The story of Voroneț Monastery

Legend says Stephen the Great, in a moment of crisis during a war with the Ottoman Turks, came to the hermit Daniel in his cell here and asked for advice. Do not give up the fight, the hermit told him, and after the victory build a monastery to Saint George. Stephen kept his word: in 1488 the church rose in just 3 months and 3 weeks, remembering the victory at Vaslui.

Daniel became its first abbot, and his tomb is inside. In 1547 Metropolitan Grigorie Roșca added a porch and had the outer walls painted. Notice that the west façade has no openings at all: it was kept for frescoes, and the Last Judgment covers it entirely.

The intense colour you see is famous as Voroneț blue, and the church is often called the Sistine Chapel of the East. Among the painted figures you will even find ancient philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.