Horezu monastery

Horezu, in the foothills of the Căpățânii mountains in Wallachia, is the largest and most complete work of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, who ruled Wallachia from 1688 to 1714 and gave his name to a whole architectural style. Work began in 1690, the great church was consecrated on 8 September 1693, and the complex was finished in 1697. It is often described as the finest expression of the Brâncovenesc style — a blend of local Byzantine tradition with late Renaissance and Baroque carved ornament — and has been a World Heritage Site since 1993.

The monastery is laid out on an east–west axis around a rectangular walled courtyard. Along the north side run the monks' cells, now the nuns' quarters, behind a long arcade; on the south stands the princely residence with its bell tower and council hall; the refectory with a chapel above closes the west side. The ensemble is completed by a hospital church founded by Brâncoveanu's wife Maria in 1696 and two small hermitages outside the walls, the Holy Apostles (1698) and Saint Stephen (1703).

The great church of Saints Constantine and Helena, on a trefoil plan, is the centrepiece. Its open porch rests on ten stone columns carved with dense foliage, and the doorway is framed in carved marble. Inside, the murals painted between 1692 and 1694 by the Greek masters Constantinos and Ioan with Romanian painters Andrei, Stan, Neagoe and Ioachim are among the most important in Romania. In the narthex runs a gallery of portraits — Brâncoveanu, his wife and children, and his ancestors of the Basarab and Cantacuzino families — a rare painted family tree of a ruling house. The gilded lime-wood iconostasis was a gift of Princess Maria. A tomb prepared for the founder inside the church stands empty: Brâncoveanu was eventually buried at Saint George's church in Bucharest.

Today Horezu is a community of nuns, and the complex is both a working monastery and a place of pilgrimage. The place takes its name from the huhurez, an owl whose calls, according to local lore, were once the only sound breaking the silence of the valley. Horezu is also famous for its pottery: the neighbouring village of Olari has long been a centre of hand-painted ceramics, and potters sell their work near the monastery gates.

Getting there

The monastery is just outside the town of Horezu, on the DN67 road about 50 km west of Râmnicu Vâlcea by road (around 30 km in a straight line). The nearest airport is Sibiu International (SBZ), about 69 km in a straight line. A car is the most practical way to reach it. Modest dress is expected.