (carved
stone, terracotta and paintings) as well as the appearance
for the
first time in the ecclesiastical architecture of Moldavia of
the exonarthex and of arches arranged slantingly in the vaulting
of the pronaos are the basic characteristics of the earlier
church of Putna Monastery. The only carved element preserved
from the 15th-century church is the monumental porch which
links the pronaos to the burial vault; it is rectangular in
shape decorated with crossed moldings characteristic of Stephen
the Great's epoch.
A short time after it was built, Putna Monastery
became an important center of Romanian mediaeval art and culture.
As
early as 1467, scribes, calligraphers and miniature painters
who had learned their craft under Gavril Uric came from Neamt
to work at Putna Monastery. Besides skilful calligraphers and
miniature painters, many embroiderers, icon makers, weavers,
silversmiths, sculptors in wood and book-binders toiled on
in the quiet atmosphere of the monks' cells at Putna. Special
mention should be made of the sumptuous and elegant Four Gospels
created here, adorned with miniatures in which perfect drawing
combines with a motley color scheme in which gold prevails,
as well as the fine embroideries (epitaphs, iconostasis curtains,
coverings of tetrapods and of graves, stoles, etc.), many of
them on show in the museum of the monastery.
 The
Moldavian embroidery is one of the most original creations
of Romanian mediaeval art. The icon waves and the tomb covers
are evidence of the creative spirit of the Moldavian artists
of Stephen the Great’s time. The Putna Monastery can
be proud of the rich collection of priests clothes, most of
them forming a true gallery of portraits. Among the most original
pieces, there are the priests clothes with prophets given to
the monastery by Stephen the Great.
A famous school where Grammar,
Rhetoric and Logic were taught was set up in the latter half
of the 15th century and was open
all through the 16th century. One of the outstanding scholars
who taught at the school was Eustatie who at the end of the
15th century transcribed the music of several psalms and composed
many psalms himself.
The monastic museum at Putna Monastery
is one of the richest in the country with precious objects
dating back to Stephen
the Great' time. Among them we should mention the embroideries
made by golden thread, the tapestries, the vellum manuscripts,
the metal-bound manuscripts, the silver Psalters, as well as
the ecclesiastical objects, the paintings, the sculptures and
the triptych icon won by Stephen during one of his wars.
The
two major festivals at the monastery which attract thousands
of pilgrims every year are the Dormition of the Theotokos on
August 15 and the feast of St. Stephen the Great on July 2.
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