EDITING/PROOFREADING

MANASTIREA DRAGOMIRNA
LOCATION
Placed among the beautifull hills of Bucovina, at 12 km West from the old residence of Steven
the Great and the Bishops of Moldavia, the Dragomirna monastery stands tall defying time,
inside the fortress walls. Built as to face the hights, in a search for light from among the forest,
shadowed by a cortain of fir trees and majestically reflected by the lake nearby, this place of
prayer, through its ancientness, through the originality of its style, through the its elegant and
solid shape, through the picturesque awakens the admiration of each visitor, so that in its
presence the pilgrim is as impressed as is the historian or the art critic.

Besides the beauty of the landscape, the unusual location, what leaves an unforgettable
impression is the peculiar elegancy of the monument, withholding geometrical rigors of great
taste, an unique stature through its proportions and lengths, exceeding all of the other Moldavian
medieval monuments.

Probably this uniqueness of the monument attracted since early times the attention of experts,
whom, depending on the period of time they lived in, spoke of its value, always giving special
reason to it great originality.Nicolae Iorga praised Dragomirna’s matchless beauty, its greatness
and the over all impression it leaves upon the watchers.

The Architectural complex Dragomirna, built between the borders of two centuries, holds the
two characteristics of the Moldavian architectural style. The Medieval Art Complex Dragomirna
includes the small church, the big church, the defence walls surrounding the place, the old
building of the ecumenics, the five towers, the cells of the monks and the beadle.

BIG CHURCH
In a short period of time Anastasie Crimca succeeds into climbing the steps of the Orthodox
priest hierarchy in Moldavia and while he was the Bishop of Roman(city in Moldavia) he begins
the building of a large church and by the finish of its construction he was already great Bishop
(Mitropolit) of Moldavia.
In the year 1609 the big church of the Dragomirna monastery has already been built and blessed
on the 1st of September with the “hram” (titular saint of a church) The Descending of the Holy
Spirit. There is no “pisanie” (inscription on the walls of a church, caved or painted, containing
the name of the founder and important dates) in the new church, considering maybe that the one
in the old church is enough.
Still, as the famous will, better said curse, Crimca left behind in 1610, states that the Bishop
considers Stroici as the founder.

The elements that the building bases itself upon are Traditional and respect the Moldavian style,
also borrowing certain ascendancies from the countries nearby, although the style at Dragomirna
bears it own specificity unseen before anywhere else.
The architectural plan describes a large building, with no lateral apses, as many of the 16th
century churches have, with a threshold, Preaisle, Aisle and an Altar, resembling the plan of
Saint George’s church in Suceava. However, certain elements make Dragomirna church unique,
having the polygonal apse towards the West, as has the church in Bălineşti. What is truly
surprising in Dragomirna church is its unsusual size.

The tendacy of introducing certain elevation into the architecture of the 16th century churches
transforms Dragomirna into an unique structure, its hight being excessive into comparison with
its breadth. The church measures 35 m endlong, 9.5 m in breadth and a hight of approximately
42 m.

The great historian Nicolae Iorga in his work “The Romanian People in Bucovina” speaks about
the beauty of Dragomirna: “Seing the church brings so much joy. It stands tall and blunt
resembling a reliquary and is one of the most brilliant monuments of our old architecture and for
Crimca it is a title of his eternal glory.”.

While the churches built during Steven the Great’s reign are characterized by an outer decoration
of the walls based of varying the bricks-simple or glazed, the whole building being enriched by
colourful ceramic discs and are famous for their outer painting, the Dragomirna monastery opens
a new road in architecture, mainly concentrated upon conditioning stone-used for elevating the
sanctuary.
But in the case of Dragomirna, the legend says that the Bishop Crimca placed the element with a
very specific reason: it represents a symbol of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope and love., It
is also a symbol of the Holy Trinity and as an advice left for the future comers that to unite
themselves in one single country (Romania used to be devideddivided into three regions
Moldavia, Ţara Românească and Transilvania) and remain united till the end of time.
The pillars, realatively massive and wide, rhythmically distributed on the lateral façade and two
of them placed on the axis of the church, streghtened at its base with an abutment. Are and
linked together with tied to each other under a cornice through two arches, from which one is
bold and the other is richly ornamented with floral elements.

The frames of the windows, as well as the porchthreshold’s door contain some elements of
Gothic inspiration. Thus the arches in the shape of an accolade, framed by squares, with certain
elements at their edges remind us of the Gothic style charactersticscharacteristics in the former
century, when the porchthreshold’s windows, which were larger and had a Gothic arch became
adopted by the Moldavian architectural style.

However, if we consider the words of the great historiographer Nicolae Iorga, the
undescribableindescribable beauty of Dragomirna consists of its steeple, the treasure which has
been built using great artscraftarts craft and love. The stone roses are spread all over the steeple
offering the impression of a flowery stake.

The slightly exotic hint that can be seen in Dragomirna’s architecture is the one that would later
be replied in every Moldavian church, the stone embroidery, also seen at the façade of the church
The Three Hierarchs in IaşiIasi. The ornamented sculpture on the steeple is of great richness and
mastery.
We find a great variety of elements, geometrical and vegetal, stylistic rosetterosaces, stars made
out of two diamonds, squares or other shapes.

The impression of embroidery is achieved obtained through the technic used in sculpture of the
steeple on one single plan, almost flat. This ornamentation is very special and separates the
steeple from the rest of the assembly, enriching the whole monastery with an unique element, as
an emblem.
TRANSLATION
LOCATION
The Dragomirna monastery, located among the magnificent hills of Bucovina, 12 kilometers
west of the old residence of Steven the Great and the Bishops of Moldavia, stands tall within the
fortress walls, defying time. This place of prayer, built to face the peaks/hights and in search of
light among the forest is shadowed by a grove of fir trees and majestically reflected by the
nearby lake. Its centuries-old history and elegant structure together with its original and
picturesque architectural style waken/stir tourists' admiration, so that the pilgrim is as impressed
as the historian or the art critic in its presence.
In addition to the beauty of the landscape and its unusual position, what leaves an unforgettable
impression is the distinctive elegance of the monument which discloses a geometrically rigorous
taste, a unique stature and dimention that exceed all other medieval monuments in Moldova.
Probably it was precisely this uniqueness of the monument that attracted the attention of
specialists early on, who, after the age and circumstances, expressed judgments of different
value, but always marking its profound originality. Nicolae Iorga spoke about Dragomirna's
unmatched beauty, her greatness and the total impression she makes on the viewers.
The Dragomirna ensemble, built on the border between two centuries, is situated at two stages of
Moldavian style. The Medieval Art Complex Dragomirna includes the small church, the big
church, the defence walls surrounding the place, the old building of the ecumenics, the five
towers, the cells of the monks and the beadle.

BIG CHURCH
In a short while Anastasie Crimca is taking the steps of the high hierarchy of the Orthodox
Church in Moldova, and during the time he was a Roman bishop, the construction of the big
church which he would finish was already in Moldova's mythpolitical chair.
In 1609 the Great Church of the Dragomirna monastery was already finished and was sanctified
on September 1st by the Holy Spirit. At the new church, the church is missing, as if the oldest
church in the sketch church were enough.
The elements that the building bases itself upon are Traditional and respect the Moldavian style,
also borrowing certain ascendancies from the countries nearby, although the style at Dragomirna
bears its own specificity unseen before anywhere else.
The building elements that have been carried out at the execution of the large church are the
traditional ones of the Moldavian style, with influences from neighboring countries, developed in
the situation of Dragomirna to a level never before.
The relative rise of churches at the end of the 16th century turns to Dragomirna into a real exit
from the scale, the height of the building in relation to its width is excessive. The size of the
church is: Length 35 meters, width approximately 9,5 meters and height approximately 42
meters.
The great historian Nicolae Iorga in his work “The Romanian People in Bucovina” speaks about
the beauty of Dragomirna: “Seing the church brings so much joy. It stands tall and blunt
resembling a reliquary and is one of the most brilliant monuments of our old architecture and for
Crimca it is a title of his eternal glory.”
While the churches built during Steven the Great’s reign are characterized by an outer decoration
of the walls based of varying the bricks-simple or glazed, the whole building being enriched by
colorful ceramic discs and are famous for their outer painting, the Dragomirna monastery opens
a new road in architecture, mainly concentrated upon conditioning stone-used for elevating the
sanctuary.
But in the case of Dragomirna, the legend says that the Bishop Crimca placed the element with a
very specific reason: it represents a symbol of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope and love. It
is also a symbol of the Holy Trinity and as an advice left for the future comers that to unite
themselves in one single country (Romania used to be divided into three regions Moldavia, Ţara
Românească and Transilvania) and remain united till the end of time.
The pillars, relatively massive and wide, rhythmically distributed on the lateral façade and two of
them placed on the axis of the church, strengthened at its base with an abutment. Are linked
together with a cornice through two arches, from which one is bold and the other is richly
ornamented with floral elements.
The frames of the windows, as well as the porch’s door contain some elements of Gothic
inspiration. Thus the arches in the shape of an accolade, framed by squares, with certain elements
at their edges remind us of the Gothic style characteristics in the former century, when the
porch’s windows, which were larger and had a Gothic arch became adopted by the Moldavian
architectural style.
However, if we consider the words of the great historiographer Nicolae Iorga, the undescribable
beauty of Dragomirna consists of its steeple, the treasure which has been built using great arts
craft and love. The stone roses are spread all over the steeple offering the impression of a
flowery stake.
The slightly exotic hint that can be seen in Dragomirna’s architecture is the one that would later
be replied in every Moldavian church, the stone embroidery, also seen at the façade of the church
The Three Hierarchs in Iasi. The ornamented sculpture on the steeple is of great richness and
mastery.
We find a great variety of elements, geometrical and vegetal, stylistic rosette, stars made out of
two diamonds, squares or other shapes.
The impression of embroidery is achieved through the technic used in sculpture of the steeple on
one single plan, almost flat. This ornamentation is very special and separates the steeple from the
rest of the assembly, enriching the whole monastery with an unique element, as an emblem.